American Ryann O’Toole shot an eight under par 64 in the final round to earn her maiden LPGA win by three strokes at the Women’s Scottish Open at Dumbarnie Links in Fife, Scotland on Sunday.
2020 Tokyo Olympic Bronze medalist Lydia Ko of New Zealand shot nine under to finish tied for second with Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul who closed with a 66.
A final round of 68 was enough for Leona Maguire to finish at seven under par and in a tie for 15th. Six birdies and two bogeys saw Maguire close with her best round of the week and take home a cheque for $21,266.
O’Toole, 34, started the day in a three-way tie with two-time major winner Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand and Charley Hull of England. She started the round with birdies on three of the first four holes and finished with eight birdies total in a bogey-free finish.
Jutanugarn, who fell into the three-way tie by shooting level par on Saturday, had a four under par 68 in the final round to finish fourth. Hull finished fifth after shooting 69 on Sunday.
O’Toole, who had never been the leader or co-leader after 54 holes before Sunday, is now the sixth first-time winner on Tour this season. It was her 228th start on the LPGA Tour since turning pro in 2009.
“I still think I’m in shock,” said O’Toole. “I feel like the tears are going to come later when all quiets down.”
“Just the hours spent, the grind ... the heartache that this sport brings, constant travel, I just feel like for this moment I hope that it only happens again and again.”
American Ally Ewing tied Ko for Sunday’s low round with a 63 to finish alone in sixth place after starting her round in 25th.
South African Ashleigh Buhai, who shot Saturday’s day’s low round of 67, began the day one back of the leaders but finished in a tie for 12th after firing an even-par round on Sunday.
Final round scores & totals in the Women’s Scottish Open, Dumbarnie Links, Fife (British unless stated, Par 72)
271 Ryann O’Toole (USA) 68 71 68 64
274 Atthaya Thitikul (Tha) 68 70 70 66, Lydia Ko (Nzl) 70 72 69 63
275 Ariya Jutanugarn (Tha) 69 66 72 68
276 Charley Hull 69 69 69 69
277 Ally Ewing (USA) 73 69 72 63
279 Esther Henseleit (Ger) 75 68 70 66, Celine Boutier (Fra) 70 71 70 68, Jeon-Geun Lee (Kor) 71 68 74 66, Yealimi Noh (USA) 68 72 71 68, Marina Alex (USA) 69 71 71 68
280 Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 70 71 69 70, Ashleigh Buhai (Rsa) 71 70 67 72, Sarah Schmelzel (USA) 68 71 73 68
281 Leona Maguire (Irl) 71 72 70 68, Whitney Hillier (Aus) 72 69 75 65, Kelsey MacDonald 68 71 72 70, Yuka Saso (Phi) 67 72 74 68, Gaby Lopez (Mex) 73 72 70 66, Thidapa Suwannapura (Tha) 67 74 71 69, A-Lim Kim (Kor) 71 71 71 68
282 Bronte Law 69 74 70 69, Karolin Lampert (Ger) 71 71 71 69, Amy Yang (Kor) 71 74 69 68, Pajaree Anannarukarn (Tha) 73 71 69 69, Perrine Delacour (Fra) 72 72 68 70
283 Emily Kristine Pedersen (Den) 69 69 77 68, Manon de Roey (Bel) 73 73 73 64, Paphangkorn Tavatanakit (Tha) 69 75 72 67, Cheyenne Knight (USA) 70 72 71 70
284 Celine Palomar-Herbin (Fra) 69 74 71 70, Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Den) 68 73 74 69, Madelene Sagstroem (Swe) 72 73 70 69
285 Su-Hyun Oh (Aus) 73 72 68 72, Melissa Reid 73 72 70 70, Katherine Kirk (Aus) 72 72 70 71
286 Prima Thammaraks (Tha) 70 72 72 72, Azahara Munoz (Spa) 73 70 73 70, Hae-Ji Kang (Kor) 70 76 74 66
287 (Geo) Hall 71 73 71 72, Alice Hewson 71 74 75 67
288 Becky Morgan 68 74 77 69, Lydia Hall 69 70 78 71, Ind-Gee Chun (Kor) 72 74 74 68, Jenny Shin (Kor) 73 70 77 68, Yu Liu (Chn) 69 75 76 68
289 Austin Ernst (USA) 71 75 74 69, Ssu-Chia Cheng (Tai) 72 69 77 71, Jing Yan (Chn) 71 71 74 73, Marissa Steen (USA) 73 71 77 68, Paula Reto (Rsa) 72 73 69 75
290 Caroline Inglis (USA) 71 73 75 71, Anne van Dam (Ned) 67 79 73 71, Nuria Iturrioz (Spa) 70 75 75 70, Michele Thomson 65 80 76 69
291 Carly Booth 72 73 76 70, Pasqualle Coffa (Ned) 71 75 73 72, Lizette Salas (USA) 71 75 74 71, Albane Valenzuela (Swi) 72 73 73 73, Christina Kim (USA) 72 74 75 70, Lindy Duncan (USA) 73 73 74 71, Linnea Stroem (Swe) 73 72 76 70
292 Olivia Cowan (Ger) 68 77 78 69
293 Carlota Ciganda (Spa) 72 71 76 74
294 Stephanie Kyriacou (Aus) 73 72 71 78
296 Laura Davies 70 74 75 77
297 Tvesa Malik (Ind) 73 72 77 75, Stacy Lewis (USA) 71 74 79 73
298 Marianne Skarpnord (Nor) 73 72 76 77, Elizabeth Young 70 75 85 68
301 Ursula Wikstroem (Fin) 74 70 81 76