The positive? Another top-10 finish in the bank for Leona Maguire, her sixth of the season so far on the LPGA Tour.
The negative? A double-bogey start on her very first hole effectively derailed any hope of claiming a second win of the year, as the 27-year-old Cavan golfer ultimately finished with a final round 69 for a total of 13-under-par 271 in the Dana Open at Highland Meadows in Sylvania, Ohio.
Mexico’s Gaby Lopez produced a stunning closing 63, including finishing with three straight birdies which brought a clenched-fisted air punch on the 72nd hole, for a winning total of 18-under-par 266 that gave her a third LPGA Tour title and first in 2½ as she finished one stroke clear of America Meghan Kang.
For Maguire, that dreadful start put her on the back foot – she fell down to tied-19th – but she responded brilliantly with a hat-trick of birdies from the seventh to the ninth to turn in 33 and then added another birdie on the 13th.
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A bogey on the 15th was followed by a bounce-back birdie on the 16th but she was unable to manage a birdie on either of the two finishing holes, both Par 5s, and she had to settle for a tied-10th finish alongside Carlota Ciganda and Hannah Green.
On a difficult playing day impacted by rain and a drop in temperatures, Maguire hit nine of 14 fairways and found 14 greens-in-regulation. She remains on in Ohio for a second week for this week’s Kroger Queen City Championship at Kenwood Country Club.
Lopez, who missed the cut in last week’s Canadian Open, had started the final round in 11th place but leapfrogged up with a bogey-free round that featured eight birdies, most importantly a run of three on the spin from the 16th to seal her first win since the Tournament of Champions in January 2020.
Of getting into the zone in her final round, Lopez said: “It was really [about] creating a quiet space before hitting the ball, committing to that every single shot. It’s so easy to get ahead of yourself, especially down the stretch. But if you keep in the present, that’s when magic happens.”
In the Made in HimmerLand tournament in Denmark on the DP World Tour, former Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson claimed an emotional second tour win – going back to his 2014 Dunhill Links success – after firing a final round 67 for a total of 263, one shot clear of Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson.
Jonny Caldwell was the best-placed Irish player after a closing 69 for 278 left him in tied-52nd, while Paul Dunne endured a difficult weekend and finished with a 73 for 286 (73rd).
In the B-NL Trophy in the Netherlands on the Challenge Tour, Germany’s Alexander Knappe triumphed with a closing 68 for 268 that gave him a one stroke winning margin over Sweden’s Mikael Lindberg.
However, it proved to be a rewarding tournament too for teenager Tom McKibbin who finished with a 68 for 271 that gave him a share of fourth place and moved the Northern Irishman up five places to 13th in the updated Race to Mallorca order of merit as he seeks to claim a full DP World Tour card for next season.
John Murphy also improved his standing with a 70 for 276 (tied-24th) that improved his order of merit position by two spots up to 28th.
