Meadow defeats Hull with one shot to win World Invitational

& # 39; Maybe I inspired a few girls & # 39; – Meadow

Stephanie Meadow won an emotional home win at the World Invitational in Northern Ireland after she shot England Charley Hull with one shot.

Solheim Cup star Hull had a four-foot eagle pit on the 18th to draw, but missed as Meadow, 27, scooped to par to win Galgorm Castle.

At her first pro event in Northern Ireland, Meadow & # 39; s level-par 73 gave her a 10-under-par total.

Jack Senior defeated Matthew Baldwin in a play-off to win the men's event.

Both English players finished 11 under.

For the first time in professional golf in Europe, the event in Northern Ireland organized separate tournaments for men and women with the same prize money.

Heysham-man Senior and Meadow both raised £ 33,000 for their winnings, while Hull and Baldwin earned just over £ 22,000.

The German duo Laura Fuenfstueck and Olivia Cowan shared third place in the women's event – three out of pace – with Kylie Henry in Scotland in fifth place and Leona Maguire in Ireland in sixth place in fifth .

Stephanie Meadow left Charley Hull's challenge to win with one shot

Four nights ahead, Meadow was looking forward to a comfortable victory margin, while a birdie on the second increased her lead to five, but problems hit the ninth as a wandering fairway wood shot led to a bogey with double boge after a penalty drop.

The Northern Irish woman recovered impressively with birdies on the 10th and 11th, who held her three for Solheim Cup star Hull.

Because Hull got a birdie in the short 12th before dropping a shot at 16, the margin remained three while the players were on the 17th tee.

However, Meadow bogey the penultimate hole before he found the trees with her tee-shot last when the pressure increased.

After sideways chipping, Meadow found the green with a brave third to 20 feet but a play-off watched while Hull played a sensational approach to setting her short eagle chance.

But the English woman missed because she had to settle for a final round of 69, tapping Meadow to complete a nerve-racking victory.

Jordanstown & Meadow ended third in her professional debut at the Women's US Open in 2014, but suffered a devastating blow a year later when her father died months after the cancer diagnosis.

A back injury affected Meadow's career in 2017, but she earned her only previous professional win in the second-row Symetra Tour in the US last year.

Senior Takes Men's Title

Senior, 31, earned his second European challenge ge Tour victory after a win in Scotland in 2015.

After Senior for much of the In the back nine, Southport man Baldwin took the lead by birdie four of the last five holes to complete a six-under-par 64.

Senior, however, regrouped from a bogey on the 16th to birdie the last to force the play-off, which he won at the second extra hole with another birdie after he signed for a 67.

The English pair ended up two ahead of countryman and joint leader of the night, Todd Clements, who shot a 70, with Damien Perrier from France sliding back to the fourth after a 71.

Winner of the Northern Ireland Open last year in Galgorm, Scotland & # 39; s Calum Hill, shared seventh place – six of them t tempo – with Cormac Sharvin, the only Irishman who survived the last day, in a shared 21st place in two under.