Twin sisters raise the Irish flag in Spain

FORGET the weekend heroics of Darren Clarke and Des Smyth. Irish golf has another double reason to celebrate.

Ten-year-old twin sisters Lisa and Leona Maguire finished first and second at the Tiger Woods’ endorsed Young Masters Golf Grand Masters Final in La Manga, Spain, over the weekend.

The Cavan sisters played the 5,700m-championship course at La Manga in the flag competition whereby a flag is placed where the golfer has hit their final shot.

Lisa used her final shot to hole on the 18th, while Leona’s last shot was on the 18th fairway. Third was Sophie Godley of Wales, who finished on the 17th fairway.

The performance of both girls was made even more impressive by the fact that they were playing against much older golfers. The two eldest players in the field, aged 17 and 18 finished on the 15th fairway.

The sisters were the only Irish ladies representatives at the Spanish course. Lisa originally qualified in Balmoral on August 22, with Leona qualifying a day later at Dublin’s Forrest Little. Both girls qualified for the La Manga tournament after winning the highly competitive Great Britain and Ireland qualifiers at Celtic Manor on October 2.