Irish on Tour: Maguire and Walsh major hunting at Old Course as FedEx continues

Seamus Power’s PGA Tour season came to an end on Sunday night but Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy are in the thick of it as the FedEx Cup Playoffs reaches its penultimate event while Lauren Walsh and Leona Maguire are in major action at St Andrews for the AIG Women’s Open.

AIG WOMEN’S OPEN

Leona Maguire and Lauren Walsh tee it up at the Home of Golf for the fifth and final major championship of the women’s season.

Maguire has missed three major cuts out of four this season, prompting her to split from caddie Dermot Byrne but a return to the major she has her best finish in (T4 2022) might be the tonic she needs after what has been a disappointing few weeks.

Walsh made the cut in Carnoustie in 2021 but is making her first professional start in a major and she is relishing the task.

“To get my spot in the Open field through the LET order of merit stands to how well I have played this year and to know I have earned my spot is a nice feeling so going into it I know I can hang with everyone there,” said the 2023 Wake Forest student scholar athlete of the year.

“Made the cut there in 2021 and played my way into the field this year, going in pretty confident. I always enjoyed links golf it brings out the creative side in the golfer and I have played a lot of links golf in the two weeks I have been off back at home so it should be a good week.

“No better place to play my first major as a professional than at St Andrews so I am really looking forward to it.”

PGA Tour

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry will be looking to return to form at the BMW Championship after underwhelming weeks at the FedEx St Jude Championship last week.

Both players are assured of their place in the Tour Championship next week with McIlroy fifth and Lowry eleventh in the FedEx Cup Standings but both would like to give themselves a realistic chance of winning the FedEx Cup next week.

DP World Tour

Tom McKibbin and Gary Hurley return from missed cuts in Finland last week at the Danish Golf Championship at Lubker Golf Resort.

Challenge Tour

Conor Purcell’s promotion bid gets back underway at the Indoor Golf Group Challenge in Sweden as Jonathan Caldwell, Alex Maguire, Conor O’Rourke, Ronan Mullarney, Dermot McElroy and Mark Power all tee it up.