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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Michael Scully

From crazy Irish Open debut to headline attraction - Leona Maguire has come a long way

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 invited to participate at the time.

The teenage sensation was paired with Laura Davies and out-scored her on the first day, carding a 74 to the English legend's 75.

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"That was quite intimidating," Maguire said yesterday, after competing in the Pro-Am at the county 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. So yeah, it was a fun week!".

This time it is Maguire who 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, so 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 this week after a 10 year hiatus and Maguire will tee off her first round today alongside the event's last winner, Catriona Matthew.

Scotland's Catriona Matthew hits her second shot to the 18th green in the final round of the 2012 Ladies Irish Open (©INPHO/Cathal Noonan)

The Scot was Maguire's Solheim Cup captain at the Inverness Club in Ohio.

The presence of Maguire, the world number 18, is a major shot in the arm to the tournament - as is her commitment to playing in the event for the next three years in a bid to get the event up and running properly again.

But the KPMG-backed tournament comes in the middle of a run of five tournaments on the spin for the Cavan woman. Clearly she would prefer the Irish Open to be played on a different week in the LET schedule.

"Yeah, I flew in from Seattle this week, it wasn't the easiest commute," she remarked.

"But it's one of those things, 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 like to see a summer date, for a number of reasons.

"Whether people are off for the summer, kids are off school and could come watch, it would be nice if it could sit in the middle of that European swing for us when we can get maybe some of the bigger LPGA players to play as well.

"But Dromoland has put on a fantastic show this week, they have done everything they can to pull off a big event and yeah, 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."

Maguire visited Dromoland a month ago and, interestingly, it was her first time to play the course.

"We never played any tournaments here as an amateur or anything like that, so that was my first trip down here. I'm pleasantly surprised, the course is a lot better than I had expected."

A missed cut in Seattle allowed Maguire to at least arrive home earlier than expected on Monday, then she had to get to the Korean Embassy in Dublin on Tuesday morning to get a visa sorted.

Despite plenty of her county folk flocking to Croke Park to catch the last Garth Brooks extravaganza on Saturday, Maguire admits she didn't mind missing out.

“I wasn’t there, my mam and dad were there last weekend," she smiled.

"I don’t know if I’d know any of the songs, to be honest. Mam and Dad really enjoyed it though."

For Maguire, this week is about managing energy levels after her long trip and around the duties she has performed this week off the course, but it is also about adjusting to the different conditions to what she is used to on the PGA Tour.

“Poa grass has not been my friend this year and last week was not different," she said. "I feel like I’ve been playing well for a long while and it’s a little different this week.

Leona Maguire (Malcolm MacKenzie/PA Wire)

"The ball’s not going as far here as in the States so more things to do but overall looking forward to getting started."

Maguire is gearing up for a big finish to the LPGA Tour season after making a tournament winning breakthrough early in the year.

She has made steady progress in her climb up the CME Rankings in the States - she is currently in 14th place ahead of the play-offs - and is eyeing up a spectacular finale at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship from November 17-20.

She will miss the event in Arkansas this week, however, as she is at the KPMG Women's Irish Open, and now confirms that while she will play in Korea on October 20, she won't travel on to Japan for the tournament in early November before the CME Group Tour Championship in Florida.

"We have five or six events left, I am just trying to put myself in contention in as many of them as I can," said Maguire.

"I am going to Korea but not to Japan, then I am going to finish off with two in Florida.

"The CME is at the end of the year, so I'm just trying to finish that one off (in style).

"It is almost like a major - 60 people with a big purse - so it's just trying to play as well as I can the next few weeks, but then trying to finish off with a big one at CME."

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