Leona Maguire puts down Solheim Cup marker in Las Vegas
Leona Maguire
Leona Maguire knows she can earn some serious Solheim Cup kudos after she beat US star Ally Ewing 2&1 in the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play in Las Vegas.
The Slieve Russell star came back from two down after eight holes at Shadow Creek, making four birdies in a row from the ninth to go 2-up before counterpunching every time Ewing won back a hole on the way home.
She now faces Jennifer Kupcho, a 6&4 winner over Christina Kim, with the 16 group winners after tomorrow’s final round-robin matches going through to Saturday’s knockout stages.
Asked about her Solheim Cup ambitions this season, Maguire said: “I suppose I got off to a nice start. Some good ranking points, and the better I do every week it can only help for Solheim. This is a very American group this week with Ally and Jennifer and Christina. Yeah, potentially some of them are going to be on the US Solheim Cup, so if I can beat them and get some points in my group standings, I'm sure that will help along the way.”
She was pleased to show her matchplay abilities having not played in the format since her senior year at Duke.
Grinded it out for a tough win on day 1 @LPGAMatchPlay 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/P8IXEPQBiV
— Leona Maguire (@leona_maguire) May 26, 2021
“I haven't played match play in quite a while, probably since nationals senior year, so getting back into that mindset a little bit,” Maguire said. “But it's such a tough course. You really just have to focus on your own game, hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens, and I did that today, which was nice.
“Kept pressure on Ally all the way. She played some great golf. We both did. I think I was level par through eight holes and 2-down, so we kind of thought early on going out that pars were going to win holes and staying out of that rough and that, but then got to the 8th hole and was going, Pars aren't going to be good enough today. Got on a nice run and clawed my way back. Yeah, finished it off nicely.”
As for that hot streak around that turn that turned the match, she said: “Yeah, like I said, going 2-down after 8, Ally made a great birdie on 8 and I holed a nice putt on 9. Hung on the edge for a little bit and decided to drop in. That gave me momentum heading into the back nine.
“Made a really good up and down on 10 and stuck it close on 11 and 12 to make two good birdies there. Yeah, gave me some really good momentum going into those last few holes, which it's a tough finish, so I -- it's nice to have that advantage heading into the end.”
Maguire twice bounced back from losing holes coming down the stretch and she was pleased to show her character.
“Yeah, I mean, I really tried to treat it no differently to making a bogey. If you lose a hole, just try and get it back, try and hit the fairways, hit the greens here,” the Slieve Russell star said. “I putted really nice today, holed a lot of really nice putts early on for halves when I needed to and then for birdies then on the back nine to win those holes.
“And the greens out here are so pure so you know if you get the ball online, give yourself a chance, that you have a good chance of holing putts. So did that when I needed to today, which was crucial.”
She’s no stranger to matchplay having won the British Amateur and competed in three Curtis Cups and multiple team events such as the Junior Solheim Cup, Junior Ryder Cup, Vagliano Trophy and international team championships for Ireland.
“We played a lot of match play in amateur golf growing up, Curtis Cup, Solheims. I suppose my last big amateur win was the British Am in 2017, which was a match play event,’ she said
“Plenty of experience playing match play. It's just a case of getting back into that mindset again. Like I said, everybody this week is a good player, so you know you're going to have to play really well to beat anybody. Doesn't matter who it is. Just trying to play as well as I can and seeing where it stacks up.”
GROUP-PLAY DAY ONE RESULTS
Group 1 – Jin Young Ko def. Natalie Gulbis, 4 and 2; Caroline Masson def. Anna Nordqvist, 3 and 2
Group 2 – Inbee Park tied with Jennifer Chang; Celine Boutier def. Gaby Lopez, 4 and 2
Group 3 – Sei Young Kim tied with Ayako Uehara; Brittany Altomare def. Yu Liu, 1 up
Group 4 – Jenny Coleman def. Brooke Henderson, 1 up; Angela Stanford def. Ashleigh Buhai, 1 up
Group 5 – Danielle Kang def. Albane Valenzuela, 7 and 6; Lizette Salas def. Madelene Sagstrom, 5 and 4
Group 6 – Alison Lee def. Hyo Joo Kim, 5 and 4; Megan Khang def. Jenny Shin, 5 and 4
Group 7 – Sarah Kemp tied with Patty Tavatanakit; Stacy Lewis def. Mi Hyang Lee, 5 and 4
Group 8 – Minjee Lee tied with Jaye Marie Green; Moriya Jutanugarn def. Cheyenne Knight, 5 and 3
Group 9 – Gerina Piller def. Hannah Green, 3 and 2; Azahara Munoz def. Mel Reid, 2 up
Group 10 – Nasa Hataoka def. Jing Yan, 3 and 1; Jasmine Suwannapura def. Mi Jung Hur, 2 up
Group 11 – So Yeon Ryu def. Ryann O’Toole, 3 and 1; Eun-Hee Ji def. Mirim Lee, 4 and 3
Group 12 – Annie Park def. Austin Ernst, 1 up; Amy Olson tied with Bronte Law
Group 13 – Jennifer Kupcho def. Christina Kim, 6 and 4; Leona Maguire def. Ally Ewing, 2 and 1
Group 14 – Jeongeun Lee6 tied with Pajaree Anannarukarn; Brittany Lincicome def. Shanshan Feng, 2 and 1
Group 15 – Sophia Popov tied with Hee Young Park; Sung Hyun Park def. Su Oh, 3 and 1
Group 16 – Ariya Jutanugarn tied with Lauren Stephenson, Sarah Schmelzel def. Carlota Ciganda, 1 up
POINTS THROUGH DAY ONE
Group 1 – Jin Young Ko, 1; Caroline Masson, 1; Natalie Gulbis, 0; Anna Nordqvist, 0
Group 2 – Celine Boutier, 1; Jennifer Chang, .5; Inbee Park, .5; Gaby Lopez, 0
Group 3 – Brittany Altomare, 1; Sei Young Kim, .5; Ayako Uehara, .5; Yu Liu, 0
Group 4 – Jenny Coleman, 1; Angela Stanford, 1; Ashleigh Buhai, 0; Brooke Henderson, 0
Group 5 – Danielle Kang, 1; Lizette Salas, 1; Madelene Sagstrom, 0; Albane Valenzuela, 0
Group 6 – Megan Khang, 1; Alison Lee, 1; Hyo Joo Kim, 0; Jenny Shin, 0
Group 7 – Stacy Lewis, 1; Sarah Kemp, .5; Patty Tavatanakit, .5; Mi Hyang Lee, 0
Group 8 – Moriya Jutanugarn, 1; Jaye Marie Green, .5; Minjee Lee, .5; Cheyenne Knight, 0
Group 9 – Azahara Munoz, 1; Gerina Piller, 1; Hannah Green, 0; Mel Reid, 0
Group 10 – Nasa Hataoka, 1; Jasmine Suwannapura, 1; Mi Jung Hur, 0; Jing Yan, 0
Group 11 – Eun-Hee Ji, 1; So Yeon Ryu, 1; Mirim Lee, 0; Ryann O’Toole, 0
Group 12 – Annie Park, 1; Bronte Law, .5; Amy Olson, .5; Austin Ernst, 0
Group 13 – Jennifer Kupcho, 1; Leona Maguire, 1; Ally Ewing, 0; Christina Kim, 0
Group 14 – Brittany Lincicome, 1; Pajaree Anannarukarn, .5; Jeongeun Lee6, .5; Shanshan Feng, 0
Group 15 – Sung Hyun Park, 1; Hee Young Park, .5; Sophia Popov, .5; Su Oh, 0
Group 16 – Sarah Schmelzel, 1; Ariya Jutanugarn, .5; Lauren Stephenson, .5; Carlota Ciganda, 0
