'It's huge for Irish golf' - Leona Maguire makes history with first Irish win on LPGA tour

Leona Maguire has won the LPGA Drive On Championship, winning by four shots from Lexi Thompson.

Sat, 05 Feb, 2022 - 22:00

Cian Locke

Leona Maguire has won the LPGA Drive On Championship in Florida. The Cavan woman's win at the Golden Ocala Golf Club is the first by an Irish woman on tour.

A magnificent final round of 67 saw Maguire finish three shots clear of Lexi Thompson.

The LPGA Tour’s first Irish champion! 🇮🇪

Leona Maguire wins the LPGA #DriveOn Championship! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/WgqXJFMUCh
— LPGA (@LPGA) February 5, 2022

Maguire had seven birdies in the third round of this 54-hole event to card a total of -18.

"It's a bit surreal...it’s 17 years in the making. You kind of wonder if it's ever going to happen. I’m just proud of how the whole week went, especially today," she told Sky Sports after the history-making round.

"I have a lot of people to thank and it’s been a long road, but it’s probably more relief now than anything else.

"It's huge for Irish golf. There's never an Irish player on the tour, let alone a winner. Hopefully, there's a lot of people watching at home with big smiles on their faces. And little girls watching, hoping they can hole a putt like that too."

Maguire enjoyed a breakthrough year on tour in 2021. She starred in European's Solheim Cup win recorded two second-places and four top 10 finishes.

And she used those experiences when the chance of a maiden win presented itself again.

"It was just to stay really patient. I felt like I did a really good job of that this week. I knew my game was close, I did a lot of hard work in the off-season and finally got there in the end."

Before her round, Maguire had told LPGA.com she had learnt from being in contention during last year's tour.

"I was in contention a few times last year and learnt some things from that," she said.

"Solheim Cup obviously, just sticking to the same game plan. There's a lot of good players here, there's a lot of quality shots that need to be hit between us."