Leona Maguire recovered from her second round disappointment to post a final round two under par, 70, at the inaugural Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic.
Maguire, who had led the tournament on day one, following a course record 64, endured a miserable day two where she carded no birdies in the morning heat to finish with a +3 round of 75.
Normal service was resumed in the final round though with Maguire carding four birdies early in her round to tie the lead once more but two bogeys on her inward nine, including one on the 18th, put paid to her chances and saw her finish T5th overall, claiming a cheque for €8,529.84.
Lisa Maguire finished down the field following her second consecutive 76 which left her on +11 for the tournament and in a tie for 50th place.
At the head of proceedings, Nuria Iturrios from Spain joined a rare band of back-to-back Ladies European Tour winners by claiming the world’s first ever professional day-night golf tournament, just five days after winning the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco.
Iturrios secured her third LET title with rounds of 68, 67 and 71 for a total of 10-under-par 206 on the renowned Faldo Course at Emirates Golf Club, where course designer Sir Nick Faldo made floodlights an integral part of the design.
The 23-year-old from Palma de Mallorca finished one stroke ahead of German pair Esther Henseleit and Olivia Cowan, with fellow German Karolin Lampert a shot further back in fourth place.
“It’s amazing to win again and I’m so excited,” said Iturrios, who became the first player to capture consecutive titles since Aditi Ashok at the Indian and Qatar Opens in 2016. “Congratulations to Esther, Olivia and every player in the field. It was so cool. I loved playing in the first day-night tournament and I hope to come back next year.”
The LET order of merit leader began the final round tied for the lead with Henseleit, but the rookie professional admitted to feeling the pressure on the first tee as she contended for her first title.
Iturrios birdied the second and third holes to quickly build a three stroke lead, but bogeyed the sixth and then dropped into a share of the lead with Leona Maguire after a double on the seventh, where she found the water off the tee. However, she regained the outright lead at the turn by rolling in a simple birdie putt on the ninth green. She birdied the 10th, but then three-putted the 11th before picking up another shot at the 14th.
She came to the last with a one stroke lead and both Henseleit and Cowan had birdie putts to force a play-off, but Iturrios two putted from eight metres to earn the title, an Omega watch and the famous Dallah trophy, as well as Life Membership of Emirates Golf Club.
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