Leona Maguire dug deep and clinched just her second career top-10 finish and her first on US soil when she birdied her last two holes to tie for sixth on five-under-par in the LPGA Drive On Championship at Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club in Florida.

The Slieve Russell star (26) opened with back to back bogeys in blustery conditions but then fought back by making four birdies against two bogeys in a ten-hole stretch in the middle of her round before finishing birdie-birdie for a two-under 70.

Scores

“I think the biggest thing was staying patient all week,” said the Co Cavan star, who was pleased to recover from her slow start with three birdies in a row from the fifth, “especially the way the winds gusted and especially when I made the turn here, 10, 11, 12.

“Didn't get off the best start today. Birdied the first two holes but didn't feel like I did an awful lot wrong. And got on a nice run, birdied three in a row and then, and yeah, just tried to be smart, hit a lot of greens, and then holed a couple putts, 17, 18 coming in

“I suppose it is something that I've always prided myself on, the way I bounce back after I drop a few. Took advantage of the par-5s today. I think I birdied all of them which, comes in very handy. I mean, it's just that kind of golf course. The way the greens are and how firm they are you take the pars on some holes and try and make birdies on the ones that are there and try not to beat yourself up too bad.”

She finished ten shots behind US Solheim Cup star Austin Ernst (29) who raced six shots clear, then saw her lead reduced to three shots with five holes to play before she eventually shot 70 to clinch her third LPGA win by five shots from Jennifer Kupcho, who shot 74, on 15-under par.

Stephanie Meadow also finished well, picking up shots at the 15th and 16th as she carded a level-par 72 for a share of 34th place on one-over and bank $8,499.

Ranked 167th in the world, Maguire is likely to move to a new high when the Rolex World Rankings are updated later this week. She jumped 68 places when she finished tied fourth in last year’s Vic Open in Australia for her first top-10 and looks likely to edge close to the world’s top 100.

She also picked $47,257, which boosts her 14 places to 14th in the Race to CME Globe standings.

And with two weeks off now before the tour resumes with the Kia Classic in Carlsbad before the opening Major of the year at the ANA Inspiration, the pride of Ballyconnell is in a good place as she returns to her Orlando base to recharge.

“I am a member of Lake Nona, now, so, yeah, back there,” she said. “Maybe take a day or so off, get back just fine-tuning everything again. More of the same of what I did before these first two events.

“Game is in pretty nice shape, which is good. Just a case of fine-tuning everything. Get a few games in with the girls there. A few games with Annika before these two events, maybe see if she wants to play again.

“That's the good thing about being there. There is always someone to play with. The guys are a little busy, G-Mac and all of them were around before the last run but might be a little busy at the PLAYERS these weeks.

“There are always people to play with, and I think that was the thing I missed about making the jump from college. I was kind of by myself a lot of the time and not having people to practice with, play against; whereas this one I had a bit more of that, which definitely helped.”

Now in her second “rookie” season following last year’s COVID-19 curtailed campaign, she’s hoping to do what she did in her second year on the Symetra Tour and take a step up.

“Trying to do the same, follow the same trend,” she said.

Looking forward to the ANA Inspiration set for the week of April 1, she’s also keen to move as far up the world rankings as possible having missed out on last year’s US Women’s Open by one spot.

“I'm not to US Open, so the big goal is to try and get off to the good start to get into US Open,” she added. “I was first alternate last year and sat around Houston and didn't get in, so the goal is to avoid that this year.”

The US Women’s Open will be played at the Olympic Club is San Francisco from June 3-7 with the world’s top 75 by May 18 earning exemptions as well as the winners of official LPGA events played since the 2020 US Women’s Open. See exemptions