Leona Maguire will have a pep in her step heading to the Asian swing on the LPGA Tour after she finished in the top-20 at the Founders Cup thanks to a bogey free weekend.
Maguire only scraped into the weekend but took full advantage with bogey free rounds of 68 and 67 to climb into a share of 19th place on eight-under.
The Cavan star birdied the 4th, 8th, 14th and 16th to cap off an encouraging start to the season after a top-10 last week.
At the top, Yealimi Noh claimed her maiden PGA Tour victory.
Noh began the final round one stroke ahead of Ko at 18-under and extended her advantage to two after picking up her first birdie of the round on the par-4 2nd hole. Ko birdied the fourth to once again sit one behind Noh and then tied the lead alongside her at 19-under with a birdie on the par-5 6th hole.
Ko took the lead from Noh after picking up her third Sunday birdie on the par-5 8th hole to climb to 20-under, and that’s where things stood until the pair got to 13. After going bogey-free for 95 holes, a streak that began last Saturday at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, Ko tripped up with a bogey on the 13th, a misstep that dropped her back to 19-under.
Noh birdied 13 to regain a one-shot lead over Ko at 20-under, and when she picked up another birdie on 14 to move to 21-under and Ko made her second consecutive bogey to slip to 18-under, Noh had a three-shot advantage with four holes to play in Bradenton, Fla.
Ko made another bogey on 16, and at that point for Noh, the pressure was off and she easily parred in to post a 3-under 68, emerging victorious for the first time in her LPGA Tour career at the Founders Cup presented by U.S. Virgin Islands.
“This means so much to me,” Noh said on the 18th green. “I worked really hard the past few years and went through a lot of struggles. This means so much to me. I told myself 2025 is going to be my year, so this is the best way to start it.
“I’ve been in contention a couple of times, and I told myself I could do it, but this is the first time it got done. This is a really big confidence booster for me and the rest of the year.”
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