Ireland claim historic bronze medal at World Amateur Team Championship

In a historic achievement, and a defining moment in the development of women’s golf here, the Irish team of Leona Maguire, Olivia Mehaffey and Annabel Wilson claimed the bronze medal at the World Amateur Team Championship in Mexico.

South Korea claimed the Espirito Santo trophy for a fourth time with Switzerland taking the silver medal position, but Ireland – who out-duelled Denmark down the stretch in the final round – claimed a first-ever podium finish in the 27th staging of the championship.

All three Irish players reserved their best performances until the final round with Mehaffey (Royal County Down) shooting a finishing 68, Maguire (Slieve Russell) closing with a 69 and Wilson (Lurgan) shooting a 72. Ireland’s total of 569 (seven-under) was one shot better than the Swiss.

Irish coach Dave Kearney said: “I’m just so proud of them. We have got three amazing girls there, just incredible girls. They are all very serious about their golf and they work incredibly hard all year round when they are not at tournaments. I’m just delighted for them, they are three terrific girls. It’s just brilliant.

“It’s interesting because we had no goal of any position for the finish but we just took each day at a time and we set ourselves up to have the best day we could. I think the girls had their own space to prepare the way they wanted to and get ready for it. They just did their thing then and it was so easy to be with them, they are just super players.”

This could yet prove to be Maguire’s last appearance as an amateur for Ireland, as the Co Cavan player – who is studying at Duke University in the USA – is due to play in next month’s LPGA Tour School where she will be aiming to win a tour card. Maguire finished sixth in the individual competition, eight strokes behind Korean Hye Jin Choi.

Korea’s 21-stroke margin of victory over second-place Switzerland tied the championship record set by the USA in Chile in 1998. The 72-hole total (547) is also tied for second-lowest score by a champion. The lowest winning score was 546 by the Republic of Korea in 2010, when they won by 17 strokes.

Korean captain Sang-Won Ko said: “I travel a lot and the first question is always ‘Why is your women’s game so strong?’ And my first answer is we have a greater number of players and they are trying really hard,” said Ko. “Their target is to turn professional. We may be a small country in terms of the land and the population but we have more than 3,000 junior players and they are willing to turn professional, which is really a huge number compared to the U.S. and Europe so that’s why I believe our women’s golf is strong.”