Freshman Leona Maguire Wins GolfStat Cup

NEWS RELEASE FROM DUKE UNIVERSITY

DURHAM, North Carolina – For the seventh time in school history, a Duke women’s golfer has won the GolfStat Cup, which is given to the golfer who has the best scoring average versus par with at least 20 full rounds played during a season, as Blue Devil freshman Leona Maguire was presented with the award. 

Maguire, pictured, joins the likes of Jenny Chuasiriporn (1997-98), Liz Janangelo (2003-04), Amanda Blumenherst (2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08) and Lindy Duncan (2001-12) as former Duke golfers presented with the prestigious award. 

A product of Cavan, Ireland, Maguire, ranked No 1 in WAGR, collected a 70.78 stroke average on the season, which is the second-lowest score in the previous 19 years since the GolfStat award was given out.  It was only behind LPGA great Lorena Ochoa of Arizona (70.13).  Maguire and Ochoa are the only two golfers to post and average ledger before 71.00. 

Maguire, the 2014-15 PING WGCA National Player and Rookie of the Year, collected eight top five and 10 top 10 placements out of 11 tournaments during her rookie campaign. 

The ACC Player and Rookie of the Year totalled three victories on the season .  Her 70.78 stroke average was a school record, which beat out Blumenherst’s mark of 71.00 from 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Maguire equaled Blumenherst’s Blue Devil record of 24 rounds of even or under par as well from the 2005-06 season, while her nine top five finishes this season ranked tied third.

Maguire netted a team-best 10 rounds in the 60s and counted all 32 rounds during the 2014-15 campaign.  She registered a head-to-head mark of 894-54-13 on the year.   Maguire currently ranks No. 1 nationally in both the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings and the Golfstat Cup.

In the Duke freshman record books, Maguire closed the season ranking tied second in top five finishes (9), tied second in top 10 finishes (10), tied third in top 20 finishes (10), tied first in victories (3), first in stroke average (70.68) and tied first in even or under par rounds (24). 

She helped lead Duke to three team titles, including the NCAA South Bend Regional along with a second place finish in stroke play competition at the NCAA Championship.   The Blue Devils went on to advance to the match play semi-finals before falling to Baylor, 3-2. Baylor lost to Stanford in the final.

 
McNealy wins Fred Haskins Award
 Stanford sophomore Maverick McNealy won the Fred Haskins Award at the NCAA Championship on Monday, making it the second consecutive year someone from the university collected the coveted trophy.
Patrick Rodgers won last year. Tiger Woods, another Stanford alum, took home the honor in 1996. The award goes to the nation’s most outstanding golfer as selected by peers, coaches and media.
“It is pretty cool to be the third Stanford guy to win the award,” McNealy said. “It is a humbling list of names to be on the trophy with. It is really cool to be in the same conversation with those people.”
McNealy racked up nine top-10 finishes and won six times, including the Pac-12 Championship and the NCAA Regional. He will receive an exemption to The Greenbrier Classic, July 2-5, for winning the award.