Leona Maguire Secures Historic Victory at Aramco Team Series with ‘Shot of the Year’
Leona Maguire has made history as the first Irish golfer to win on the Ladies European Tour, clinching the Aramco Team Series title with a dramatic final shot. The 29-year-old from County Cavan hit a precise hybrid to seven feet on the last hole and sank an eagle putt, sealing a wire-to-wire victory at the Centurion Club.
Maguire faced a challenging front nine, initially strong with two birdies before a series of setbacks. She dropped four shots in a five-hole stretch, including a double bogey on the sixth, where she drove out of bounds and three-putted. This left her trailing American Alison Lee.
Lee, however, bogeyed the 14th and 18th holes, finishing with a five-under 68, tying Castlewarden rookie Lauren Walsh at six-under. Walsh closed with a stunning eight-under 65, her second consecutive tied third finish on tour. Maguire fought back, reaching seven-under with a birdie on the 12th but dropped a shot on the 16th after driving into sand. Veteran Maria Hernandez set the target at seven-under after birdieing the 18th.
Needing a birdie to force a playoff and an eagle to win, Maguire rose to the occasion. She hit a sensational hybrid to the green and converted the eagle putt, finishing with a level-par 73. Her victory by one shot over Hernandez and two over Walsh, Lee, and Georgia Hall, marked her fifth professional win.
“I feel like it was tough out there and I didn’t play my best golf,” said Maguire, who now heads to the Amundi Evian Championship with her sights set on her first major win. “My caddie Dermot (Byrne) kept saying, ‘be patient, be patient.’ Right before I hit the shot to the 18th, he said, ‘Let’s hit the shot of the year here.’ It was a perfect number, and my trusty hybrid came in useful once again.”
Reflecting on her rollercoaster day, Leona Maguire said, “I knew Alison was making a run. I thought I had to get to 10 under. I just hung in there even when things weren’t going right and waited for it to turn. It was nice to finish in style on 18.”
Leona Maguire, with two wins on both the Epson Tour and the LPGA Tour, was thrilled to secure her first victory in Europe. “I was just trying to hit a good putt,” she said of her eagle putt. “It was almost like a Solheim Cup moment, but that putt was for me, my family, and Ireland.”
Lauren Walsh, the Carton House touring professional, also had a standout performance, enhancing her chances of qualifying for the AIG Women’s Open. She made six birdies in her first ten holes, followed by a bogey at the 14th, a birdie at the 16th, and an eagle at the 18th to set the clubhouse target for the second consecutive week. “Honestly, it was pretty special,” said Walsh. “My coach texted me last night to say, ‘Go break 70 tomorrow and see what happens.’ After being five under through ten, I thought, let’s make a few more birdies coming in and see what happens.”
While Walsh fell short of her first win, she boosted her chances of making the AIG Women’s Open field at St Andrews.
In other golf news, it was a bittersweet day for Bernhard Langer, who bid farewell to the DP World Tour at the BMW International Open in Munich. The 42-time DP World Tour winner missed the cut by two shots after a closing 73. “It’s hard to put into words,” Langer said. “Growing up in a village of 800 people where nobody knew what golf was, I was able to live that dream for 50 years.”
Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson led by two shots from France’s Romain Langasque in Munich with an eight-under 64, while West Waterford’s Séamus Power trailed early clubhouse leaders CT Pan and Aaron Rai by six shots at the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic.
In the Arnold Palmer Cup at Lahinch, Ireland’s Max Kennedy, Sara Byrne, Ryan Griffin, and Kate Lanigan won their mixed fourball matches, helping the International team lead the USA 6.5-5.5.
