Leona Maguire carried the bulk of the 4,000 strong crowd on day one of the KPMG Women’s Irish Open but despite carding a three-under 70 to lie just two off the pace, it was a round that lacked both fireworks and stress which looks ominous for the rest of the field.
Maguire played the O’Meara course at Carton House Fairmont with relative ease, rolling in three birdies on a clean scorecard to share seventh place and she is the leading Irishwoman as she plots an assault on the lead held by Alessandra Fanali, Luna Sobron Galmes and Irish Open specialist Ursula Wikstrom.
The Cavan star was pleased with her ball striking, hitting 15 greens in total but lamented a cold putter. A missed eagle chance on the first resulted in the easiest of birdies and shaved edges proved the story of the day. But Maguire did what she had to do and took advantage of the five par-5s on the course, rolling in on the 6th and from 15-feet on 17 to put a smile on her face.
“It was a steady day. Gave myself a lot of chances. Have a lot of chance, particularly on the front nine. Felt like I could have been seven under through the front nine if I had holed a few putts. But anytime you go bogey free for three under it’s not a bad way to start.
“The front nine was playing downwind quite a bit on those opening a few holes. The first few par fives were really good chance to start off with. Nice drive down 6, hooked a 3 wood around that big tree on the corner, down just short of the green. Chipped it up to a few inches. Thought it was going in but the story of the day – not quite.
“There’s plenty of birdie chances out there, it’s just taking advantage of them. Happy with how I hit it. Gave myself chances. Just a case of sinking a few more putts over the next few days.”
Maguire was mobbed by adoring fans as she made her way from the 18th green to the clubhouse and Thursday cheers are something of a rarity on the LPGA Tour.
“It was fantastic to see some crowds out there on a Thursday – we normally wouldn’t get that even at a LPGA event on a Thursday. So nice to see so many people out. Had some family, had some friends. Hopefully give them more to cheer the next few days.
“You’re trying to shoot as low as you possibly can either way. Yes you want to give them something to cheer about but at the same time you’re still playing one shot at a time. It’s not a course I know massively well so I’m learning and adjusting as I go.”
Meanwhile, it was a positive day for the Irish overall with four players in red figures after the opening round. Most heartwarmingly is the re-emergence of Olivia Mehaffey who showed little signs of rust after taking ten weeks off as she carded a one-under 71.
Mehaffey has spoken openly about her battles with anxiety and mental health issues and she isn’t letting a 142nd ranking on the LET get her down, this is much more than a results game.
“It was good, it was nice, really enjoyable, which is the main thing for me at the minute. I said to my caddie, ‘I haven’t had as much fun on the golf course in a long time’, so it was really enjoyable.
“I feel like I’ve been playing well in practice and hitting it good on the range and then struggling mentally and with anxiety on the golf course.
“It was like a different Olivia shows up in competition so it was nice to feel like my fiery, competitive, enjoying it out there and smiling self again out there.”
Olivia Costello is the youngest player in the field aged just sixteen years of age but despite her tender years this is her third experience at the Women’s Irish Open and teeing off in the last group she was by no means the least as she beat the setting sun with a birdie on her last hole to post a superb two-under 70.
“I started off with a good few nice up and downs if I didn’t get them you are trying to get them back and go under par but the front nine I stuck with it and on the back nine I had a few opportunities I didn’t take then had a few nice ones that rolled in and on the last I rolled in a nice one to finish off on a high.”
There’s more spotlight for the Abom brigade in Edmondstown after 18-year-old Irish Girls International, Anna, defied her short hitting, packing more than a punch with two birdies and just one dropped shot – on the hardest hole on the course the 8th, her 17th – to give herself a great chance of making the cut on one-under-par.
“I’m absolutely delighted,” beamed the teenager. “I played very solid golf the whole way around, and, you know, missed a few opportunities still out there. I think, like, my footer was definitely good, like, inside five feet, but I missed a few, maybe, like, 10 footers. But like, I’m, yeah, thrilled how I did today.
“It was definitely longer than, kind of the average amateur event, for sure. And I was definitely, like, behind the pros, but like, I still kept up with them.”
Meanwhile, the toast of Kildare Lauren Walsh endured a frustrating day in her native county. Making her debut in the event the Castlewarden woman carded a one-over 74 that included a three-putt bogey on the last to leave her six shots off the pace alongside professional debutant, Annabel Wilson and Irish U18 golfer Kate Dillon.
16-year-old Roisin Scanlon who hails from Woburn is also on one-over-par.
Scanlon, who was raised in the UK, is part of the U18 Irish team and made her amateur debut for Ireland in 2022. Her mother, Taneisha Robinson-Scanlon, is originally from Jamaica and holds the Irish triple jump record while her father, Anthony Scanlon, is from Co Limerick and was a Division 1 NCAA Track and Field Athlete at East Tennessee State University.
Further down the leaderboard is newly turned professional Anna Foster on plus three, a shot clear of Irish Close champion Canice Screene while Emma Fleming and Aideen Walsh are both five-over with Kate Lanigan back on plus seven.
Scoring HERE
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