MAGUIRE ENJOYS RUNNER-UP FINISH AT SHADOW CREEK
Ireland’s Leona Maguire finished joint runner-up at the LPGA/LET 2026 Aramco Championship at Shadow Creek, Las Vegas (Photo: Mark Runnacles/LET)
Leona Maguire had it all to do to catch overnight leader Lauren Coughlin in the final round of the 2026 Aramco Championship at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas and ultimately had to settle for a tie for second alongside American Nelly Korda.
American Coughlin proved to be unstoppable and closed with a final round 72 to win by five strokes on seven under 281, while Maguire (71) and Korda (75) finished on 286 to earn ¢313,951 as Coughlin picked up the $600,000 winner’s cheque.
Coughlin went wire-to-wire in Las Vegas and began the final day with a two-shot lead and started strong with a birdie at the first and another on the eighth. Bogeys on 10 and 12 didn’t make a dent in the lead as other contenders fell away with Shadow Creek proving to be tough once again.
Another bogey on 17 was quickly followed by a birdie on the last hole to seal her third LPGA title and her second victory on the Ladies European Tour (LET) in the co-sanctioned event.
“I just played really great all week. I had a lot of fun and I’m just happy,” said Coughlin. “It definitely left a sour taste in my mouth last year here not getting the win given how well I played all week, so this makes it extra special this week.
“After I hit that wedge shot on 18 into it, I was alright I think I got it now. It was not that hard to lay-up. I was between clubs and was just like let’s give myself a full wedge into this thing and make it a little bit easier on myself given that I don’t really need to do anything special.”
COUGHLIN WINS AT SHADOW CREEK
American Lauren Coughlin with the Aramco Championship trophy
(Mark Runnacles/LET)
The victory is Coughlin’s first official win since 2024 after she clinched titles at the 2024 CPKC Women’s Open and the co-sanctioned 2024 ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open. The 33-year-old won last year’s Grant Thornton Invitational, which was an unofficial event on the LPGA Tour and PGA Tour.
As for Maguire, it was her first tied second or better result since she fell to Korda in the Championship Match at the 2024 edition of the T-Mobile Match Play.
“Any time you can shoot three rounds under par at Shadow Creek, you're pretty happy,” said Maguire. “It's obviously somewhere I've done well in the past in predominantly match play, but the stroke play the one year we did it. I've always said it's one of my favourite venues of the year.
“I felt like my game had been a lot better lately than some of the scores I shot, and it was nice to see that come to fruition this week on really the hardest course I played all year. Really, really positive week and really enjoyed the test that was Shadow Creek.”
World number two Korda played alongside Coughlin and couldn’t mount a challenge on the final day but finished with a birdie on 18.
“I just didn’t play good golf today,” said Korda. “I was hitting it pretty poorly off the tee and just finding myself in really tough positions going into the greens and then hitting it in places where I shouldn’t be around the greens.
“It was quite hard to make an up-and-down. I just made a birdie, my only birdie, on 18. It’s quite tough. This golf course is brutal, especially if you’re on the wrong side of the green.
“I’m really happy with the way that my game is trending, and sometimes when you work too hard and you exhaust yourself, you can go the other way. I’m just going to continue doing what I’m doing, and hopefully that leads me to a victory.”
Japan’s Miyu Yamashita was fourth on one-under-par with compatriot Akie Iwai and Australia’s Karis Davidson one shot further back at level.