Irish golf fans could be in for a treat over the coming days as it looks like Leona Maguire will be right in the mix at Dromoland Castle judging by today's first day of play.
The Irish Women's Open got underway at the Clare venue with all eyes on the Solheim Cup heroine.
She actually stumbled out of the blocks - suffering a pair of bogeys over her opening five holes to go along with one birdie.
READ MORE: From crazy Irish Open debut to headline attraction - Leona Maguire has come a long way
But she then found her stride with a hat-trick of birdies on holes six, seven and eight.
And the 27-year-old hit another purple patch late on as she knocked in a further trio of birdies across her last four holes to register a -5 score of 67.
This places her just two shots off the lead which is held by Lina Boqvist and Alexandra Swayne.
This is the first edition of the Irish Women's Open in 10 years.
Naturally a lot has changed for Maguire with regard to her standing in the game since then but she does have specific tournament experience to call upon having played it 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.
"That was quite intimidating," Maguire said after competing in the pre-tournament Pro-Am.
"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 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."
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