Leona Maguire has climbed to her highest world ranking but was left to wonder what might have been after securing her best major championship finish to date in Muirfield.
The Cavan golfer had mixed emotions on Sunday after shooting a best of the day closing 66 in the AIG Women's Open, the last major of the year.
Maguire played well throughout the previous three rounds but had to stay patient as not much had happened for her on the greens.
READ MORE: Leona Maguire shoots stunning final round 66 to finish 4th at The Open
But she caught fire in her final bogey-free round that saw her make three birdies and an eagle to claim joint fourth place behind first-time major winner Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa.
"Overall, bogey-free, 5-under in the last round of major, I think these conditions were possibly the toughest of the four days, it was windy from the get-go," said the Cavan woman, whose previous best in a major this year was tied eighth in the US Women's Open.
"That was kind of the potential I knew was in there all week, and nice to sort of finish it off today."
Maguire has moved up five places to 17th in the world rankings as a result of her top five placing that earned her €303,561 in prize money alongside Minjee Lee and Madelene Sagstrom.
And yet it could have been even better as Maguire had good birdie chances on the difficult par-4 14th and 15th holes as the tournament came to Muirfield for the first time.
Her attempt on 14 lipped out and it was a similar story on 15.
Had she been successful with both, Maguire would have got to 9-under par - one birdie shy of a play-off with Buhai and In Ghee Chun.
The pair battled it out over four play-off holes in the fading light - the first in the championship in 32 years - before the South African prevailed.
"Yeah, it would have been nice to get to 10, I kind of had 10 in my head," said Maguire, who had her regular caddy Dermot Byrne back on the bag.
"It's definitely my best British Open so far, and a really, really solid week.
"It's always nice to finish strong in the last round of a major, bogey-free.
"I felt like I kept it out of the fairway bunkers this week, and didn't hit it in a single fairway bunker - drove it as well as I've probably drove it in a while.
"Yeah, if I had had my week on the greens, things could have been a lot different."
Fresh from her efforts in Scotland, Maguire will tee it up in front of home crowds this week in Antrim as she competes in the ISPS Handa World Invitational.
The first two rounds will be played at Galgorm Castle and Massereene Golf Club, and the last two at Galgorm Castle.
Buhai held a three shot lead going into the final round and looked well in control until suffering a triple bogey on 15 that opened the door for three-time major winner Chun.
But Buhai held her nerve in a dramatic play-off.
"It's been a long journey," she said later. "You know, I turned pro when I was 18, there was a lot of things expected of me, I won straight off the bat on the Ladies European Tour.
"But this game has a way of giving you a hard time.
"I'm just so proud of how I've stuck it out. I have said the last four or five years, I've finally started to find my feet on the LPGA and felt I could compete, and although I'm 33 now, I feel I'm playing the best golf of my career.
"It's been a long journey, but man, it's all worth it right now."
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