Maguire just four back at Evian; Bronze for Irish girls
Cara Gainer and Harry Ewing. Picture LET
Leona Maguire rallied with two birdies in her last five holes to lie just four shots off the lead heading into the final round of the Amundi Evian Championship in France.
The Co Cavan star (30) added a one-under 70 to rounds of 65 and 71 to share 12th place on seven-under par at Evian Resort.
England’s Cara Gainer and Australia’s Gabriela Ruffels share the lead on 11-under par with the top 20 on the leaderboard covered by just five strokes.
Maguire went into the third round hoping to hit more fairways and give herself more birdie chances.
But while she hit 10 of 13 fairways and missed only two greens in regulation, she made little with the putter in terms of progressing up the leaderboard until late in her round.
After failing to get up and down for par at the short second, the Solheim Cup star birdied the sixth but dropped another shot after missing another green at the par-three eighth.
She finished strongly, however, rolling in birdies at the 210-yard 14th and the short par-four 17th to finish in a seven-way tie for 12th and give herself a chance on the final day in an event where she closed with a stunning 61 in 2021 to finish sixth.
Gainer, who was third in the Jabra Ladies Open at Evian Resort earlier this season and has Ireland’s Harry Ewing on her bag, made an eagle at the seventh and added six birdies in a seven-under 64 to share the lead.
“I made a great par save on the first, which really settled my nerves”, said the LET winner.
“Then I made a great putt on the second hole for birdie. I think one-under through two, kind of settled me down and I rolled a nice putt in again on four.
“My eagle putt was definitely a highlight of the day. I hit a great drive, a great hybrid into the green - about ten feet and holed the putt.”
Ruffels got off to a shaky start with a bogey on the first but bounced back with a birdie and the second and added five more to card an impressive 66.
They lead by a shot from Australian duo Minjee Lee and Grace Kim, Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul, and South Korea’s Somi Lee.
Japan’s Yuri Yoshida shot 63 to share seventh with South Africa’s Casandra Alexander on nine-under while France’s Nastasia Nadaud, South Korea’s Jenny Shin, and Hye-Jin Choi are a further shot back in joint ninth on eight-under par.
On the HotelPlanner Tour, Max Kennedy double-bogeyed the 17th and shot a one-under 69 that left him six shots off the lead heading into the final round of the D+D REAL Czech Challenge.
The Dubliner is tied for 20th on 12-under behind Australia’s Danny List and Spain’s Albert Boneta, who head the field by two strokes on 17 under at Royal Beroun.
Meanwhile, Ireland suffered playoff heartbreak for the second day running and lost 4-3 to England in the bronze medal match at the European Men’s Amateur Team Championship in Killarney.
Just 24 hours after losing on the 19th to Denmark in the semi-finals, the hosts trailed 2-0 after the morning foursomes following 4&3 defeats for Stuart Grehan and Caolan Rafferty and Thomas Higgins and John Doyle.
Singles wins by Grehan and Matt McClean, and a one-hole defeat for Higgins to Weaver made it 3-3.
The other two matches went to the 19th, but Ireland could only win one.
Doyle beat Luke Poulter, the son of Ryder Cup legend Ian, to level the scores, but Rafferty fell at the first extra hole to Charlie Foster.
Italy, who were champions on home soil in 1999, claimed the title for the second time with a resounding 6-1 over Denmark in the gold medal match..
Spain won the European Ladies’ Team Championship with a 4.5-2.5 win over France at Golf de Chantilly, where Ireland beat England 3-2 to finish fifth
In the European Girls’ Amateur Championship at Slaley Hall in England, Ireland beat Germany 4-3 to take bronze when Hannah Lee-McNamara won her singles on the 19th to secure a 4-3 win.
Spain beat Italy 4.5-2.5 in the gold medal match.
In the European Boys’ Team Championship in the Czech Republic, Ireland finished 16th after losing to Finland on the final day.§
