Leona Maguire was beaten by Jennifer Kupchko on the second sudden-death playoff hole at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give at Blythefield Country Club in Michigan on the LPGA Tour.
Maguire shot a superb 65 on Sunday to get into a playoff with the Kupchko and Nelly Korda, who shot 71s and 72s respectively.
In a three-way playoff, Kupchko hit a fantastic iron shot into the 18th on the first playoff hole to three feet for eagle but missed the putt to win, as Maguire two-putted from 30 feet for birdie after a well-hit fairway wood from 208 yards. Korda parred the playoff hole after three-putting to be eliminated.
On the second playoff hole, Maguire hit her fairway wood off the tee in the right rough and looked in trouble. She hit a fantastic wood cut shot around the trees on to the green from an unlikely position, but she three-putted for par, as Kupchko birdied.
The Cavan woman started in blistering form with four birdies in her first six holes, a sole bogey at the third hole. She followed up that up with birdies at the 10th, 13th and 14th holes, moving into a tie for the lead late on Sunday. Kupchko birdied the 12th and 14th holes to move two clear of the Irish woman. But Maguire finished in style to birdie the last for an 18-under-par total after rounds of 69, 68, 68 and 65.
A bogey by Kupchko at the 16th and two pars to finish set up a sudden-death playoff, as Korda birdied the last to make the playoff. The defending champion Korda had a disappointing level-par 72 on Sunday, the worst of the top eight players, as she was beaten in the playoff.
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko finished fourth after a bogey-free 68 on Sunday. Her sister Jessica Korda was in a tie for fifth, alongside Spain’s Carlota Ciganda and Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul.
Last year, Maguire also finished second in the Meijer LPGA Classic, two strokes behind Korda. Her second-place finish was nevertheless good preparation for the 27-year-old in advance of the Women’s PGA Championship next week at Congressional Blue Course.
Maguire had struggled for form since her win at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Crown Colony in February, missing four of the previous five cuts before this event. She did, however, finish in the top 10 at the Women’s US Open earlier in June, finishing tied 8th, in a tournament won by Australia’s Minjee Lee. She will earn $200,685 for finishing tied second.
