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Top-20 finish for Leona Maguire as Skarpnord reigns Down Under

Leona Maguire had a solid outing in Australia
Leona Maguire had a solid outing in Australia

Leona Maguire earned a top-20 finish at the Pacific Bay Resort Australian Ladies Classic, her first Ladies European Tour event as a professional.

The Cavan 24-year-old signed off with a three-over-par 75 to end the tournament in a tie for 20th on three-over.

It was a positive showing in Bonville from Maguire, who gained her Ladies European Tour card at Q School back in December.

Marianne Skarpnord ended a six-year drought to claim her fourth title on the LET after a closely fought battle.

Skarpnord fired a final round of 69 to earn a two-stroke victory on eight-under-par ahead of Australian Hannah Green and Nuria Iturrios of Spain.

"I’m delighted. I’m very, very happy because the last couple of years I’ve been struggling a bit and I haven’t been playing as well as I know I can," said the 33-year-old from Norway, who finished second in the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open last month and has now moved to the top of the LET order of merit.

"I’ve had a great start to this year and it’s nice to see the hard work that I put in finally giving some good results."

Skarpnord started the final round a stroke behind the overnight leader, Madelene Sagstrom and bogeyed the first hole, but she quickly gained a five-way share of the lead with Sagstrom, Hannah Green, Daniela Holmqvist and Nuria Iturrios after the Swede double bogeyed the short third hole.

She gained the outright lead after making a severely breaking putt for birdie on the sixth hole and then made a two-putt birdie on the long seventh to keep her advantage.

New South Wales amateur Doey Choi briefly gained the solo lead after consecutive birdies on the 10th and 11th holes,  but then Skarpnord responded with birdies on 10 and 11 to regain the outright lead on eight-under.

Although Skarnord bogeyed 13, Choi then double bogeyed 14. Swede Jenny Haglund, who was one behind, hit her tee shot into the water on 17 and Choi followed suit, dropping into a tie for fourth with Holmqvist.

One ahead with three to play, Skarpnord dropped a shot on 16 to fall into a tie with Iturrios, but she then holed a gutsy birdie putt on 17 followed by another birdie on 18 after hitting a huge 300 metre drive into the wind which split the fairway.

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