Leona Maguire fades in Saudi Arabia as Patty Patty Tavatanakit wins

It was a disappointing weekend for Leona Maguire at the PIF Saudi International as she closed with a pair of 74s for tied 29th place, 18 shots behind the runaway winner Patty Tavatanakit.

The Thai golfer was in brilliant form as she closed with a 65 on Sunday for an 18-under-par total to win the tournament by seven shots over German Esther Henseleit, and with it a top prize of €698,000. England’s Charley Hull finished in a tie for third on nine under.

The Saudi International had a €4.64 million prize fund on offer, equal to the men’s event on the Asian Tour.

Maguire won €43,647 after finishing tied 29th, but the week offered the chance of better after a second round of 64 catapulted her up the leaderboard. The Cavan woman struggled to keep bogeys off the card, with eight of them over the weekend. Next up for Maguire is the Honda LPGA Thailand event on the LPGA Tour next week.

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