Leona Maguire defies difficult conditions to close in on first European Tour win

Seeking her first win on the Ladies European Tour (LET), the two-time LPGA Tour winner leads on eight-under par from her Solheim Cup team-mate Georgia Hall at the Centurion Club after she made three birdies in strong winds, with two of them coming on her back nine.

“Yeah, it’s really windy out there,” Maguire said. “It’s probably two-, three-shot winds in places. It’s playing a little bit linksy. The course is running out, getting firm and fast, and the wind is quite strong.

“It was swirling in places, so you just try to hit a few punchy shots that I probably haven’t used in a while. It’s definitely a welcome back to European golf. It’s a good test and I enjoyed it.”

The team competition is set for a play-off finale between Team Hall and Team Nadaud this morning after they finished a shot ahead of Team Maguire on 24-under.

Lauren Walsh continued her strong run of form and shot a two-over 75 to move up 16 spots to joint 25th on two-over and make the cut with five shots to spare.

The scoring was a lot hotter at the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic, where Hayden Springer (27) made two eagles and eight birdies to card a 12-under 59 – the second 59 recorded on the PGA Tour this year after Cam Young did it in the recent Travelers Championship.

Springer had missed his last six cuts before going back to his childhood coach, Rosey Bartlett, just over a week ago.

“I felt like I needed to get something going, so she was able to help me,” said Springer, who holed out from 55 yards for eagle at the 17th to get to 11-under before rolling in a 13-footer at the last for a four-shot lead over England’s Harry Hall at TPC Deere Run.

At the DP World Tour’s BMW International Open, Australia’s David Micheluzzi posted a six-under-par 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson, South African Casey Jarvis, Englishman Frank Kennedy and former Masters champion Patrick Reed in Munich.

“It was kind of all over the shop to be honest,” Micheluzzi said. “I was a little bit wayward with the swing early on, the putter and short game were elite today. The back nine, I gave myself some chances.”

Veteran Bernhard Langer (66) also shone in his final DP World Tour appearance, carding a one-under 71 in front of a huge gallery to share 54th.

“It was unbelievable,” Langer said. “It seemed like there were thousands of people and the atmosphere was incredible all the way around. It’s just amazing.”

Meanwhile, world amateur No 1 Gordon Sargent is the star attraction as Lahinch hosts the Arnold Palmer Cup between the world’s best male and female college stars for the next three days.

BMW International Open, 11.30am Aramco Series, 12.30pm John Deere Classic, 5.0pm (All live on Sky Sports)