Leona Maguire is a 27-year-old golfer with the world at her feet and her native Ireland is excited for what the future may hold for the former world amateur number one.
The Cavan woman turned professional in 2018, with the help of One Direction singer Niall Horan, and recently made history by becoming the first Irish woman to win an LPGA event, winning the Drive On Championship in Florida. Maguire’s previous best placing at an LPGA tour event was joint-second at the Lotte Championship in 2021, in which she posted her lowest professional scorecard of 267 (68, 67, 65, 67).
2022 appears to be the year that Maguire breaks into mainstream consciousness, but those in the know have been following her progress for years.
World Amateur Number One
Maguire was ranked as the number one woman in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for a total of 135 weeks, the longest period of any women’s golfer in history. The first glimpse of her serious golfing talent was in 2005, when she won the HSBC British Wee Wonders Championship by 11 shots, finishing with a highly impressive round of 61. Maguire would also win the Irish Women’s Amateur Close Championship in 2008, with her twin sister, Lisa Maguire, finishing as runner-up.
Maguire added the Portuguese International Ladies Amateur Championship (winning by 15 shots) and the Irish Women’s Open Strokeplay to her collection in 2011. In 2014, she made the move across the Atlantic to Durham, North Carolina, where she attended Duke University and played NCAA college golf, with her sister by her side.
By May 2015, she was ranked number one in the world according to the World Amateur Golf Ranking and would hold that position until May 2016, before regaining the number one spot in August the same year. Maguire held on to that position until February 2018, by which point she had made history.
Turning Professional
Both Maguire sisters turned professional in 2018, signing on with management company Modest! owned by the former One Direction band member. Lisa, though, would retire just a year later citing her inability to develop a golf swing capable of being competitive on the professional circuit.
Leona, by the beginning of 2020, was ranked inside the top 100 in the world with the LPGA and made her tour debut at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio on 23 January. In 2021, Maguire became a real contender on the LPGA tour, placing second at the Lotte Championship and taking home her biggest prize winnings at the time, $125,834.
Solheim Cup Heroics
More history would come Maguire’s way as she became the first Irishwoman to be selected for Team Europe’s Solheim Cup team, by which time she had now broken into the world’s top 50. Taking her place alongside Europe’s best, Maguire wouldn’t settle for simply making up the numbers as she more than played her part.
Maguire made more history by breaking the all-time points record for any rookie in either the Solheim Cup or Ryder Cup, scoring 4.5 points as she played a pivotal role in Europe’s historic triumph in Toledo, Ohio. Maguire outscored everyone else at the 2021 Solheim Cup, scoring two points more than any other competing player.
Her showing at the Solheim Cup helped her on her way to becoming only the second-ever woman to win the Irish Golf Writers’ Association’s Professional Player of the Year. Maguire would also be named as runner-up in the LPGA’s Rookie of the Year and ended 2021 inside the world’s top 40.
Maiden LPGA Title
Maguire claimed her maiden LPGA title by winning the LPGA Drive On Championship with rounds of 66, 65 and 67 to finish 18 under par, three shots ahead of Lexi Thompson, a former major winner herself. The Irishwoman won not only $225,000, but the plaudits of a nation headed up by President Michael Higgins, who posted his congratulations on Twitter.
Since her victory, which propelled her into the top 20 in the world, Maguire has quite rightly been at the centre of attention in Ireland and made an appearance on the popular Late Late Show, in which she was hailed as a “credit to her country” by viewers. She also had time to poke fun at her pop star friend’s golfing ability, who she says is “good for what he needs to be”.
Later this month, Maguire will be heading to the Mission Hills Country Club in California for the Chevron Championship, the first of five majors, on 30 March. Here at Fen Regis Trophies, we wish Leona all the best in her pursuit of golf trophies and look forward to following her progress for years to come.
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