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Cas Alexander wears a special gold necklace given to her by her husband which depicts the various big game animals associated with South Africa, with the lion featuring prominently. And in closing the deal to capture the KPMG Women’s Irish Open in wire-to-wire fashion on the Palmer South Course at The K Club, the 27-year-old Springbok demonstrated her own strength – both mental and physical – in laying claim to a second career win on the Ladies European Tour and consolidating her position atop the season-long order of merit. On a day of typical autumnal unsettled weather, with dark clouds providing a thunderous melody that caused a short suspension of play of about 25 minutes, Alexander – a five-time runner-up on the LET this year – finally found the code to secure victory, posting a final round 70 for a total of 20-under-par 268, three shots clear of Sara Kouskova of the Czech Republic. Leona Maguire, in her final outing before the Solheim Cup in the Netherlands, finished with a 68 for 273, five shots adrift, in tied-fourth to equal her best finish in the Irish Open of 2022. The Cavan golfer posted 14 birdies and just one bogey in her impressive weekend charge, although she had set a target of 20 under as needed to perhaps chase down Alexander. READ MORE “I didn’t really go into this week with that much expectation. I didn’t put too much pressure on myself and just tried to enjoy the week for what it was. I suppose that might be the strategy going forward,” claimed Maguire, who is a work in progress with some swing changes with coach Sean Foley. Maguire had missed her last three cuts on the LPGA Tour following a tied-eighth in the Scottish Open but clicked into gear in playing catch-up over the weekend. “The scores maybe didn’t reflect that the last couple of weeks, but it was close in Lytham [at the Women’s British Open], it was very close in Portland. Canada wasn’t as far away as it looked. It was nice to just click it all together this week, so hopefully I can take that into the next few weeks,” she said. “It’s one thing doing it in practice, but you have to go out under the gun and pull off the shots when you need to,” said Maguire of converting that work on the range to the course: “It was nice to see that [progress] under a little bit of pressure and being able to pull off those shots. “It was obviously nice to finish off 18 there with a really strong wedge shot. Some fine-tuning this week ahead of Solheim, but hopefully take this momentum into [it], but then also finish off the LPGA season as strong as we can.” Maguire’s final round of 68 featured some spectacular play, none more so that her finish, hitting a wedge from 77 yards on the 18th for a closing tap-in birdie to the delight of those spectators gathered in the grandstand and on the mounds around the green. She had also closed her front nine in style, hitting a 3-wood approach from 205 yards into the wind to six feet. Lauren Walsh also had large support as she navigated her way to a closing 69 for eight under in tied-24th, marking her best Irish Open finish. “I had a lot of family who never get out to the golf course and they were all out today and I saw a lot of faces in the crowd of people I haven’t seen in a long time, just great for everybody,” observed the Kildare woman, who will consider playing another LET event in Spain before heading back for the important run-in to the LPGA Tour season. For Alexander, who ran her eyes up and down the list of previous winners on receiving the Irish Open trophy, names that included no fewer than five Major champions, a bogey-bogey start to her final round provided some hope to her pursuers, before she recovered to her dominant self with a run of three birdies from the fifth. Then, when she returned from the thunder delay, Alexander rolled in a 15-footer for birdie on the 15th to re-establish her three-shots lead. In adding the Irish Open to her Czech Open success of last year, Alexander’s relief at finally winning again after so many near-missed this year was apparent. “This one’s really special. I always feel like the second one is almost as important as the first one because you know it’s not a fluke. So I’m glad I could get that done. “Golf’s a really tough game when you get into the final group on a final day. Something takes over, and you’ve either got it or you don’t. And it was kind of a rocky start,” she said of that bogey-bogey speed bump, expanding: “I had a couple uncomfortable lies and in those types of situations it’s easy to get nervy. It’s always tough on the final day when you’re leading a golf tournament.” Alexander came into the Irish Open as the top-ranked player in the field off the Rolex world rankings, at 38th, with this win – which earned her a pay-day of €67,500 – set to see another jump upwards. And while her eyes may also be on a future, possible LPGA Tour card, the goal for the rest of the season is to finish on top on the LET. “The order of merit is goal number one, and the best way to win the order of merit is win golf tournaments. So that’s what I’m trying to do.” Women’s Irish Open leading finishers 268 C Alexander (RSA) 63 66 69 70 271 S Kouskova (Cze) 68 66 67 70 272 N Komulainen (Fin) 73 66 66 67 273 L Maguire (Irl) 71 71 63 68, L Rydqvist (Swe) 68 67 69 69 275 S Tan (Sin) 72 72 66 65, M Folke (Swe) 70 71 68 66, A Garvey (NZ) 73 71 65 66, C Viden (Swe) 70 65 69 71, K Arwefjall (Swe) 69 71 63 72 Other Irish scores: 280 L Walsh 74 70 67 69; 282 A Foster 72 71 66 73; 284 A Donegan 69 73 69 73; 286 A Wilson 71 72 73 70; 287 C Screene 72 67 76 72