Leona Maguire returns to competitive duty for this week’s Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia as she seeks to finish the LPGA Tour season on a high.
After a week off, not being eligible for the Crown International team competition won by Australia last week, Maguire – currently 53rd on the CME Globe standings – is headed into a late season run that will also see her play in next month’s The Annika tournament with the aim to making it all the way to the season-ending Tour Championship in Florida. The top-60 players on the order of merit qualify for the megabucks finale.
On the LET front, Lauren Walsh’s third-place finish in the weather-shortened Wistron Open in Taiwan has moved the Kildare woman up to the 10th place on the LET order of merit with just two events – the Aramco China Championship in Shenzhen next week and the season-ending Race to Mallorca event in Andalucia in late November – remaining.
Walsh’s position on the order of merit puts her within reach of securing places in two of next year’s Majors, the AIG Women’s Open and the Evian Championship.
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Castle Golf Club conquer the weather at Powerscourt
The thoroughly miserable weather added to the examination presented by the Peter McEvoy-designed East Course at Powerscourt Golf Club for the 98th edition of The Irish Times Shield, where Castle Golf Club’s team of Stephen Finlan, John Francis Holmes, Christopher McClure and Finn O’Sullivan proved up to the challenge in taking the honours.
In the team event for players with a handicap of nine or under, with three of four stableford scores to count, Castle combined for a total of 101 points to get their hands on the coveted shield to edge out Greystones Golf Club’s quartet of Milo Doyle, Adam Packman, Ruadhán Murray and Toby Murphy (99 points) and Powerscourt’s team of Ian Williams, Ben Ryan, Tom Melody and Donal Hurley (95 points).
Dún Laoghaire’s Matthew McKeown edged out Portmarnock’s Sam Grennell on countback to claim the gross prize (34 points), while Brian Leonard of Skerries won the net with 38 points.
Word of Mouth
“I’ve been waiting for this trophy for so long ... to win this tournament in my home country and in front of my family and friends is amazing. I’ve been really emotional from this win, and just shows you should never give up on your dreams.” – former world number one and five-time Major champion Yani Tseng on winning the weather-shortened Wistron Ladies Open in her native Taiwan. Without a win since 2014, Tseng – once the world’s dominant player – took to putting left-handed in 2024 after battling the yips for many years.
By the Numbers: 1
Liam Nolan is the lone Irish player to make it to the Hotelplanner Tour’s Rolex Grand Final in Mallorca this week. The 25-year-old Galwayman, who is in his rookie season and started the year relying on sponsors’ invitations, is lying 43rd of the 45 players who have made it to the season-ending event where 20 tour cards to the DP World Tour will be awarded. Nolan, most likely, needs to win to claim one of those precious cards.
On this day: October 28th, 1990
He couldn’t have known at the time, but Jodie Mudd’s win in the Nabisco Tour Championship – confined to the leading 30 players on the PGA Tour’s order of merit – would prove to be the biggest pay-day of his career ... but also his fourth and last win on the US circuit.
Mudd – who’d won The Players earlier in the season – shot rounds of 68-69-68-68 for an 11-under-par total of 273 which left him tied with Billy Mayfair and then won the sudden-death playoff at the first extra hole when sinking a 15-footer for birdie to claim the top prize of $450,000.
That cheque was more than the $421,746 he had earned in 22 tournaments that year up to sealing the deal at the Champions Club in Houston, Texas, where a birdie-birdie finish to his final round enabled him to force the playoff.
“It just goes to show how far you can go when you let yourself go,” remarked Mudd, adding: “I really thought Billy was going to win. I didn’t think I had that much of a game. I didn’t know if I could go the limit and birdie the last three holes.”
Mudd retired from the PGA Tour in 1996, citing burnout and the grind of playing as a reason.
Social Swing
Great week here @BOUChsmpionship. Really cool and unique course here at @BlackDesertUT. After being 4 over thru 11 holes and 3 over thru 22 holes, not a bad week after all of that. Nice to see my game starting to show life. Still work to do but we are getting closer. Congrats to Michael Brennan on his victory. Impressive what these young kids are doing in professional golf. Professional golf has been getting younger for a while now and that’s not changing any time soon – Billy Horschel, continuing his recovery from surgery with a tied-11th at the Bank of Utah Championship where 23-year-old Michael Brennan, playing on a sponsor’s exemption, secured a breakthrough win on the PGA Tour.
Solid week for me at @SBGolfChamp. Reset and one last push at @SchwabCupFinale – Darren Clarke on a tied-fifth finish in the Simmons Bank Championship won by Steve Alker. Clarke’s consistent season has seen him move to 13th on the Champions Tour order of merit to qualify for the season-ending Charles Schwab Championship in Phoenix on November 13th-16th. Pádraig Harrington, sixth in the standings, has also qualified. The championship is confined to the leading 36 players on the order of merit.
In the Bag: Michael Brennan (Bank of Utah Championship)
Driver: Titliest GT3 (9 degrees)
3-wood: Titliest GT1 (14.5 degrees)
Irons: Titliest T150 (3), Titleist T100 (4-5 irons), Titleist 620 CB (6-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (46, 50 and 54 degrees), Titliest WedgeWorks (60 degrees)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 7.2 tour prototype putter
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Know the Rules
Q: On a par-3, player A’s tee shot might be lost, so they play a provisional ball, which is holed. Player A does not wish to look for the original ball, but Player B does go to look for it. Before Player A lifts the provisional ball from the hole, Player B finds Player A’s original ball in some thick rough near the green. What is the ruling?
A: Player A must abandon the provisional ball and continue with the original ball. This is covered under Clarification 18.3c (2)/3: The score with a provisional ball that has been holed only becomes the player’s score for the hole when the player lifts the ball from the hole before the original ball has been found in bounds.
