Maguire twins rule out 2011 Solheim Cup

Twin teen sensations Leona and Lisa Maguire won’t be swapping the classroom for the pro game in time to make 2011 Solheim Cup on Irish soil.

The Cavan magicians, 14, have taken the women’s amateur game by storm over the past year with Leona becoming the youngest winner of the Helen Holm Scottish Women’s Amateur Open at Troon on Sunday.

But their mother Breda, a schoolteacher, insists that the pair will not even think about turning professional until they have finished school.

The Maguire girls at EdmondstownAfter watching the girls successfully defend the Irish Schoolgirls' title yesterday, Breda said: “By the age of 16 they will not have turned pro. They will continue to play golf and they will continue to go to school.

“At the moment, they are going to play away as amateurs until they are 18 and then we will see about possibly turning professional.”

Leona became the youngest winner in the Irish Amateur Close last year when she beat Lisa in the final.

She then followed that success by winning last month’s French Under 21 title and yesterday teamed up with Lisa at Edmondstown to lead Loreto College Cavan to a 23-point win in the Irish Schoolgirls' Senior Cup.

Organisers of the 2011 Solheim Cup are desperate to see a home player to qualify for the first Irish staging of the matches at the Jack Nicklaus designed Killeen Castle in Co. Meath.

But Ireland’s leading Ladies European Tour players, Martina Gillen and Rebecca Coakley, are nowhere near qualifying for this year's Solheim Cup and need to make huge strides to challenge for places on the 2011 side.

As things stand, the Maguires could yet make the Great Britain and Ireland amateur side to face Europe in July’s Vagliano Trophy and are highly fancied to become the youngest Curtis Cup players in history next year.

The pair are also expected to be nominated by the ILGU to rub shoulders with the pros in the Ladies Irish Open at Portmarnock Links from June 26-28.

But right now Leona only has eyes for this summer’s PING Junior Solheim Cup in the US in August and currently leads the qualifying table.

Dismissing thoughts of a 2011 Solheim Cup debut, plus two handicapper Leona said: “You cant turn pro until you are 18 and we are only 14. So we won’t be playing in the Solheim Cup - not in Ireland anyway.”