Leona stays focused in among the big guns

LADIES IRISH OPEN:LEONA MAGUIRE willed a downhill, sliding eight-foot par putt on the home green into the hole, the ball grabbing the right edge before eventually disappearing.

The 14-year-old celebrated with a tiny fist pump, arguably her only animated gesture in the four-and-three-quarter hours it took to complete her first round in the AIB Ladies Irish Open at Portmarnock Links.

Signing for a two-over-par 74 represents a bald statistic that fails to capture the colour of the morning’s fare. From the moment the teenage Irish amateur strode to the first tee box to officially greet women’s golfing icon Laura Davies and the third member of the group, France’s Jade Schaeffer, she demonstrated remarkable self-possession for one so young.

There must have been a temptation to deviate from a deliberate pre-shot routine that demanded two practice swings on the tee and occasionally three from the fairway, especially when her playing companions struck the ball with no preamble, but it never wavered.

Cocooned by a singular focus, she appeared impervious to her surroundings, much to her credit.

She represented a poster girl for the virtues of hitting fairways and greens in regulation, the only aberration on the front nine an under-hit wedge to the par five fourth, that led to a bogey. A birdie on the sixth, where she played a glorious, 45-yard pitch-and-run to four feet saw her return to level par, a status she retained to the turn.

A bogey and a birdie in the first three holes of her back nine kept a gallery that seemed to increase by the minute enthralled. She demonstrated her mettle on the 13th by holing superbly from 12 feet for a double bogey seven, and although she dropped another shot to par on the 15th, an eight-foot birdie putt on the 161-yard 17th underlined her prowess with the putter.

Her 74 – twin sister Lisa shot 76 playing in the afternoon – equalled that of Schaeffer and was one better than Davies who, short game aside, struggled for accuracy.

Maguire admitted: “I am pretty happy. It’s a great experience playing against a world-class golfer like Laura. Hopefully, I have learned a few things from today. I just really enjoyed myself.”

Any first-tee nerves?

“Well I played the pro event up in Templepatrick two years ago and kind of knew what it was going to be like. Yeah, I was a bit nervous. I got my tee-shot away fine so I was pretty happy.

“I kept the ball on the fairway a lot and she (Davies) was in the rough a lot, but her short game saved her and she got up and down a lot of the time: hopefully I can get my short game like that and maybe some day be good like her.”

Davies reciprocated the admiration.

“You can’t not be (impressed). She’s fabulous, hits it fairly straight and pretty long too. She will get longer and longer, and (hits) good irons. Her putting looks really solid and I can’t say much more really.”

Leona lies in 50th place with the top-60 players and ties after today’s second round playing a final 18 holes tomorrow.

Frenchwoman Julie Greciet and Sweden’s Maria Hjorth lead the field after posting five-under-par 67s by one shot from a sextet of pursuers and are two clear of another cluster of players that includes Ireland’s Martina Gillen.

A mammoth, 45-foot putt on the 17th green was the highlight of a round that included five birdies and just two dropped shots. She smiled when asked if she could go on to win the tournament.

“I don’t know,” Gillen said. “I’m just looking for another good, solid round and then take my chances on Sunday. I would not be thinking of winning at this stage, just getting three solid rounds in. I’m looking for consistency.

“You can be two or three under here and it can be gone in the blink of an eye. You have to be patient.”

Carlow’s Tara Delaney also climbed to three under at one point but had to settle for a fine two-under-the-card 70.

Leona Maguire is joined on two over by fellow amateur and Vagliano team member Danielle McVeigh, one shot clear of Rebecca Coakley, Hazel Kavanagh and Marian Riordan. Lisa Maguire shot 76, while Clare Coughlan Ryan and US-based amateur Stephanie Meadow were one shot further adrift on a benign day at the Portmarnock Links.