'I played a lot better than I scored' - Maguire

Maguire's challenge slipped on Saturday after lighting up the leaderboard on Friday with a fantastic round that finished on five-under.

However, playing conditions proved challenging going into the final round where the Cavan woman was keen to impress and she raced out of the blocks.

She birdied the third, fourth and sixth holes to get to three-under-par but got caught out on the back nine, dropping shots on the 12th and 17th holes.

The Slieve Russell golfer ended her Olympic involvement on a sweet note with a birdie on the par-five 18th to finish 21st overall.

"I thought I played a lot better than I shot. I just got out of position a little bit on the back nine," Maguire told The42.ie website.

"I played really well for the first 11 holes and then the wind started to really pick up."

Maguire was placed eight shots behind the medals with South Korea's Inbee Park taking the gold accolade, five shots clear of the field.

New Zealand's world number one Lydia Ko took silver, one shot clear of Shanshan Feng from China who posted 10-under for bronze.

Meanwhile, Maguire's Irish team-mate Stephanie Meadow hit a one-over-par 72 in her final round, finishing three-over for the tournament.

Paul McGinley had praised the efforts of Meadow and Maguire earlier in the tournament, paying particular attention to the latter's impressive round on Friday.

"She's against a world-class field and she's now disappointed to be 28th in the tournament. She's way outperforming her ranking in a world-class field," McGinley said.

"This is a world-class field, she's outperforming so many, she's doing great. Let's be realistic about what's going on here."