Jun 28, 2025 
(June 28, 2025 – MONTICELLO, N.Y.) – Sweden has produced a number of noteworthy, world-class professional golfers.
Maria McBride is one of them. You may remember her as Maria Hjorth, a five-time champion on the LPGA Tour with two wins on the Ladies European Tour and five consecutive Solheim Cup appearances from 2002-2011.
Today, she captured her first win on the Legends of the LPGA, clearing a talent-packed field by two shots with a dominant performance at Monster Golf Club in the inaugural LPGA Legends Weekend presented by Resorts World Catskills. McBride carded six birdies against a lone bogey to post a final round 67, matching the course record on the challenging par 72 track.
Starting the day at three under par and sitting one shot back of overnight leader Laura Diaz of Ponte Verde, Fla., McBride had a plan.
“I set a goal before the round started to get to 8 under and figured others would also have to play well to get to that,” said McBride.
Her opening tee shot did not fit the plan.
“I hit a bad tee shot on the first hole,” admitted McBride. “I was lucky to find it right at three minutes. I was just about to give up and walk away, and suddenly there it was, and I was still able to make a par there.”
McBride quickly put the shaky start in her rearview mirror and went on to make birdie on three of the next eight holes to post a bogey-free front nine 33 and take a one-shot lead over a charging Angela Stanford of Fort Worth, Texas.
Stanford started the day two shots back after carding a first-round 70 yesterday on borrowed clubs. She needed the makeshift set of sticks again today as her luggage and golf clubs never made it to the resort.
A bogey on the par 4 11th dropped McBride into a tie with Stanford at 6-under as Stanford, playing in the pairing ahead of her, rolled in her 5th birdie putt of the day on the par 5 12th.
“I struggled a little bit to see the breaks,” said McBride of her hiccup on hole 11. “The putts were going straighter than I thought they would, and I missed some putts on the high side.”
McBride saw the right line on the par 5 12th, bouncing back with her fourth birdie of the round and reclaiming a one-shot lead with six holes to play. A birdie on 15 briefly gave McBride a two-shot advantage after Stanford suffered a setback with a bogey on the 13th.
Stanford closed the gap to one shot with a birdie on 16, but a lost tee shot on 18 and subsequent three-putt resulted in an ill-timed triple bogey at the last, dropping her out of contention. Stanford finished T4 after a final round 71.
Meanwhile, Diaz, playing in the final group with McBride, was quietly recovering from dropping a shot on the front by making birdies on holes 10, 13, and 15 to get within one of McBride going into the 18th hole.
“I knew Angela had made a high number on the last hole, so it was between me and Laura,” said McBride, who held the lead at 7 under par as the two walked up the 18th fairway.
After Diaz missed her birdie attempt on the 18th to finish at 6 under par, McBride needed only to two-putt her 20-footer for the win.
“I knew I had two putts to win. It was a tough putt, and luckily the first one went in,” said the 51-year-old Swede, who was the only player to make a birdie on the 18th hole in the final round.
“I’m very happy with how I played,” added McBride. “It was the best I played all week.”
Diaz finished solo 2nd (138) while Yvonne Cox-Holmes of Cumming, GA (140) snagged 3rd.
Click here for LPGA Legends Weekend results.
Jul 11, 2025 
