Ready to hit that Drom
STAR LEONA GETTING INTO RHYTHM
WHERE once she was in the shadow of the main attraction at the Women’s Irish Open, Leona Maguire is the big cheese at Dromoland Castle this week.
Now 27, she played her first national Open as a 14-year-old in 2009 as part of the Great Britain and Ireland Vagliano Trophy team.
The teen sensation was paired with World No.1 Laura Davies (inset) and out-scored her on the first day, carding a 74 to the English legend’s 75.
“That was quite intimidating,” Maguire said yesterday, after competing in the Pro-am at the
Co Clare venue. “She was hitting that two-iron of hers everywhere and I was just trying to hit my driver within 40 yards of it. It was a fun week!”
This time Maguire is the star of the show on the back of her exploits on the PGA Tour and, just over a year ago, for Team Europe in the Solheim Cup.
“I suppose it’s a little bit full circle,” she smiled. “I haven’t done what Laura has done yet, I have a bit of a way to go. But it’s nice to be back and nice to have some of the best players in Europe here supporting the event.”
The Irish Open makes a welcome return after a 10-year hiatus and Maguire will tee off her first round today alongside the event’s last winner Catriona Matthew.
The Scot was Maguire’s Solheim Cup captain at the Inverness Club in Ohio.
The presence of Maguire, the World No.18, is a major shot in the arm to the tournament – as is her commitment to playing in it for the next three years.
But the Kpmg-backed tournament comes in the middle of a run of five tournaments for the Cavan woman. Clearly she would prefer the Irish Open to be played on a different week in the LET schedule.
“I flew in from Seattle this week, it wasn’t the easiest commute,” Maguire remarked. “But it’s an important event and you’d like to see it on the schedule for a long time to come.
“Ideally I would like to see a summer date, I think a lot of people would. But Dromoland has put on a fantastic show this week, they have done everything they can to pull off a big event and it’s all come together very nicely.
“We’ll work with what we have this year and hopefully it will continue to improve every year going forward.
“I’m pleasantly surprised, the course is a lot better than I had expected.”