Ahead of Leona Maguire’s return to Major championship action tonight at the U.S. Women’s Open, why not step inside the ropes and watch how Maguire intends to play the 8th hole this week at the iconic Pebble Beach?
Alongside caddie Dermot Byrne, watch below how the pair dissect the challenge of the hole, and the level of detail that goes into formulating a strategy that will stand up to game-day scrutiny.
Maguire is looking energised after a fortnight away from competition having vowed “we’ll be back” after running out of steam last time out at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
The long-time leader at Baltusrol needed 35 putts to get home on Sunday and no doubt the short-stick would’ve been targeted as an area to improve ahead of this week’s U.S. Women’s Open assignment.
Normally deadly with putter in hand, Maguire hasn’t quite hit the heights of previous years, despite capturing a second LPGA Tour title last month at the Meijer Classic.
According to KPMG Performance Insights, Maguire ranks 64th in Putting, gaining 0.31 Strokes Per Round versus the LPGA Tour’s best at 2.99.
Averaging 29.42 Putts Per Round ranks Maguire 35th on Tour but the Cavan star will be eager to hole more putts at Pebble Beach to take advantage of a long game that continues to improve.
Prep done, ready for round 1 tomorrow @uswomensopen ☘️🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ugM0SMLJCV
— Leona Maguire (@leona_maguire) July 5, 2023
Maguire’s Tee to Green game ranks 26th on Tour according to KPMG Performance Insights, illustrated by her performance at the PGA Championship where Maguire found 50 of 56 fairways and 63 of 72 greens in regulation.
However, at Baltusrol, Maguire averaged 33 putts per round. Should she shave off a couple of shots in that department this week, expect Maguire’s name to loom large on a Major leaderboard once more.
Maguire plays alongside Jennifer Kupcho and Atthaya Thitikul as part of the feature group coverage over the first two days in California. The trio get their championship underway at 22.24 (Irish time) Thursday [today].
- Full scoring HERE
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