Back nine fightback not enough for Leona Maguire as Klára Spilková wins Irish Open

The omens were everywhere. The man with the Queen of Cavan polo shirt, another with a Cavan flag. And, perhaps most of all, the galleries at this rebirth of the KPMG Women’s Irish Open, so large that marshals were required to widen the rope walkways boxes mid-round to accommodate the legions of Leona Maguire fans who converged on Dromoland Castle for the final round in hope and expectation.

But it was not to be, not this time. Maguire – the world number 18 and headline act – used up every particle of energy to make it happen, after a final round 68 for a 13-under-par 275 left her in tied-fourth just one stroke adrift of a play-off where Czech Republic’s Klára Spilková claimed a second LET title with a birdie on the first hole of sudden death to see off Nicole Broch Estrup and Ursula Wikstrom.

Certainly a case of what might have been for Maguire, of so close yet so far. For sure, it was a truly gallant effort from the Solheim Cup star, playing for a fourth straight week and who’d overcome jetlag – following her eight time zone journey from Oregon – where a poor second round on Friday of 75 had put her on the back foot only to come out fighting over the weekend with rounds of 65-68 to ultimately come up one shot shy of a play-off place.

Just how close Maguire came could be analysed on reflection of a round where she started bogey-bogey – three-putting the first from 50 feet and driving into the trees right on the second – and, turning in 36 strokes, one over on the card – before she turned on the afterburners on the homeward run to claim birdies on the 10th (from 15 feet), the 13th (from four feet), the 14th (from six feet), the 16th (two putting from 60 feet) and the 18th (from six feet) to come home in 32 strokes.

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And, ruefully, there was the one that got away on the 15th, from seven feet. Small margins.

In this reinvention of the Irish Open, back on the LET schedule for the first time in 10 years, a crowd of 10,000 – with 24,000 over the four days – brought what the winner Spilková testified as a “great vibe” to the championship, albeit with the vast majority it must be said willing and urging on Maguire.

“Friday was the killer round,” confessed Maguire of that 75 which put her 10 shots behind the leader at the midway juncture. “It would have been easy to give up on Friday night but I came out fighting on Saturday and gave myself a chance to win which was all I could ask. I am pretty proud of how I came out fighting over the weekend,” said Maguire, adding: “The front nine hasn’t been my friend this week. Hopefully next year when I come back it will be a little kinder to me.”

In fact, Maguire bogeyed the first hole on three of the four days and was a combined eight-over-par for the opening five holes over the four rounds. Spilková, in contrast, negotiated that stretch (arguably the toughest on the course) in a combined one-over for the tournament.

For the victor, though, the winning and losing of the title came not so much on the actual play-off hole but in making a miraculous par on the par three 17th in the final round. After her tee shot finished in the water hazard, the 27-year-old Czech – who turned professional as a teenager and most recently has been playing on the Futures Tour in the USA – removed her socks and shoes and managed to hit the water ball to three feet.

“That was definitely the best up and down of my whole life, to be honest. I am just really happy that it came out that way,” said Spilkova.

Then, at the first play-off hole, the par five 18th, where she had watched both Broch Estrup and Wikstrom miss their birdie putts, Spilkova – who’d almost holed out with her eagle chip from the greenside rough – rolled her three-footer into the tin cup.

“To make the putt, I was just trying to stay calm. I knew it is a metre uphill putt and I made millions of those in my life and I just knew, ‘I am going to make it’, I put good speed on it and I felt really strong. I was like, ‘I can do this’, so that was great,” said Spilkova, who claimed the Waterford Crystal trophy and a payday of €60,000.

Final scores

274 K Spilkova (Cze) 66 68 73 67, U Wikstrom (Fin) 69 66 71 68, N Broch Estrup (Den) 70 66 70 68

(Spilkova won with a birdie at the 1st extra hole, 18th)

275 S Tarning Soenderby (Den) 69 65 73 68, C Wolf (Aut) 67 69 71 68, Leona Maguire (Irl) 67 75 65 68, A Dimmock (Eng) 66 72 68 69

276 L Beveridge (Sco) 69 71 71 65, G Cowley (Eng) 67 73 68 68, C Alonso (Esp) 69 65 72 70

278 H Kreuzer (Ger) 72 70 71 65, N Dlamini (Swz) 73 67 70 68, S Schober (Aut) 70 67 70 71

279 C Alexander (Rsa) 70 69 73 67, L Harm (Ger) 70 69 71 69, F Johnson (Eng) 71 66 70 72, M Folke (Swe) 70 62 74 73, J Karlsson (Swe) 71 68 67 73

280 B Brewerton (Wal) 71 69 71 69, L Grant (Swe) 71 67 72 70, J Gustavsson (Swe) 68 71 71 70, M Maclaren (Eng) 70 72 68 70, P Babnik (Slo) 70 72 68 70, C Williams (Wal) 67 71 70 72, A Van Dam (Ned) 67 68 70 75

281 L Young (Eng) 71 70 71 69, E Arvidsson (Swe) 67 70 74 70, L Pettersson (Swe) 71 67 72 71,

282 L Boqvist (Swe) 65 72 76 69, M Sangkapong (Tha) 68 72 73 69, M Simmermacher (Arg) 71 72 70 69, S Witt (Ger) 72 71 70 69, N Garcia (Rsa) 68 72 72 70, V Kapoor (Ind) 72 70 70 70

283 C Chevalier (Fra) 70 72 72 69, M De Roey (Bel) 74 68 72 69, A Pelaez Trivino (Esp) 70 71 72 70, C Gainer (Eng) 68 72 72 71, O Cowan (Ger) 68 70 73 72, M Hernandez (Esp) 73 67 71 72

284 H Burke (Eng) 70 71 74 69, C Hedwall (Swe) 71 71 71 71, M Stavnar (Nor) 74 69 70 71, R Davies (Eng) 70 69 71 74

285 A Sauzon (Fra) 71 70 75 69

286 K Lund (Nor) 70 69 77 70, A-L Caudal (Fra) 66 72 77 71, A Swayne (Isv) 65 75 72 74

287 N Komulainen (Fin) 72 70 75 70, VE Carta (Ita) 72 71 73 71, T Malik (Ind) 73 69 73 72, B Morgan (Wal) 71 72 72 72, M Prat (Esp) 71 72 72 72, L Osala (Fin) 70 69 75 73

288 T Koivisto (Fin) 70 73 71 74

289 S Bringner (Swe) 69 70 79 71, M Martin (Esp) 69 73 75 72, L Sobron Galmes (Esp) 71 71 68 79

290 M Skarpnord (Nor) 68 74 77 71, M Thomson (Sco) 67 76 74 73

291 L Malchirand (Fra) 73 68 77 73, T Melecka (Cze) 71 71 76 73.