Maiden win for Niamh McSherry in Kansas
Niamh McSherry (left) celebrates with her team mates. Picture: Kansas State University
Lurgan's Niamh McSherry clinched her first major win with victory for Kansas State University in the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational.
The 21-year-old former Irish Girls Close runner-up closed with a gutsy par to win the individual title by four strokes at Colbert Hills in Kansas on Monday and give Kansas State overall victory by just two strokes.
"I've told the girls all week that 18 is my favourite driving hole," McSherry said after a poor drive forced her to chip out of heavy rough and eventually make an eight-footer for par.
"I don't know what happened, just adrenaline and nerves and I just pulled it over, but [assistant coach] Jared [Helin] kept me calm all the way through. That's probably the best par I'm ever going to make. It's going to always stick with me.
"My chipping has been my biggest improvement all week, and I felt really confident I was going to get up and down.
"I felt like if I did that, I was going to go on and win it. I went out there really confident, I've played really well around Colbert during a few qualifying rounds. I just went out there and gave it my all the last few days."
A member of the Irish girls team that won the Home Internationals for the first time in 2016, McSherry carded rounds of 70, 71 and 70 to win on five-under-par 211 with Shandon Park's Chloe Weir 32nd on 232
Best. Day. Ever. 😻🏆 #kstatewgolf pic.twitter.com/DCZzd7SnuG
— K-State Women's Golf (@KStateWGolf) September 17, 2019
Senior Weir and Junior McSherry also won the team title in the event in 2017.
"I'm just so happy for the team, especially knowing we were so far behind at one point today and then we really pulled out on the back nine," McSherry added.
