Leona Maguire has been on a hot run of form in recent weeks and she certainly turned on the style in the final round of the Amundi Evian Championship, firing a record equalling 61!
To put the score in perspective, Maguire’s final round haul tied the lowest round in major history by either men or women and puts her name next to yet another record and when asked if she was aware on course of her feat she said;
“No, I mean, when we were in the middle of that rain delay this morning before I tee’d off it was — yeah, I thought today was going to be quite a tough day.
“It’s one of those courses. I mean, we saw Lee6 do it the other day and you know it’s possible, but everything just kind of has to go your way. I felt like I been playing really well the last couple days; I just didn’t hole any putts.
“It was a case of staying as patient as you possibly can and this course definitely tests it. Birdie on the first and then holed a really nice putt on the second and just kind of snowballed from there really.”
Maguire started the day on 3-under par and well down the field but ten birdies in her round, including closing with four-in-a-row to finish her day propelled her up the leaderboard into 6th position as she now packs her bags for Tokyo to represent Ireland alongside Stephanie Meadow.
“There really wasn’t a whole a lot of difference between the 61 today and the 71 yesterday,” said Maguire after her round.
“I came off the course yesterday feeling like I played great and just didn’t hole any putts, and today they went in.
“Today I hit it that little bit closer and just holed a few more putts, so it’s fine margins as is golf. Today was all about getting good round in and trying to get the momentum going into the Olympics next week.
“I was fortunate enough to play in Rio five years ago as an amateur. Going back is a little bit different experience this time. Hopefully the few years of professional golf under my belt will help me this time. Never been to Asia before. Excited to go to Japan.
“I don’t know what really to expect, but, yeah, representing your country at the Olympic Games is the biggest honour you can have and I’m really excited for that”, added Maguire.
For her part, Meadow shot a four-under par final round to finish on 5-under for the tournament and in T29 position.
All the talk was of Lee6 though who led by five shots heading to the final day but 39 strokes on the front nine brought her back to the field and she needed a birdie on the final green in regulation play to force a playoff with Minjee Lee, who started the day seven shots adrift, with both players finishing on 18-under par.
On the first playoff hole Lee6 found water with her second shot while Minjee Lee was safely on the putting surface in two and two-putted for the win and after being doused in champagne and Evian she said to Sky Sports;
“I had 173 to the pin for my second shot and I said 5-iron but my caddie said 6-iron and it was really close. I’m really happy.
“I didn’t think about the leaderboard while I was playing I just tried to play my best. It’s just really great to win a Major – it’s just really amazing.”
Leave a comment