LEONA MAGUIRE PAID the price for a sloppy penultimate round at the LPGA Thailand as she stalled again on the final day to finish in a 10-way tie for 31st place.
Home favourite Patty Tavatanakit needed a birdie at the 18th hole to hold off Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela by one stroke in a nail-biting finale of the $1.7 million event, but Maguire was not in the mix after a 71 on Saturday saw her tail off after earlier putting herself in the mix with a 70 and 67.
Three birdies were cancelled out with as many bogeys and Maguire fared no better on the final day, again needing a brace of birdies on the back nine to make amends for two bogeys before the turn.
Tavatanakit, who finished on 21 under after a final round 67 at the Siam Country Club course, becomes the second Thai player to win the home-country tournament since it began in 2006.
She was a shot clear of Valenzuela whose impressive nine-under 63 was ultimately not enough to catch the leader.
South Korean duo Hye-Jin Choi and Sei-Young Kim finished tied for third after a 66 and 65 respectively.
“It was a lot of emotions,” admitted Tavatanakit. “It was joy. I felt so proud.
“I had so much pressure on me today just playing in front of the home crowd, and I was able to do that,” she said.
“I just felt like, OK, like I need to make up and down to win the match,” she said. “Soon as it stopped about couple inches away from the hole, I was like, yep, I won.”
Additional reporting – © AFP 2024
