Nobody is left in any doubt that Leona Maguire is the poster girl for the KPMG Women’s Irish Open. The billboards of the Solheim Cup star’s image – Ping cap and broad smile – are prominent on roadside approaches to The K Club, and again once inside the famous resort for this tournament which has grown in status and named best tournament on the Ladies European Tour for the past two years.
Just as the Solheim Cup is part of Maguire’s golfing DNA make-up, so too the Irish Open remains very much close to her heart. “One of the highlights of the year, it’s nice to see the tournament go from strength to strength,” remarks Maguire with a degree of modesty, no self-congratulations or swelled head for the role that she has played in its evolution.
This will be Maguire’s last tournament outing before she get’s a week’s break and then makes yet another – her fourth – appearance in the Solheim Cup in the Netherlands in a fortnight’s time.
That Maguire is the touring professional attached to The K Club comes as a little help this week, where the demands of the corporate world and media are less of a factor given her familiarity with the Palmer South Course, which will provide the examination this week.
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Maguire’s form this season has been a rollercoaster of sorts, blowing hot and cold, with three top-10s – including a runners-up finish in the Aramco championship in Las Vegas – along with 11 missed cuts. Yet she still remains very much on course for a place in the season-ending LPGA Tour Championship, currently 44th, with the leading 60 and ties progressing to that megabucks finale.
Earlier this year, Maguire made the decision to appoint Sean Foley – who had worked with Tiger Woods and Lydia Ko – as a swing coach which involved making in-season changes to her swing.
With no regrets whatsoever, Maguire explained of the process: “You’re never done. You’re always building, you’re always growing, there’s always stuff to be worked on. We’re definitely closer now than we were a couple of months ago. I’m definitely glad I’ve gone down the route I have, you have to really keep elevating your game or you get left behind.
“It’s tricky to make changes while you’re still trying to compete. It would be nice to be able to take six months off and just work on everything, but we don’t have the luxury of that. You’re trying to work on things and improve and compete as well at the same time.
“It’s been a challenge, but it’s a challenge I’ve enjoyed and I’m enjoying working on the things I’m working on. There’s been a few good finishes in there to prove that we’re going in the right direction. I think probably the hardest thing is that the old go-tos don’t work any more. You can’t blend both.
“My old go-to of aiming left and pushing it down no longer works. You’ve got to stick to the process and the new routines and commit to them, even if it’s uncomfortable. I suppose that’s sport and that’s life. You have to push through that discomfort a little bit sometimes instead of just relaxing back into old habits and old comfort zones.”
Regarding a comfort zone, her return to The K Club – where, as an 11-year-old, she and twin sister Lisa presented the Ryder Cup, with Blu Tack attached to the lid so that it wouldn’t fall off – is fitting, the Straffan venue enjoying its place in her own professional story. She is a regular visitor to the course, including playing practice rounds with Pádraig Harrington.
Wouldn’t an Irish Open win be fitting?
“I played well in Scotland a few weeks ago and I feel like all the pieces are there, they just haven’t quite clicked on any one week. There’s been weeks where I’ve drove the ball really well; there’s been weeks I’ve hit the ball well, and there’s been weeks where I’ve putted well. They just all haven’t been quite there. It’s just been a little bit inconsistent.
“This is probably my favourite stretch of the year. We’re running into an Irish Open and a Solheim Cup, so I’m trying to enjoy these weeks as much as I can and keep it as relaxed and laid-back as I can. That’s generally where I’ve had my best golf.”
Maguire, the inspiration for so many young Irish women, with a record 16 players in the field at The K Club, has been grouped with Roscommon teenager Olivia Costello and last season’s order of merit winner Shannon Tan of Singapore for the opening two rounds.
