Leona Maguire shows class with career best LPGA Tour finish
Leona Maguire ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy
She might be a rookie on paper but Leona Maguire showed she's far from being a novice in reality when she finished a shot outside a play-off for the ISPS Handa Vic Open in just her second start as an LPGA Tour card-holder.
The former world amateur number one, who won twice on the Symetra Tour last year and finished second in the LET's Ladies European Masters as an amateur nearly five years ago, used all her experience in windy conditions to tie for fourth at 13th Beach Golf Links near Melbourne
With her confidence high after carding a third-round 74 in high winds on Saturday, the Co Cavan star (24) closed with a two-under 70 to finish on seven-under-par and earn $52,861 (€48,000).
Hee Young Park of South Korea beat compatriots, So Yeon Ryu and Hye-Jin Choi, at the fourth hole of a sudden-death play-off for the women's title as Australia's Min Woo Lee (21) claimed the men's title by two shots from New Zealand's Ryan Fox on 19-under.
"I stayed really patient," said Maguire, who was cheered on by former Olympic silver medallist Sonia O'Sullivan as she came within a whisker of making a playoff but missed a seven footer for par at the 17th before finishing with a birdie four.
"Conditions were really tough at the weekend with four and five-club winds blowing. But I putted really solidly and capitalised on the par fives nicely."
Great effort today @leona_maguire racing up the leaderboard @VicOpenGolf on another tough windy blustery day sand, dust and flies #soclose fantastic concentration to hold form on final day ⛳️💨💨🌊🇮🇪☘️ pic.twitter.com/vgx1Le7ike
— sonia osullivan (@soniaagrith) February 9, 2020
She remains in Australia for the LPGA Tour's ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open at Grange (Feb 13-16) and the Ladies European Tour's Geoff King Motors Australian Ladies Classic - Bonville the following week.
"The game is trending nicely," added the Slieve Russell touring professional, who made 11 of her 17 birdies on the par-fives. "Hopefully I can build on this week's momentum."
It was also another solid week for Stephanie Meadow who followed her T35 finish in the season-opening Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio by finishing T20 ($12,458) on two-under after following opening rounds of 67 and 70 with scores of 74 and 76 in the wind.
With a 54-hole cut in operation, Irish golf's Jonathan Caldwell and Cormac Sharvin failed to make it into the final round in the men's event.
High winds on Saturday put paid to their hopes of a big cheque; Caldwell (€6,421 ) shooting 77 to miss out by a shot on five-under and Sharvin (€4,954) a shot further back after a 75.
Min Woo Lee. Picture: Getty Images
Min Woo Lee made history as he stormed to his first European Tour victory at the course where his sister Minjee won her first professional title six years ago, closing with a 68 to win by two shots from Fox on 19 under.
Lee (21) started the day three strokes clear of playing partners Marcus Fraser and Travis Smyth and showed no sign of nerves as he birdied three of his first four holes, including a chip-in on the first.
The Australian maintained his composure as winds gusted up to 30 miles-per-hour on the Bellarine Peninsula, with ten consecutive pars before his fourth birdie of the day on the 15th hole.
Fox made his charge for a second European Tour victory on the back nine. The Kiwi birdied the 16th hole and carded his second eagle of the day on the 18th for an eight-under-par round of 64, setting the clubhouse target at 17 under.
Lee dropped to 18 under with a bogey on the 17th but finished with aplomb as he birdied the 18th for a tournament-record score of 19 under par and a special victory on home soil.
Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist matched Lee's final round of 68 to finish in a share of third place with Australians Fraser and Smyth on 14 under, while Jake McLeod took sixth place on 12 under.
Minjee Lee, who won her second women's ISPS Handa Vic Open title in 2018, finished two strokes behind Hee Young Park, who overcame Hye-Jin Choi and So Yeun Ryu in a four-hole play-off to win her first LPGA title in more than six years.
Min Woo Lee
"I'm pretty proud of the way I played. I thought coming in I had a really good chance because I was hitting it really good, but I think I impressed myself with the game this whole week. Hopefully, I'll have more of these over my whole career.
"I felt really comfortable just because if I did exactly the same as I did yesterday, I felt pretty hard to stop. I started off really hot out the gate and was pretty comfortable those last few holes. I got a bit nervy, but I'm pretty proud of the way I finished.
"I hit one shot at a time. It's a cliché, but it's just that. You can't really worry about anything else. I hit it so well, I'd give myself nine out of ten for ball-striking this week.
"Coming into today I knew I could just stay calm and just hit every shot the same as the last three days. I was pretty calm until, you know, the last hole. I wasn't nervous, just on my toes a little bit. I thought it's a par five, straight downwind, the ball's not going to curve much off the tee - stripe one down and I thought I had it in the bag from there."
Hee Young Park
"Last year was the worst year in my life, and I had to go to Q-School, and I was going to stop golf because I thought (there was) no more game in my mind. Then I made Q-School, and I had a chance to play another year this year. I never stopped, and I think God gave to me this present."
