Leona Maguire’s 100 percent singles record may have gone as she fell 2&1 to Lauren Coughlin on the final day at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands, but her reputation as one of the competition’s fiercest competitors only grew over the Solheim Cup’s three days – three days that resulted in another European victory, and saw Maguire carve out a slice of history of her own.
That came on Friday morning when, in match three of the opening foursomes session, Maguire partnered with Germany’s Esther Henseleit to take down Andrea Lee and Lindy Duncan. The importance of getting a European point on the board in that match can’t be overstated as the United States had already secured victory in the first two matches and the board was looking decidedly red.
The win was Maguire’s 10th in the Solheim Cup, and coming in just her 14th match, gave her the record of being the player to reach double digits in victories in the fewest matches.
24 hours later, Maguire and Henseleit produced a stunning reversal against Rose Zhang and Jennifer Kupcho, coming from 1 down with three to play to level the match and then win in dramatic fashion on the 18th in the final match remaining on course to give Europe a two-point advantage going into the afternoon session.
Naturally, she’d now become the fastest player to reach 11 victories as well.
Unfortunately, that would be the last point she’d put on the board for team Europe, but in a competition where every point is crucial – and the eventual winning margin (15-13) proved it – Maguire’s contribution was huge in keeping European hopes alive and well going into the Sunday singles.
Coughlin, who ended the week with 3.5 points, was the only U.S. player to be selected for all five matches, which is testament to the level she produced throughout, and continued to play at on Sunday.
But Maguire fought all the way to the end and having trailed by three after seven holes, showed all her battling qualities to take the match to the 17th where she eventually ran out of road.
By that stage, it didn’t really matter anyway as up ahead, the winning point had already been secured and the European celebrations were already underway.
The 24 months between the last Solheim Cup and this one haven’t been easy. A loss of form and subsequent slide down the Rolex World Rankings forced her to re-examine her approach, but the work she’s putting in with new swing coach Sean Foley, and her tireless efforts on her own, are starting to pay dividends.
She believes that it’ll take a two-year period until the swing changes have completely bedded in, which is far from ideal for the pressure that a Solheim Cup environment brings, but her performance showed that she’s well ahead of schedule and that she remains one of matchplay golf’s ultimate competitors and one of Team Europe’s sharpest weapons.
In four Solheim Cup appearances, she’s only been on the losing side once, and even then, though she was reduced to a bit-part player, she didn’t have a personal losing record.
Two years is a long time, but you wouldn’t bet against her lining up for a fifth successive appearance at Valhalla in 2028.
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