Maguire well adrift as Ko dominates the field in Ohio

A final round 70 saw Leona Maguire finish tied for 45th at the Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati, 17 shots adrift of winner Lydia Ko.

The New Zealander dominated the field with a nine-under-par 63 to finish five shots clear of Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul and take home the winner’s cheque of $300,000 (€269,000).

FINAL LEADERBOARD

It was a tournament that, after an opening 67, felt like a battle for the Cavan woman.

She began the day 12 shots adrift of Sunday morning leader Thitiku and despite bogeys at the third and sixth, reached the turn at level par.

Two more bogeys on 11 and 15 contributed to a final round score of 70, an improvement on her 71 in round 2 and 74 in round 3.

Once again it was Ko who stamped her class on proceedings in Ohio, dropping just one shot over the course of the four rounds.

Ko, who won Olympic gold and the AIG Women's Open over the summer, is now a 22-time LPGA Tour Champion, just a few short weeks after she clinched enough career points to be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame.

She currently owns three different major titles with the 2024 Women's Open, 2016 Chevron Championship and 2015 Evian Championship to her name.

"I had a fairytale these past couple months," she said. "It's always been the goal of mine to do the career grand slam. I thought that would be so out there. I feel like I've already been part of this fairytale, so why not?"