Mesmeric Leona Maguire made light work of the field as she stormed to a five-stroke victory at the eighth annual Symetra Classic at River Run Country Club.
The former world amateur number one is beginning to look a real force in paid company too after notching a second win on the Symetra circuit in her last three starts. Her other finish in those three starts was tied second after a play-off.
Maguire went into the final round tied for the lead and after five pars to lay the foundations, a birdie at 6 sparked the Cavan professional into life. Four more followed as Maguire skated to 10-under par, leaving the field in her wake and finishing with a classy birdie at the par-5 18th to land the cherry on top of a near-flawless performance.
“It was nice that I could sort of cruise in a little bit today,” said Maguire, who also won the Windsor Golf Classic last month. “I got pushed down the stretch a lot by Steph [Na] and EJ [Seong]. This one is special, being back in North Carolina. I had four incredible years at Duke and felt really at home this week.”
The first two-time winner on the Symetra Tour this season has now captured five straight top-five finishes. In her six total starts and Maguire has never finished outside the top-25.
“I’ve got off to a fast start this year and expected to get off to a good start, but maybe not quite this good,” Maguire said. “I have been playing some really solid golf. My putting has been a lot better this year and that has been a big thing for me. I gave myself a lot of chances last year and didn’t take them, but putting has been really solid especially the last few weeks. I was saying to my caddy that this week was more the bogeys I didn’t make rather than the birdies I did.”
Reaction from @leona_maguire ⬇️ the first two-time winner on the #SymetraTour this season after her five-shot victory in the eighth annual @Symetra Classic today #SymetraClassic #Road2LPGA #DriveOn pic.twitter.com/alKfw48UH5
— Epson Tour (@EpsonTour) May 18, 2019
Maguire, who picked up her maiden professional win on the Symetra last month, collected a cheque worth $26,250 for the ‘W’ yet although she sits atop the Volvik Race for the Card standings, the former Duke University star will now be thinking about fast-tracking her progression to the LPGA Tour with four wins on Symetra good enough to earn automatic qualification to the main tour.
Her form certainly looks good enough to compete amongst the elite. Maguire found 15 of 18 greens in regulation during her final round and needed just 28 putts with the result now her fifth straight top-5 finish, a run that has included two wins.
Australia’s Stephanie Na and American, Brittany Benvenuto shared second spot on five-under par.
VOLVIK RACE FOR THE CARD STANDINGS AFTER WEEK SEVEN
Following the seventh tournament of the 2019 Symetra Tour season, the Volvik Race for the Card welcomes a fresh top-10.
The victory and $26,250 winner’s cheque move Leona Maguire up one spot to No. 1, having earned $73,790 across six starts this season. Here is a look at the current top-10 heading into the inaugural Zimmer Biomet Championship hosted by Nancy Lopez at the Lake Course of Grand National on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Opelika, Ala. from May 23-26:
1. Leona Maguire – $73,790
2. Julieta Granada (Asuncion, Paraguay) – $51,926
3. Jillian Hollis (Rocky River, Ohio) – $37,009
4. Maria Parra (Guadiaro, Spain) – $30,345
5. Cydney Clanton (Concord, North Carolina) – $29,786
6. Kelly Tan (Batu Pahat, Malaysia)- $26,180
7. Lauren Coughlin (Charlottesville, Virginia) – $25,321
8. Kyung Kim (Chandler, Arizona) – $25,302
9. Ssu-Chia Cheng (Taipei, Chinese Taipei) – $24,017
10. Madison Pressel (Boca Raton, Florida) – $22,485
Full Symetra Classic Scoring HERE
Leave a comment