Maguire eyes big summer after return to form at Aramco Team Series in London
Leona Maguire is eyeing a big summer of Olympic and major challenges after a historic – and timely – victory at the Aramco Team Series in London.
Maguire became the first Irishwoman to win on the Ladies European Tour by pipping Spain’s Maria Hernandez by a single stroke thanks to a sensational eagle at the last hole.
The 29-year-old now heads to France for the Evian Championship and then the Paris 2024 Olympic Games before returning to Britain for the Women’s Open.
“I’m looking forward to the summer ahead and couldn’t ask for a better start,” said Maguire.
“I did it the hard way, I feel like. I just hung in even when things weren’t going right and waited for a turn, and it was nice to finish in style on 18. I was just trying to hit a good putt!
“It was a little bit like a Solheim Cup, I knew no Irishwoman had ever won on the LET before. That putt was for me, my family and for Ireland. It was a proud moment.”
Maguire’s final round of 73 was just enough to edge out Hernandez at Centurion Club on Friday, with compatriot Lauren Walsh and England’s Georgia Hall a further shot back.
She will hope to continue that form at this week’s Evian Championship, the penultimate major on the calendar and scene of her record-breaking final round of 61 in 2021.
Just three weeks later she will represent Ireland in her third Olympics, which concludes just 11 days before the Women’s Open is due to start at St Andrews.
A return to the winner’s circle almost a year after her last victory represents a timely boost as well as a reward for her gutsy display at the Aramco Team Series event.
“It was tough out there; I didn’t play my best golf but Dermot, my caddie, just kept saying ‘be patient’,” Maguire said.
“He said right before that shot into 18, ‘let’s hit shot of the year here’. It was a perfect number, and my trusty hybrids came in useful once again.”
Hall’s bid to defend her team title in London also fell agonisingly short as she lost a three-hole play-off to French teenager Nastasia Nadaud.