Leona Maguire beaten by Nelly Korda in T-Mobile Matchplay Final

Leona Maguire fell short against world number one Nelly Korda in the T-Mobile World Matchplay final in Las Vegas overnight.

The Cavan golfer had excelled all weekend, storming past Thailand's Moriya Jutanugarn and then South Korea's Sei-Young Kim to book her place in the final on Sunday.

Korda entered the final in search of her fourth LPGA Tour win on the trot and she proved too good for Maguire on the Leopard Creek course.

The Florida native won four of the first seven holes en route to a 4&3 victory. Maguire finally won the ninth before falling five down on the 12th.

Two birdies from Maguire cut the deficit before the American closed out the match on the 15th.

Korda has won all three of her tournaments since a seven-week break following the first victory of her run in Florida in January.

She is the first player to win four successive starts on the LPGA Tour since Lorena Ochoa in 2008.

Victory in the Chevron Championship, the first major of the season, in two weeks will tie the record of five straight wins held by Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam.

"Obviously Nelly is the best player in the world right now, probably male or female," Maguire said afterwards.

"She's playing unbelievable golf and I knew I was going to have to bring my A-plus game if I was going to have a chance and just didn't putt well enough. And hats off to Nelly, she really didn't give me much of a chance. It's very impressive what she's doing."

(Additional reporting: PA)