Leona Maguire has been a professional since 2018, first starting on the Symetra Tour before successfully moving further up the pyramid. During that time, Maguire has only worked with a select few caddies.
Gary Marshall was Maguire's first looper as she made her way on the Ladies European Tour and LPGA Tour, but the Irish golfer then moved on to working with Dermot Byrne from the middle of 2021 after he split with Shane Lowry following approximately nine years as a team.
In a particularly successful three-year period with Byrne, Maguire created history as the first Irish player to win an LPGA Tour title at the LPGA Drive On Championship. She later claimed the Meijer LPGA Classic in 2023 before becoming the first Irish woman ever to lift an LET title at the 2024 Aramco Team Series - London.
Yet, in something of a surprising move, Maguire and Byrne parted ways just two weeks later after the Evian Championship where Maguire missed her third cut in four Majors during 2024.
Per Irish Golfer, Maguire’s manager, Mark McDonnell of Modest! Golf Management, said: “Leona and Dermot have had a great run together and they’ve achieved great success in the years together. It was just time for both of them to start something new.”
Who Is Leona Maguire's Caddie?
Starting in July 2024, Maguire has hired veteran Irish caddie Verners Tess. Europe's caddie captain at the 2019 Solheim Cup, Tess has worked with a number of high-profile names across a 20-year career in the LPGA Tour such as Scotland's Catriona Matthew, Australia’s Katherine Hull Kirk, and England’s Charley Hull.
While caddying for Kirk, the pair finished runner-up to Yani Tseng at the 2010 Women’s Open at Royal Birkdale.
Tess is from Tralee, County Kerry in Ireland and says the town's golf course is his favorite in the world. He also mentioned that he began his caddying career by looping there over the summer during high school.
Speaking to the Irish Independent about how Tess' personality and sharp sense of humor would help Maguire on the course, a tour insider was quoted as saying: “She will like his no-nonsense old-school approach. The man has more stories than anyone!”
Since beginning their on-course relationship, Maguire and Tess have enjoyed a best result of T15th at the KPMG Women's Irish Open as the former World top-10 golfer has struggled to rediscover her best form.
Maguire's final Major result of 2024 was T37th at the AIG Women's Open, however, and she will be hopeful of repeating her success as a rookie at the 2021 Solheim Cup when the 2024 staging takes at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia in September.
