Maguire shows major form as Power seeks Open spot
Leona Maguire started the tournament in inspired form
Leona Maguire followed a visit to Harry Potter World by wielding her putter like a magic wand to scorch into the lead with a seven-under 66 in the Aramco Team Series Presented by PIF - London.
The two-time LPGA Tour winner visited the wizarding world with her sister and brother on Sunday and conjured up a magical performance on the greens at the Centurion Club.
Clinical from tee to green, she made a series of short to mid-range putts as she birdied the fifth and sixth before following three birdies in a row from the eighth with two more at the 13th and 15th before getting up and down for a par-five at the last after blading a greenside bunker shot off the grandstand.
The Co Cavan star (29) heads the individual standings by a shot from Austria's Sarah Schober with Castlewarden's Lauren Walsh tied for 24th on level par after a 73 despite making a triple bogey eight at the ninth, where she bladed a 40-yard bunker shot into an unplayable lie in the hay and had to drop in the sand.
After her career-best tie for third in Switzerland on Sunday, Walsh is pushing to qualify for the AIG Women's Open while Maguire appears to be finding form as she prepares for next week's Amundi Evian Championship.
"I think we were all making a few birdies today," said Maguire, who teamed up with England's Liz Young, Spain's Marta Sanz Barrio and US amateur Yana Wilson to share the lead in the team standings with the trios led by Georgia Hall and Spain's Nuria Iturrioz on 14-under.
"No dropped shots on the team card helps a lot in these conditions.'
Maguire is looking for momentum for the Evian Championship and major golf is also Séamus Power's mind as he bids to qualify for The Open at the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic.
Two spots at Royal Troon will be awarded to the leading two players not already exempt and Power will be looking to build on his excellent form at TPC Deere Run, where he has finished outside the top 25 just once in five starts.
He was eighth in 2021 and signed off with a seven-under 64 to tie for 13th behind Austria's Sepp Straka last season.
A blemish free Leona Maguire leads the way
He will have another opportunity to make it to Troon at next week's Genesis Scottish Open, where Rory McIlroy will make his eagerly-anticipated return to action following his heartbreaking runner-up finish in the US Open in Pinehurst.
There are no Irish players in action in this week's BMW International Open in Munich, where all eyes will be on 66-year-old Bernhard Langer, who will make his 513th and final DP World Tour start.
"I've never said goodbye to anything so far in terms of golf, this is going to be a first experience and I have a feeling it's going to be very emotional," said Langer, whose tally of 42 DP World Tour wins leaves him second only to 50-time winner Seve Ballesteros.
"It means a great deal just to play in front of the home crowd. And hopefully, I can make the cut, but I hear the golf course is a lot longer than it used to be, and that's a challenge for me."
Pádraig Harrington (52) recently paid tribute to Langer at the US Senior Open.
"It's incredible how good he is," he said. "It's astounding. He still gets it out there. He's a good ball striker. He's efficient. But by God, does he know how to play golf... He is a real player."
Germany's Marcel Siem (43), who beat McKibbin in a playoff for the Italian Open on Sunday, also paid tribute.
"What Bernhard achieved is special," Siem said. "It's going to be very tough to achieve what he did. I think he's a superb human being, a role model for all of us.
"His behaviour is just outstanding. His technique is very unique as well. That's what I love about him. His work ethic, too."
