Maguire vindicated with superb Euro win

Lisa Maguire's amazing win in the Netherlands has made a mockery of the selection last month of the Vagliano team, according to her father Declan. Lisa, who was controversially omitted from the Great Britain and Ireland team for the prestigious competition, continued the amazing run of Irish golfing success when she lifted the European Women's Amateur individual title in difficult conditions on the Noordwijkse course on Saturday, becoming the first Irish winner since the event was inaugurated in 1986. And proud dad Declan admitted that the victory was sweet vindication for 16-year-old Lisa, whose sister Leona finished in fourth place. "Lisa was 12th in the world rankings [at the time of the Vagliano selection] but of the team of nine, she was third-ranked. Most people didn't understand it. Karl McGinty rang me from the Irish Independent and I told him at the time that the girls would let their clubs do the talking, and I think Lisa did that this week. "It was on the week of the British amateur down in Portrush and it did effect their preparation because they had been on Curtis Cup, they had been on Vagliano. Two years ago they were the top point scorers. "They've never been beaten in foursomes. They won their singles matches against America last year, they were only two out of four girls who won their singles matches last year. Another surprising decision was when Leona did go to it, she wasn't played for the first foursome match. Then after that, she won all her matches." The Vagliano omission sparked outcry in golfing circles and this latest incredible win has made the selectors look foolish in the extreme. Speaking at a function in the Slieve Russell, where Lisa and Leona were welcomed home by family and friends, last Sunday evening, the young champion herself admitted that she "probably got a bit unfairly done by" and "tried to focus on my own game and let my clubs do the talking". She managed that in some style, too. Lisa found the windy conditions tough on Saturday and stumbled a little, but never seriously looked in danger of surrendering her hard-earned advantage. She went into the final round four strokes clear of the field but dropped a stroke on the opening hole. Later she extended her lead to eight, but was pegged back to three at one stage. Out in 38, Lisa had one hand on the trophy. She did bogey 10 and 13, but her rivals were also dropping shots which meant she remained in pole position. And in the end the teenage wonder could afford a double-bogey on the closing hole and post a homeward half of 41 and still win by four strokes. Lisa ended with a 72-hole aggregate of 293 - five over par - after rounds of 73, 68, 73 and 79, while Leona ended on 12 over par, just two strokes behind the bronze medallist Charlotte Kring Lorentzen. "I'm delighted to win such a prestigious title, it's one that I set out at the start of the year that I wanted to win and I'm delighted to come back here to such a wonderful reception, to have so much support from family and friends and everyone here," said Lisa. "The weather wasn't great over there, there were very strong winds and I was glad to hold it together towards the end. I just tried to play one hole at a time and to keep calm and relaxed and it all came together. I played pretty well all week, I played pretty solid all four rounds so I was pretty happy with my performance." Next up for the talented Maguire twins is a shot at the Irish Open, a professional event which takes place at Killeen Castle next week.