Tag: Leona Maguire

Lydia Ko and Leona Maguire could deliver epic duel at CME on Sunday with $2 million on the line

Maguire began the day seven shots behind Ko, but a flawless 9-under 63 vaulted her into a tie with Ko at 15 under.

NAPLES, Fla. — Lydia Ko doesn’t want to think about it like a match-play Sunday. After three rounds of the CME Group Tour Championship, Ko sits knotted with Ireland’s Leona Maguire, the hero of last year’s European Solheim Cup team.

Ko could clinch Rolex LPGA Player of the Year, the Vare Trophy, the World No. 1 ranking and money title with a victory and the record $2 million prize. Maguire could further grow her lion-hearted reputation.

“I’m as competitive as they get,” said Maguire, who earlier this year became the first Irish player to win on the LPGA.

Maguire began the day seven shots behind Ko, but a flawless 9-under 63 vaulted her into a tie with Ko at 15 under. Putts swirled around the cup and dropped for Maguire all day, just as her caddie said they would. She needed only 25.

“I think the Solheim Cup was a big part of my journey,” said Maguire, who collected 4.5 points at Inverness. “I have a lot to thank to Beanie (Catriona Matthew) here for picking me, but I think the biggest thing was confidence, feeling like I belonged on that team playing all five matches doing as well as I did.”

Maguire and Ko duel won’t alone, however, as officials have moved to split tees and threesomes for the final round with incoming weather expected in the afternoon. Former U.S. Women’s Open champion Jeongeun Lee6 will join the pair after a second straight 68.

Ko, who leads the POY race by one point over Minjee Lee, could win the award for the first time since 2015. She could also rise to No. 1 for the first time since the summer of 2017. The Kiwi spent a total of 104 weeks at the top. Ko would have to win and have current No. 1 Nelly Korda finish solo 21st or worse. Korda is currently tied for 12th.

Last month, Ko wrote on Instagram that she and swing coach Sean Foley were no longer working together. Over the summer, she started working with both Foley and Ted Oh, whom she’d worked with previously. Oh is in Naples this week.

“I think both Sean and Ted wanted me to swing naturally to how I should be swinging,” she said, “not to try and make a picture-perfect swing.”

Lydia Ko of New Zealand plays her shot from the 15th tee during the third round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on November 19, 2022 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Ko said she won’t think of tomorrow as a match-play scenario given that battling herself is hard enough. She also expects someone to make a charge.

“I just want to play golf that I don’t regret,” she said, “that I feel confident and, and come at the end of tomorrow and say, ‘Hey, you know, I did my best and you know, this is where I finished.’ ”

Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh is among those who could make a charge, sitting five shots back at 10 under with Lee6. Dryburgh won for the first time earlier this month in Japan.

When Dryburgh first arrived on the Ladies European Tour she had one sponsor. After that one fell away, she got some help from the Scottish Golf Union, but that one dried up too. When she had no sponsor, members from her home club, Beaconsfield Golf Club, set up a trust.

Two weeks ago, Dryburgh made more money in one week, $300,000, at the Toto Japan Classic than she had in her previous four years on the LPGA after her breakthrough victory. Now, she trails by five as she chases a second win in three weeks and a $2 million prize.

“Just taking the confidence from Japan into the week,” said Dryburgh. “Been swinging very well and putting well as well, so just kind of riding all of that confidence at the moment. And it’s been fun to get into contention. You never know what can happen tomorrow.”

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Carefree Lydia Ko in command by five at season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, where the winner earns $2 million

Lydia Ko is in position to finish her season strong.

NAPLES, Fla. – Leona Maguire took a vastly different road to the LPGA than Lydia Ko, ruling the women’s amateur scene for years as a standout at Duke. A dozen years ago, a 27-year-old Maguire teed it up with a 13-year-old Ko at the World Amateur Team Championship in Argentina.

“She was a phenom then getting ready to turn pro,” said Maguire. “I remember her short game was incredible. A wedge shot didn’t go outside 3, 4 feet.”

Players still marvel at Ko, who at 25 is enjoying a magnificent career resurgence. After a second-round 66, Ko leads the field by five at the CME Group Tour Championship at 13-under 131. A victory here would shore up her first LPGA Player of the Year award since 2015, not to mention a $2 million payday.

Ko said she wanted to finish the season with no regrets, playing freely.

“I think when I play freely,” said Ko, “I’m not being tentative. I’m controlling how the shot is going to go. I think that way it’s just a little bit stress-free.

“If I do miss it, hey, like, I’m going to miss one here and there. So it’s just a better place for me to be at. And obviously when the nerves kick in, that bit is a lot harder, but I think when I was struggling, I got more and more tentative and trying to control the ball and trying to make it work.”

While she hasn’t mathematically clinched the Vare Trophy for low scoring average, it’s basically a done deal. To rise to No. 1 in the world again, she’d have to win and have Nelly Korda finish solo 21st or worse. In 2015, Ko became the youngest player to ever reach No. 1 in the world ­– male or female – at age 17.

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Korda sits in a share of third with Anna Nordqvist, Gemma Dryburgh, and Nasa Hataoka, six strokes back. Hyo Joo Kim sits alone in second at 8 under. Maguire, a first-time winner this season, is at 6 under with Amy Yang and Jeongeun Lee6.

Top-ranked Korda, who is wearing her new signature line with J.Lindeberg this week, made four birdies on the front nine and then parred the last nine holes after the putter went dry.

“They’ve kind of used a lot of the Sunday pins,” said Korda, who won last week’s Pelican LPGA Championship.

“I would say, 16, 17, they kind of put them in the back just over a bunker. When you kind of get on one of those ridges that it can break either way, like, it just happens that occasionally you don’t roll them in.”

Nelly Korda gives a smile on the 18th green during the second round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on Nov. 18, 2022 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

Ko, a two-time winner on tour this season and the 2014 CME champion, leads the LPGA in strokes gained total per round and strokes gained putting per round this season. Coming into this event she had made 201 putts of 10 feet or longer this season, eight more than any other player on tour.

Ko tops the tour in putts per green in relegation with a 1.72 average. She did the same in 2016 (1.71).

“I think during the times when I wasn’t hitting it as good, my short game improved,” said Ko. “So it’s good and bad, but I don’t feel like I’m the best putter in the world. I feel like there is so much room for improvement.”

Minjee Lee trails Ko by one point in the POY race. The Aussie bogeyed the last hole to shoot 68. She’s 5 under for the tournament in a share of 10th.

Coming into the event, Ko was 26 under at the CME over the past two years compared to Lee at 24 under.

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Irish Open returns for the first time in 10 years, headlined by national hero Leona Maguire and backed by KPMG

Leona Maguire was 15 years old the first time she played in the Irish Open.

It’s been 10 years since the Irish Open was last held, and it’s no coincidence that the event’s return coincides with the rise of a bona fide Irish star in Leona Maguire. Currently No. 18 in the world, Maguire has begun to fulfill the promise she showed as an amateur with her breakout performance at the 2021 Solheim Cup and maiden victory at the LPGA Drive On earlier this year.

Maguire’s hometown of Cavan threw a parade in her honor when she returned to Irish soil after last year’s Solheim. The 27-year-old Duke grad then became the first Irish player to win on the LPGA, and now her personal sponsor, KPMG, is the title sponsor of her national Open.

KPMG’s influence on the women’s game ranges from title sponsor of one of the five LPGA majors, to sponsorship of the Irish Kids Golf Tour, which is open to boys and girls ages 13 and under. They also financially back the LPGA’s reinvigorated stats system.

“It was always a big event when it was on the schedule a few years ago,” said Maguire of the Irish, “and it’s taken 10 years, but there’s been a lot of planning and organizing that has gone into it, and hopefully this can become a big event on the LET schedule for a long time to come.”

Maguire and twin sister Lisa played as amateurs at the Irish Open from 2009 to 2012 at Portmarnock and Killeen Castle. Leona was 15 years old the first time she played in the Irish Open, and she was paired with Dame Laura Davies, which she called intimidating.

“She was hitting that 2-iron of hers everywhere,” said Maguire, “and I was trying to hit my driver within 40 yards of it.”

Catriona Matthew, Maguire’s Solheim Cup captain last year, won the Irish in 2012 by a single stroke over Suzann Pettersen and will compete alongside Maguire this week in the first two rounds at Dromoland Castle. Matthew was also on the winning European Solheim Cup team at Killeen in 2011.

“I played the whole 18 now in the pro-am and I think it’s going to be a tricky golf course,” said Matthew. “The front nine is tricky off the tee and the greens are difficult. I’m really looking forward to it and there’s a real buzz about the tournament and it looks like we’re going to have some good crowds.”

Linn Grant, a four-time winner on the LET this season, highlights another marquee pairing along with up-and-coming teen Pia Babnik and 41-year-old Liz Young, who recently won her first LET title in Switzerland.

The 72-hole stroke-play event features a field of 126 and a purse of 400,000 euros.

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Meet the LPGA’s seven first-time winners in 2022, who hail from seven different countries

There’s some star power on this list.

Maja Stark became the seventh first-time winner on the LPGA this season with her commanding five-stroke triumph at the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland. The victory qualified Stark, a former standout at Oklahoma State, for immediate LPGA membership.

Stark has now won seven times worldwide since turning professional last summer.

Two of the seven first-time winners – Jennifer Kupcho and Ashleigh Buhai – won majors. Last week, Buhai became the 44th player to become a Rolex first-time winner at a major.

The record for most first-time winners in a season is 11, set in 1995. In 2018, there were 10: Jin Young Ko, Pernilla Lindberg, Moriya Jutanugarn, Annie Park, Nasa Hataoka, Thidapa Suwannapura, Georgia Hall, Marina Alex, Nelly Korda and Gaby Lopez.

Here’s a closer look at the seven first timers in 2022:

Leona Maguire trails by one in Northern Ireland despite hitting opening tee shot OB; Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson paces men’s division after course-record 61

Maguire bounced back nicely to shoot a 5-under 68.

First tee shot out of bounds? No problem.

Tournament favorite Leona Maguire opened with a bogey on the par-5 first hole at Galgorm Castle and still managed to finish one shot off the lead after carding a 5-under 68 at the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland.

Maguire, who has twin sister Lisa on the bag, followed that bogey with an eagle on the par-5 third hole and finished off her round with three consecutive birdies on Nos. 16-18.

“Didn’t hit enough fairways,” said Maguire, who hit seven total. “Didn’t really feel comfortable over a lot of the tee shots. This course doesn’t suit my eye very well, so kind of nice to have a change of scenery.”

The field played both Galgorm Castle and Massereene Golf Club, with men and women alternating tee times. The ISPS Handa World is a co-sanctioned event between the LPGA, LET and DP World Tour. There are two fields of 132 men and 132 women who will compete over two separate 72-hole stroke play events for a total of $3 million, split evenly.

Maguire, the first Irishwoman to win on the LPGA, finds herself one back of American Amanda Doherty and tied with Georgia Hall, Lee-Anne Pace and Lauren Coughlin.

Galgorm, Northern Ireland – AUGUST 10: Leona Maguire of Ireland with caddie and sister Lisa Maguire prior to the ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics at Galgorm Castle and Massereene Golf Clubs on August 10, 2022 in Co Antrim, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Oisin Keniry/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson posted a 9-under 61 at Galgorm Castle in the men’s division on the strength of two eagles. Ferguson leads by four over a trio that includes LIV player Richard Bland at 5 under.

“Played the pro-am with Niall (Horan) and me and Robbie Keane yesterday and I kept hitting a lot of bunkers,” Ferguson said. “They were saying, you love the bunkers. See you tomorrow. Just try and stay out of them.

“Today was just nice to avoid them all, which was good. Obviously, a 61, so course record is pretty nice.”

At last week’s AIG Women’s British Open, Maguire carded Sunday’s best round, a bogey-free 64, to post a career-best fourth-place finish in a major.

“If I had the putted today like I putted on Sunday,” she said, “would be a bit of a different story. If I can take the ball striking from last week and add it to the putting today, I would be very happy.”

Hall enjoyed an eagle-birdie-birdie stretch on Nos. 3-5 on Galgorm and dropped only one shot in her opening 68.

“I felt I played fairly average, to be honest,” she said, “because there are a lot of chances out there today.”

Maja Stark, the Race to Costa del Sol leader, rebounded from a tough 79 on Sunday at the AIG Women’s British Open to shoot 69 at the par-72 Massereene Golf Club.

“I feel like I was just so drained after that last round because I feel like I really tried to play well the whole round, but then nothing seemed to work, said Stark of Sunday at Muirfield. “I just collapsed when I got in.

“So I’ve been nice to myself and taking some time off. Not time off; obviously been playing the practice rounds and the pro-am. But then not practicing as much as I usually do, because I can feel that I’ve been easily annoyed and stuff like that the last week.”

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Leona Maguire headlines players to watch at ISPS Handa World Invitational, where men and women will compete for an equal purse

The event is a co-sanctioned event between the DP World Tour, Ladies European Tour and LPGA.

Leona Maguire will compete in front of Irish fans at an LPGA event for the first time since becoming the first Irishwoman to win on tour last February at the LPGA Drive On Championship. The president of Ireland called her after the historic moment.

The 27-year-old Maguire is the highest-ranked player in the field at the ISPS Handa World Invitational after moving up to No. 17 following her T-4 finish at the AIG Women’s British Open, the best major finish of her career.

The ISPS Handa World Invitational is a co-sanctioned event between the DP World Tour, Ladies European Tour and LPGA. There will be 132 men and 132 women competing in two separate 72-hole stroke play tournaments (one for men and one for women) at the Galgorm Castle and Massereene Golf Club in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. For the first two rounds, all players will play one round on each course.

The total purse of $3 million will be split evenly between the men and women at $1.5 million each.

Here are six LPGA players to watch this week in Northern Ireland:

Here are 10 players to watch at historic Muirfield, where the AIG Women’s British Open will be contested for the first time

Who’s going to capture the final women’s major of the year?

Whoever wins this week’s AIG Women’s British Open will forever hold a special place in women’s golf history. Three years ago, Muirfield, host of 16 men’s British Opens, invited its first female members in the club’s 275-year history.

The club was actually removed from the R&A’s rota of British Open host venues after a 2016 membership vote failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed to change the rule to admit women.

The membership voted again in 2017 and pushed it through. Needless to say, the final major of 2022 carries great significance.

Jennifer Kupcho, winner of the first female event ever hosted at Augusta National, won the final Chevron Championship at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course to kick off major season. Minjee Lee’s dominant performance at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles followed.

Then, In Gee Chun nabbed her third different major at the KPMG Women’s PGA, and two weeks ago, the Amundi Evian saw Brooke Henderson snap a six-year drought between her first and second major titles.

Here’s a look at 10 players to keep an eye on at Muirfield:

LPGA: Here are 10 teams to watch this week, featuring stars Nelly Korda, Jessica Korda, Lexi Thompson, Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb and Leona Maguire

Here are 10 teams to watch this week at the LPGA’s 2022 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational.

The 2022 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational will feature a wonderful blend of past and present. While sisters Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson are two the biggest names on the current tour, Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb are two of the biggest names of all time. They’ll all be in action in the same field this Wednesday-Saturday at the LPGA’s only team event.

This year, 72 two-person teams will vie for a purse of $2.5 million at Midland Country Club in Michigan. The victory will be considered an official LPGA title.

Here are 10 teams to keep an eye on this week, with Rolex Ranking in parenthesis:

Ireland’s Leona Maguire, the lone LPGA player at JP McManus, is soaking playing in same field as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy

Leona Maguire never dreamed she’d be competing in the same field at Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Leona Maguire never dreamed she’d be competing in the same field at Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. Yet there she was, the lone female pro at the JP McManus Pro-Am at Adare Manor in Limerick, Ireland, where tens of thousands of Irish fans were on hand for the charity event that has raised more than $145 million in its previous five stagings.

The former Duke star made sure to have her picture taken with Woods, replicating a photo souvenir from the 2006 Ryder Cup at The K Club. Other notable pros in the event include Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Matt Fitzpatrick, Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler and Brooks Koepka. Jordan Spieth was disqualified after the first round.

“There’s a greater buzz about the event,” said Maguire, who was sandwiched in between Woods and McIlory on Monday. “There’s supposed to be 35,000, 40,000 thousand people in the gates. We don’t normally get that in LPGA events.”

Leona Maguire of Ireland on the first tee during the first round of the JP McManus Pro-Am at Adare Manor on July 04, 2022, in Limerick, Ireland. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

Maguire, 27, became the first Irish player to win on the LPGA earlier this year and was a breakout star at last year’s Solheim Cup at Inverness, which Europe won. Currently ranked 20th in the world, Maguire, who has twin sister Lisa caddying, called Adare Manor one of the best courses she has ever played, noting that the aprons around the greens are better than some of the greens she sees each week on the LPGA.

“Never in a million years would I have dreamed to be at something like this,” said Maguire. “These are the lads I grew up watching on telly, and all the crowds and everything very fortunate that JP has me here this week, and yeah, I’m enjoying it as much as I can.”

Maguire recently lost in a playoff to Jennifer Kupcho at the Meijer LPGA Classic and finished in the top 10 at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles.

“The goal was to put myself in contention as many times as I could this year,” she said. “Did a few weeks ago at Meier and came up a little bit short in the playoff. I think special attention to the majors in the next few weeks, Evian and British Open coming up. So they are sort of where the focus is right now.”

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Jennifer Kupcho outlasts Nelly Korda, Leona Maguire to win playoff at Meijer LPGA Classic

Kupcho struggled on Sunday but made the most of the playoff.

Nelly Korda and Leona Maguire each birdied the par-5 closing hole to get into a three-way playoff at the Meijer LPGA Classic.

Jennifer Kupcho made par on the last but in the playoff, she was the only one of the three to birdie the 18th at Blythefield Country Club in Belmont, Michigan, clinching her second win of the season. Kupcho also won the Chevron Championship, her first major.

Kupcho led after 18 and 36 holes and only surrendered the 54-hole lead when Nelly Korda made eagle on the 18th hole Saturday evening.

On Sunday, Kupcho had an up-and-down round. She double bogeyed the third and bogeyed the sixth before rebounding with an eagle on No. 8 and birdies on Nos. 9, 12 and 14. A bogey on 16 led to a final-round 71 but she made the most of the playoff.

She will take home $375,000 for the win, giving her $1,333,521 in earnings this season and $2,831,793 in her career.

Lydia Ko missed out on the extra golf by a shot. Her final-round, bogey-free 68 left her just short at 17 under. Lexi Thompson birdied the 18th hole but bogeys on Nos. 11, 14 and 15 proved to much to overcome. She tied for fifth with Jessica Korda, Carlota Ciganda and Atthaya Thitikul. Brooke Henderson, last week’s winner on the LPGA, finished 15 under, tied for ninth.

The third major of the LPGA season is next week with the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, which will be staged at historic Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.

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