Another top-10 for Maguire as McKibbin shines in Joburg finale
Leona Maguire. Credit: Tristan Jones / LET
LEONA MAGUIRE'S wait for her maiden Ladies European Tour win goes on, but she still finished the season on a high with a fourth-place finish in the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España.
The Co Cavan star closed with a bogey-free, four-under 69 to finish on 16-under par (€29,250), just two shots outside a playoff that saw Sweden's Caroline Hedwall beat Switzerland's Morgane Metraux with a birdie at the fourth extra hole at Alferini Golf.
Just two strokes behind Metraux heading out, Maguire turned in two-under to remain two shots back, but while she made a 20-footer at the 11th to get to within a stroke of the leader, she would make just one more birdie coming home.
Her failure to birdie the par-five 16th proved key and while she birdied the 17th, she had to settle for her ninth top-10 finish from 26 starts this season — ten including her maiden LPGA Tour win in February.
Sweden's Linn Grant matched fifth-placed Alice Hewson's best of the week, eight-under 65 to finish a shot outside the playoff and clinch the season-long Race to the Costa del Sol title as Hedwall shot 67 to Metraux's 69 before going on to win with a birdie four at the 17th after they’d parred the par-three 18th hole three times.
It was a hole where Hedwall has had success all week and she made the green in two and sunk her 15-foot birdie putt to win her seventh LET title.
“It just feels awesome, it feels forever that I have waited for that win,” she said. “I wasn’t sure I still had it in me. It’s so nice to get it together and get this win.
“It has been a rollercoaster to be honest, I had injury in 2014 that was really tough on me, and I had a hard turn on my self-confidence. That win in 2018 meant a lot to me.
“It was tough during Covid-19, I didn’t want to travel as much but now it’s more or less back to normal and it feels great. My game is coming together really nicely, and it was awesome to finish with that.”
A four-time LET winner, Grant was bogey-free in her fourth round with three birdies on her front nine, before rolling in a further three on the back nine and a spectacular eagle three from just four feet at the 17th.
She said: “It was very exciting. I came off yesterday quite frustrated, so it was nice to play a solid round today and I didn’t really think about it much until the 17th when I happened to eagle. All of a sudden, I was in the lead. I’m happy with my round and the tournament.”
With her third-place finish, Grant clinched the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol title having capped an incredible rookie season.
She added: “I am just very relieved, very happy. This is huge for Swedish golf, having Johanna as well as number three on the rankings. I’ve had Carro [Hedwall] as a role model myself to just see her out there winning and getting that moment for herself is awesome as well.”
Maguire was fourth on 16-under with Hewson and Spanish amateur Cayetana Fernandez one shot further back in T5 on 15-under.
Meanwhile, Holywood rookie Tom McKibbin (19) showed his class when he closed with a five-under 66 to clinch his first top-20 finish as a fully-fledged cardholder in the Joburg Open at Houghton Golf Club.
The Co Down star saw his hopes fade of challenging for one of three spots in The Open when he came home in 39 in a third-round 74.
But he got his revenge on the back nine yesterday, scorching home in five-under 30 to tie for 18th in nine-under (€11,716)
He finished 12 strokes behind the unheralded Yorkshireman Dan Bradbury (23), who took full advantage of a sponsor's invitation by claiming a career-changing wire-to-wire victory in only his third start.
Bradbury had no status on any tour, but he is now urgently seeking somewhere to do his laundry after closing with a four-under 67 to win his maiden professional title by three strokes on 21-under par.
"I was meant to be on a flight out this evening, but happily, that's changed," said Bradbury, who is now set for this week's Investec South African Open. "I didn't even pack enough clothes for more than one week."
Bradbury won a spot in The Open at Royal Liverpool alongside runner-up Sami Välimäki of Finland and South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who edged out Daniel van Tonder for the third spot by virtue of his higher world ranking.
Australia's Cameron Smith will defend the Claret Jug at Hoylake and he was celebrating on home soil yesterday when he won the weather-affected Fortinet Australian PGA Championship for the third time.
Smith closed with a three-under 68 to win by three shots on 14-under from Australia's Jason Scrivener and Japan's Ryo Hisatsune, who shot 67 and 65, respectively.
