Golf

Leona Maguire claims ACC individual title for a second time

It was a third win this season for the Slieve Russell player as Duke also won overall title

Leona Maguire (right of trio holding the trophy) with the winning Duke team.

Shay Keenan
Mon Apr 17 2017 - 12:58

World amateur number one Leona Maguire shot a final round of two-under-par 70 to win the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship individual title for the second time in three years, claiming her third win of the season and her seventh career win for Duke University at The Reserve Golf Club in Pawleys Island, South Carolina.

The ACC Championship is the regional division in which Duke play with the NCAA Championship – the national division – taking place next month.

Maguire may have turned pro at the end of last year but decided to continue her college playing career and has reaped the dividends with three wins, a runner up and a sixth place finish since her decision.

The Slieve Russell player was tied for the lead with a round to go after rounds of 68 and 72 but her 70 saw her finish two strokes ahead of Wake Forest’s Jennifer Kupcho on six-under par 210.

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With seven collegiate wins, Maguire is third in the history of Duke University and joins Amanda Blumenherst (3), Brittany Lang (2) and Jenny Chuasiriporn (2) as multiple ACC individual winners from the Blue Devils.

“We’ve got a really strong conference this year, and I knew that to win [the individual medal] was going to take some really strong golf,” said Maguire. “The course here was in fabulous condition and the greens were great. You knew that when you hit a good shot that you were going to be rewarded.”

Duke also claimed the ACC Championship with a five-under-par 54-hole total of 859 to win by nine strokes from Florida State (868). Miami (874), North Carolina (876) and Clemson (877).

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