Latest news with #Cavan
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Leona Maguire closes with 67 to claim top-10 finish at Evian Championship
Leona Maguire will move forward to next month's AIG Women's Open with an added pep in her step after the 30-year-old Cavan player secured a tied-seventh finish in the Amundi Evian Championship, where Australian Grace Kim defeated Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul in a playoff. For Maguire, a final round 67 for a total of 11-under-par 273 – three shots adrift – earned her a pay-day of $245,081 (€209,500). It gave the European Solheim Cup star a first top-10 on the LPGA since the season-opening Tournament of Champions and moved her up nine spots on the order of merit to 49th. 'I played some really good golf, really happy with how I played, probably the best golf I've played in a while,' said Maguire. 'I knew my game was trending nicely coming into the week. This is a course that tests all aspects of your game, so a lot of positives to take out of the week. 'My approach shot is something I've been working quite a bit on, and they were really, really good this week,' added Maguire, who had completed a five-week stretch and will now take a week off before deciding if she will play in the Scottish Open, but with her eyes firmly set on the Women's Open, the final Major of the season. READ MORE Maguire's finish gave her a fourth top-10 in a Major of her career and she intends to play some links golf on returning home to Ireland in prep for Royal Porthcawl. 'I won the British Am at Pyle & Kenfig [in 2017], which is across the road from Porthcawl. I played the Vagliano Trophy there in 2011. I don't remember much of the course to be honest. But I will get in some links preparation in Ireland next week and be ready to go.' Australia's Grace Kim poses with the trophy after her victory in the Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club. Photograph: Alex Martin/AFP via Getty Images English amateur Lottie Woad – who last week won the KPMG Irish Women's Open – finished solo third which secured her a tour card on the LPGA Tour through the Leap pathway, although she remains unsure when she will actually take up the card. She still has one year left of college in Florida State. 'It's really cool. It's always nice to be the first to do something, so just grateful that I had the opportunity to do it,' said the 21-year-old from Surrey. 'Just relieved now, it was kind of wearing on me for a bit. I'm going to use next week at home with family and coaches to kind of discuss the options and then I'll decide after that,' added Woad, who could conceivably turn professional ahead of the Scottish Open. Kim, meanwhile, secured her breakthrough Major with an eagle at the second hole of sudden death to defeat world number two Thitikul. 'It's a huge achievement for me. I've had a lot of doubts early this year. I was kind of losing motivation. I kind of had to get some hard conversations done with the team. Yeah, kind of had to wake up a little bit,' said Kim.
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Maguire finishes strong as Kim creates major magic
Leona Maguire finished strong to secure a top-seven finish as Grace Kim secured the Amundi Evian Championship title in a play-off over Jeeno Thitikul as English amateur Lottie Woad claimed third. Woad was in contention to win the title as the 21-year-old held the clubhouse lead, but a pair of birdies and an eagle down the stretch moved Kim equal with Thailand's Thitikul – one shot ahead of Woad – to force sudden death. Maguire carded a final-round 67 to end her tournament on 11-under-par overall, three shots out of the playoff as the Cavan golfer's welcome rturn to form gathers pace. A fantastic birdie from Kim on the first play-off hole, followed by a brilliant eagle on the second sealed victory in sensational fashion. Thitikul could have had the victory wrapped up without needing the play-off but missed a birdie putt on the 18th and Kim's eagle sent the pair back to the tee, tied on 14 under par. In the play-off, Kim's second shot was dragged into the penalty area which forced her to take a drop but her next shot from off the green rolled in for a birdie out of nowhere. Thitikul had the chance of victory snatched again as she set up her own birdie chance from inside 10 feet. The pair went back to the 18th hole for the third time and Kim found the green with her second shot for another go at the eagle, while Thitikul's shot from the bunker put her in position for birdie. However, Kim produced another moment of magic and holed the eagle putt for major glory. Woad's third-place finish ensured she earned LPGA membership and became the first player to achieve that through the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway program. She will now also enter the Scottish Open and AIG Women's Open but insists she still does not know if she will turn professional. Woad told Sky Sports: "It was really fun. I knew starting the day I was only five off and I needed to have a quick start, and I did. "Probably after the first few holes, when I went four-under, so after that. "I'm very excited (about the future). It has always been my dream to play on the LPGA and I'm just grateful for the opportunity."
Irish Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Leona Maguire pockets big sum for high finish in Evian Championship
Leona Maguire called it the best golf she has played in some time as the Cavan golfer finished in a tie for seventh at the Amundi Evian Championship on Sunday. Maguire shot a four-under-par final round of 67 to finish on 11-under-par for the tournament and just three shots off Grace Kim, who defeated Jeeno Thikitul in a playoff to claim the title. The 30-year-old was tied for the lead after an opening round of 65 that included a hole-in-one. Rounds of 71 and 70 saw her fall slightly off the pace, but Maguire finished strongly to leave her looking forward to the AIG Women's Open at Royal Porthcawl next month. Maguire said: "Played some really good golf this week. Probably the best golf I've played in quite a while. It's nice. "I knew my game was sort of trending nicely coming into this week, so I think this is a course that tests all aspects of your game." The seventh-place finish in a major saw Maguire pocket $245,081 as she looks forward to getting home to Ireland for some links practice. "My approach shot is something I've been working quite a bit on, and they were really, really good this week," Maguire said. "Lots of positives to take out of the week. "My iron shots were really good, especially off the slopes. I had a lot of control over my irons and gave myself a lot of chances. "The hole-in-one was a bonus on Thursday morning as well. Maybe didn't quite drive the ball today as well as I would've liked. Left a couple putts short. Overall it's still a top 10 in a Major."
Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Declan Lynch: We've been down this road before, but ‘true story' of ‘The Salt Path' was strewn with red flags
It's almost 30 years since the Late Late Show chair scandal, the one in which the restoration of an antique chair became a grave national controversy. Who actually did the work on the prize-winning piece of furniture? Whether it was the winner on the night or a professional restorer, the grand prize was £1,000 and a piece of Cavan crystal.
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
The worklessness crisis ravaging Corbyn's North London enclave
Often lauded as one of London's most middle-class hubs, Islington seems an unlikely place for high unemployment. Yet the numbers don't lie. According to a new report, young people in the borough are more likely to be unemployed or out of education than almost all other parts of the country. In fact, only four other local authorities have a higher likelihood of young people becoming Neet (not in education, employment nor training). That is despite Islington boasting the ninth-highest level of household income in the UK at £38,638, well ahead of the national average of £21,259, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This disparity is encapsulated by Islington having the second-highest number of pupils on school meals in England, demonstrating the stark divide between Islington's rich and poor. This wealth gap has been cited as one of the drivers for soaring worklessness in the borough, which has ballooned post-Covid. 'You have these pockets of extreme wealth next to these pockets of relatively severe deprivation,' says Ben Gadsby, the head of policy and research at the charity Impetus. 'There will definitely be some bits of Islington that will be noticeably more deprived than people are expecting.' Barriers to work Cavan is just one of many young people in the borough struggling to find work. After leaving school, he had hoped to land a job in retail and even applied to the Army – but he remains unemployed. To boost his chances of employment, Cavan recently enrolled in Spear Islington, a six-week scheme for 16 to 24-year-olds aimed at getting them into work, training or education. The Spear programme, led by employment charity Resurgo, was found to have reduced a young person's likelihood of being Neet by 17pc, offering coaching and interview advice. However, initiatives such as Spear are few and far between in Islington, as well as in areas nearby. Ayesha Baloch, a senior policy adviser at Impetus, says there is a wide range of barriers that prevent young people from finding employment. One such obstacle is a lack of awareness of what's out there, she says, particularly for poorer households. 'Part of the reason that work experience, internships and representation is so important is because it gives young people the opportunity to see someone like them working in sectors that they maybe wouldn't have heard of,' says Baloch. 'You have some communities where they're predominantly working in hospitality or they run restaurants so they maybe wouldn't have as much of a concept of working in a bank.' Ironically, Islington's worklessness crisis has emerged despite Jeremy Corbyn, the constituency's MP, previously winning over young workers by championing radical Left-wing policies. During his time as Labour leader, he vowed to abolish university tuition fees and introduce a £10 minimum wage for under-18s. However, since splitting from his former party and serving Islington North as an independent, Corbyn has increasingly focused on more geopolitical issues such as the Israel-Gaza conflict. Meanwhile, thousands of young people in his constituency struggle to find work, like many others elsewhere in the country. There are 923,000 16 to 24-year-olds classed as Neet in the UK, according to the ONS, up from 793,000 in 2020. As well as Islington, other local authorities affected by the crisis include Middlesbrough, Knowsley, Nottingham and Hartlepool. Soaring Neet figures have prompted charities to take action. Gadsby says that reducing the rate of Neets is 'about understanding different people's needs and a programme that works for them'. 'Different young people are going to have different challenges, which I think is part of the reason this has been a perennial problem, because there probably isn't a simple one-size-fits-all scheme that solves everything,' he says. Rise in mental health complaints Another barrier facing young people is a lack of preparation. A recent report from IPPR found that fewer than half of young people (47pc) felt ready for work after education. Mangala Nanda, chief learning officer at Generation, a charity that runs job-specific boot camps to get people into work, says 'the link between education and employment is not strong enough'. 'We see that there are lots of people who go into university, they've taken on all of that debt, and then six months go by, one year goes by, two years go by – and they've not managed to get a job,' she says. Resurgo is one of the charities attempting to help Neets in Islington, working with youngsters who face barriers such as poor qualifications, a family history of unemployment or special educational needs. Pete Bacon, the deputy chief executive of the group, said a sharp rise in mental health complaints post-Covid has also fuelled unemployment. 'The number of young people we enrol who are now reporting mental health issues of some type feels really significant,' he says. 'The amount of young people we now speak to who, day to day, are just not leaving their house, sometimes, no exaggeration, for years they won't have actually left their building'. One of Resurgo's most successful offerings is the Spear programme. At Spear Islington, its six-week programme is in full swing. Young people are hearing from coaches about professionalism in their workplace, phone communication skills and practising interview techniques. 'I've personally learnt to be more confident and to know it's not just me that has a hard time looking for jobs or looking for studies, it's a community of people that struggle,' says Hailey, one of the participants. The programme also works with local companies to create a network between young people and businesses. However, others claim a complete shift in perception is needed to help Islington's unemployed youngsters. Anna, the centre manager of Spear Islington, says: 'We need to myth-bust that Islington is just a wealthy borough because it's got wealth. 'It also has great deprivation, and I think that can often get overlooked depending on where you go and what circles you mix in.'
