Top three for Leona Maguire in South Dakota
Leona Maguire
Leona Maguire closed with a level par 70 to finish in a five-way tied for third, five shots behind Sweden's Linnea Strom in the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge in South Dakota.
The Co Cavan talent (23) made one birdie and one bogey to win $9,723, which pushes her to within a tournament victory of the top 10 in the money list who will be awarded LPGA Tour cards at the end of the season. Scores
Stephanie Meadow, who was overtaken by Strom and pushed down to third in the money list, had an eagle two and five birdies in a 66 to finish tied 28th on one-under.
The money list will be updated later this morning but Maguire now has $21,156 and lies $24,022 outside the top 10 with five events remaining.
An Arizona State graduate, Strom closed with a three-under-par 67 to win for the first time in her professional career, finishing one stroke clear of England's Charlotte Thomas.
“This is always going to be a special place for me, my first professional win,” said Ström, after a round that featured an eagle, four birdies and three bogeys. “It was a great week, the hospitality was amazing and there were so many fans out there watching. I’m very happy to be here and for this to be my first win.”
One of the bogeys happened to be on the last hole of the afternoon, creating some good theater for the gallery. Ström pulled her drive into the hazard on the left side of the par-4 18th.
Really enjoyable week at the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge event on the @ROAD2LPGA!
— Leona Maguire (@leona_maguire) September 2, 2018
First class tournament. Happy with a Top 5 finish. 🇮🇪
“It’s not over until it’s over and I knew that I had a two-shot lead,” Ström said. “It was in my mind that Charlotte [Thomas] was going to make a birdie, so I at least had to save bogey and hopefully force a playoff. I stayed in the present, though, and figured out where to drop it, just get it on the green. It was a tough last hole, I made it a little bit too interesting.”
Next up is the Garden City Charity Classic in Kansas from September 7-9 at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course.
Following the 16th tournament of the 2018 Symetra Tour season, the Volvik Race for the Card saw a good amount of shifting within the top-10.
The win and $31,500 winner’s check launched Linnea Ström 22 spots in the rankings to No. 2, having earned $58,788 through 15 events played.
Symetra Tour, Volvik Race for the card
- Dottie Ardina (Laguna, Philippines) - $72,482
- Linnea Ström - $58,788
- Stephanie Meadow (Jordanstown, Northern Ireland) - $56,657
- Charlotte Thomas - $53,319
- Isi Gabsa (Munich, Germany) - $51,376
- Jenny Haglund (Karlstad, Sweden) - $50,617
- Elizabeth Szokol (Winnetka, Illinois) - $48,357
- Eun Jeong Seong (Yongin, Republic of Korea) - $46,418
- Ruixin Liu (Dalian, China) - $46,027
- Stephanie Kono (Honolulu, Hawaii) - $45,178
