Leona Maguire wins ACC individual title after 

play-off at Greensboro, North Carolina

GREENSBORO, North Carolina. – For the 17th time in Duke history, a Blue Devil golfer has claimed the ACC Individual Championship as freshman Leona Maguire, picture left by courtesy of Tracy Wilcox (GolfWeek), registered a birdie on the 29th hole of the day to win the title in a playoff against Virginia senior Briana Mao at the 6,089-yard, par 72 Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C.
“I’ve been playing pretty solid all year,” said Maguire. “It feels really good to get the win. To get an ACC title, it doesn’t really get much better than that.”
Maguire, who is a native of Cavan, Ireland, turned in a final round 70 on her way to carding a 10-under-par, 206, over the 54 holes.  She finished in a tie with Mao, who registered a five-under, 67, in Saturday’s final round.  Maguire became the 13th Duke golfer to win the title and is the eighth freshman in school history to win honors.
“It is as pretty much as dramatic as it gets,” commented Maguire.  “Me and Briana had a great battle all day today.  It was tied right up to the very end.  To come out on top, after such a long tournament and such tough weather conditions is just great.”
With the tournament being shortened to two days, the teams were forced to play 27 holes Friday and Saturday.  Maguire wrapped up round two this morning with a 36-hole ledger of 136 and held a two-stroke lead over Wake Forest’s Allison Emrey (138).  Maguire collected a 68 in round two with five birdies.
In the final round, Maguire rolled in 10 straight pars and fell behind Mao on the back nine before notching a birdie on No. 11 to move back into a tie.  Both golfers pared the next three holes, before sinking short birdies on the 445-yard, par five 15th.  Two more pars by the duo and they went to the 486-yard, par five 18th to settle the tournament.  They each featured birdie putts but could not drain them and it would go to a playoff.
“She made a lot of birdies on the front nine and really came at me,” said Maguire.  “I was just trying to stick with her the whole way and I knew if I could keep giving myself chances hopefully I would get a few birdies and catch up with her.  I guess I did that in the end so that was great. 

" I honestly thought I was one behind.  I guess I calculated it a little bit wrong on the score.  So I thought on 18 I was one behind so I only realized coming off the green that I was in a playoff.”
The tandem went back to No. 18 tee box and Maguire’ tee shot went down the left side, but she was able to hit her approach down to a good landing area for her third shot up at the green.  Mao went for the green and hit into the left bunker next to the green.  Both golfers had birdie putts but once again settled with pars.  The duo went back to the 18 tee box for a third straight time.

After both golfers hit good tee shots, Maguire decided to hit five-wood into the landing area for an approach, but Mao went for the green and went into a bunker for the third straight time.  Maguire placed the shot to within a couple of feet, while Mao was not as fortunate.  Mao would two-putt for par and it was up to Maguire to win with a birdie on the second playoff hole.  Maguire, pictured above with her prize, calmly sank the putt to claim her second career tournament title, both in playoffs.
“It was great,” commented Duke head coach Dan Brooks on Maguire’s victory.  “The last time she played that 18th hole, she had to play it three times in a row, she hit a five-wood to a landing area right in front of the green.  I think most players that don’t think as clearly as she does would have either tried to hit a three-wood on the green or laid up way short of the fairway bunkers.  

"Instead she found that little spot right in front of the green because she felt that she could get it up and down for birdie.  That is just knowing your game and being really smart.”
As a team, Duke placed second overall with rounds of 286, 288 and 289 for a 54-hole score of one-under, 863.  Virginia shot a tournament-record 27-under-par, 837.  North Carolina (866), Florida State (866), Wake Forest (866), Notre Dame (876), Louisville (884), NC State (887), Clemson (887), Miami (893) and Boston College (914) rounded out the field.
Fellow Blue Devil freshman Gurbani Singh placed sixth overall for her second career top 10 finish as she notched rounds of 70, 69 and 72 for a five-under, 211.  A native of New Delhi, India, Singh opened the front nine with a two-over, 37, but came back strong on the back nine with seven pars and birdies on No. 11 and No. 15.  She hit 14 greens, 10 fairways and had 31 putts on the day.
After taking home the ACC individual title a year ago, junior Celine Boutier placed tied 25th with rounds of 73, 74 and 74 for a five-over, 221. 

 Boutier, who is from Montrouge, France, had a great start with birdies on No. 2 and No. 4 to get to two-under-par.  She suffered bogeys on No. 9, No. 15, No. 17 and No. 18 to close with a 74.  Boutier hit 14 greens, 11 fairways and had 32 putts on the day.
Finishing off her first ACC Championship, freshman Lisa Maguire placed tied 50th with three straight rounds of 78.  Maguire, who hails from Cavan, Ireland, and it Leona's twin sister played her final seven holes at one-under-par with birdies on No. 15 and No. 18 to close the weekend.
Duke will await the NCAA Regional selection show Monday, April 27.  The regional sites for 2015 are Raleigh, N.C., San Antonio, Texas, Notre Dame, Ind., and St. George, Utah.
Other Duke Notes:
 *  Leona Maguire hit 16 greens, 10 fairways and had 31 putts in the final round.

* Leona Maguire tied for the ACC lead with a two-under, 3.93, stroke average on par four holes.
* Thirteen different Blue Devils have claimed individual honors at the ACC Championship— Mary Anne Widman (1984), Evelyn Orley (1985), Kathi Poppmeier (1994), Jenny Chuasiriporn (1996 & 1997), Beth Bauer (1999), Maria Garcia-Estrada (2000), Virada Nirapathpongporn (2001), Candy Hannemann (2002), Brittany Lang (2004 & 2005), Blumenherst (2006, 2007 & 2008), Lindy Duncan (2012), Celine Boutier (2014), Leona Maguire (2015).

TEAM TOTALS
1 1 1 Virginia 280 279 278 837 -27
3 T3 2 Duke 286 288 289 863 -1
6 5 T3 North Carolina 289 290 287 866 +2
2 T3 T3 Florida State 281 293 292 866 +2
5 2 T3 Wake Forest 288 281 297 866 +2
4 6 6 Notre Dame 287 295 294 876 +12
7 7 7 Louisville 291 297 296 884 +20
10 10 T8 NC State 296 295 296 887 +23
8 T8 T8 Clemson 292 298 297 887 +23
9 T8 10 Miami 294 296 303 893 +29
11 11 11 Boston College 303 305 306 914 +50

Start Finish Player Team Scores
1 1 Leona Maguire Duke 68 68 70 206 -10
T3 2 Briana Mao Virginia 68 71 67 206 -10
2 3 Allison Emrey Wake Forest 70 68 70 208 -8
T7 T4 Lauren Coughlin Virginia 72 69 69 210 -6
6 T4 Lauren Diaz-Yi Virginia 72 68 70 210 -6
T3 6 Gurbani Singh Duke 70 69 72 211 -5
T3 7 Lyberty Anderson Virginia 68 71 73 212 -4
T15 T8 Cristina McQuiston Boston College 68 76 70 214 -2
T9 T8 Lydia Gumm Florida State 70 72 72 214 -2
T9 T8 Daniela Darquea Miami 71 71 72 214 -2
T9 T11 Lexi Harkins North Carolina 71 71 73 215 -1
T25 T11 Bryana Nguyen North Carolina 74 73 68 215 -1
T15 T11 Matilda Castren Florida State 69 75 71 215 -1
T13 T11 Talia Campbell Notre Dame 71 72 72 215 -1
T7 T15 Alex Milan Florida State 69 72 75 216 E
T13 T15 Sierra Sims Wake Forest 70 73 73 216 E
T18 T17 Leslie Cloots North Carolina 71 74 73 218 +2
T15 T17 Cecily Overbey NC State 69 75 74 218 +2
T25 T17 Katie Mitchell Louisville 75 72 71 218 +2
T20 T17 Elizabeth Szokol Virginia 73 73 72 218 +2
T18 T21 Marisa Messana Clemson 74 71 74 219 +3
T20 T21 Maia Schechter North Carolina 74 72 73 219 +3
T25 T21 Rachael Taylor NC State 75 72 72 219 +3
T20 T21 Emily Haas Louisville 70 76 73 219 +3
T9 T21 Marissa Dodd Wake Forest 72 70 77 219 +3
T20 T26 Kari Bellville Notre Dame 71 75 74 220 +4
T20 T26 Ashley Armstrong Notre Dame 73 73 74 220 +4
T25 28 Celine Boutier Duke 73 74 74 221 +5
T38 T29 Lauren Salazar Clemson 72 78 72 222 +6
T31 T29 Cheni Xu North Carolina 73 75 74 222 +6
T38 T31 Lindsay McGetrick NC State 76 74 73 223 +7
T25 T31 Delfina Acosta Miami 76 71 76 223 +7
T35 T31 Morgane Metraux Florida State 75 74 74 223 +7
T25 T34 Sloan Shanahan Clemson 72 75 77 224 +8
T31 T34 Kelli Oride Notre Dame 72 76 76 224 +8
T35 T36 Katie Petrino Louisville 76 73 76 225 +9
T31 T36 Kayla Jones Florida State 73 75 77 225 +9
T44 T36 Sandy Choi Duke 75 77 73 225 +9
T38 39 Louise Oxner Louisville 74 76 76 226 +10
T38 T40 Vivian Tsui NC State 76 74 78 228 +12
T38 T40 Laura Restrepo Louisville 72 78 78 228 +12
T49 T40 Rika Park Miami 78 78 72 228 +12
48 T40 Jordan Ferreira Notre Dame 79 75 74 228 +12
T31 T40 Erica Herr Wake Forest 78 70 80 228 +12
43 T45 Jessica Hoang Clemson 74 77 78 229 +13
T44 T45 Vinh-Hop Ngo Wake Forest 76 76 77 229 +13
54 T47 McKenzie Talbert Clemson 83 75 74 232 +16
55 T47 Katia Joo Boston College 81 78 73 232 +16
T35 T47 Leticia Ras-Anderica Miami 73 76 83 232 +16
53 T50 Stephanie Pribonic NC State 79 78 77 234 +18
T49 T50 Lisa Maguire Duke 78 78 78 234 +18
T49 T52 Katie Barrand Boston College 79 77 80 236 +20
47 T52 Kailey Walsh Miami 74 79 83 236 +20
T44 T54 Katelyn Reynolds Boston College 76 76 87 239 +23
T49 T54 Jocelyn Chia Boston College 80 76 83 239 +23