Leona Maguire earns $313k and a huge boost after second-place finish in Vegas 

ON THE UP: Leona Maguire of Ireland tees off on the seventh hole. Pic: Paul Devlin/Getty Images

Leona Maguire had 313,951 reasons to smile on Sunday night but even in Las Vegas it may be a wise bet to suggest that the moment mattered more than the money. 

The Cavan woman broke back into the top 10 of an LPGA event for the first time this season and ended an eight-month stretch of being left off the first page of the leaderboard at the Aramco Championship. 

Maguire battled the challenging Shadow Creek course all weekend and came out mostly on top in Sin City, carding three under-par rounds out of four to finish on 2-under overall. That was good enough for a tie for second place alongside world No.2 Nelly Korda with her fellow American star Lauren Coughlin streaking away to win by five shots on 7-under. 

Touch of class for Leona Maguire 👌 pic.twitter.com/zk2AaV0kB1

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) April 6, 2026

The 31-year-old had started her 2026 campaign in steady form but missed back-to-back cuts leading into last week so her consistent form across the four days at Shadow Creek — shooting 70-71-74-71 — will have been particularly pleasing withe the first major of the year just three weeks away. 

Coughlin shot an even-par 72 for a 7-under total, earning the 33-year-old from Virginia $600,000. She won her third LPGA Tour title and first in the United States, after winning in Canada and Scotland in 2024.

The $4 million prize money in the event organized by Golf Saudi and co-sanctioned by the LPGA and Ladies European Tour drew 38 of the top 40 players. It’s the first such event in the United States, and more appear to be coming to North America.

“I think it just means more because after 2024 and not winning is hard,” Coughlin said. “I didn’t get it done earlier in the year last year when I had a couple chances and that really bothered me. I was like, ‘What if I don’t ever get to do it again? What if that’s the best golf I every played in 2024?’ Those thoughts were hard not to think last year.”

Wires