Five-star finish fires Maguire toward weekend tilt at Dromoland

World number 17 finds scintillating form just in time, going five under in her last five holes to help bring in bumper weekend crowds to castle

GREAT ESCAPE: Ireland’s Leona Maguire chips out of a bunker on the 13th at Dromoland Castle. Pic:INPHO/Ben Brady

A ticket sales spike would have been no surprise at Dromoland Castle at 6.30 pm yesterday as Leona Maguire completed a magical day for the Irish and produced a scintillating finish to light up the KPMG Women’s Irish Open.

The world number 17 is the big draw in Co Clare and after slipping to the cut line with five holes to go, she joined Olivia Mehaffey and four Irish amateurs in making the weekend when she turned on the style and picked up five shots in her last five holes to get to within six shots off the lead. After all, she was 10 strokes behind at halfway 12 months ago before rallying to finish a shot outside a playoff.