Leona goes for maiden LPGA win: "I've really got nothing to lose"
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN - JUNE 19: Leona Maguire watches her tee shot on the 11th hole during round three of the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give at Blythefield Country Club on June 19, 2021 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Leona Maguire believes she has “nothing to lose” as he goes into the final round three strokes behind Nelly Korda in the Meijer LPGA Classic in Michigan.
Leading by three shots at halfway following rounds of 65 and 64 at Blythefield Country Club in Grand Rapids, she carded a two-under 70 to a 10-under 62 by the world No 4 who now leads on 20-under par from the pride of Ballyconnell.
Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom is only four behind Korda after a 65 and with another five players within six shots of the lead.
It’s going to be a shootout and Maguire is ready to go low as she seeks to make history by becoming the first Irish woman to win on the LPGA Tour.
She also believes all the pressure is on Korda (22), who won her fourth LPGA title, the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio in February.
“All the pressure is on Nelly,” said world No 88 Maguire (26), who has had three top-10 finishes already this year, including a career-best tie for second in the LOTTE Championship in April. “Everybody expects Nelly to win tomorrow. She's ranked whatever she is in the world, Top 5. Nobody expects me to do anything tomorrow. I've really got nothing to lose. I can just go out and play golf and see what happens.”
She played well on during the rain-delayed third round as she followed a bogey at the seventh with a birdie at the eighth before the delay, then picked up two shots on the way home.
“I played pretty well from tee to green, I felt like,” she said after taking 32 putts. “I gave myself a lot of chances, just didn't hole any putts today at all. Couldn't really get it going.
“I mean, you have to hole putts around here to make some birdies. I didn't really do that. Didn't take advantage of the par-fives enough either. So a little bit of a frustrating day, but still hung in there.”
She had no fears of a restless night ahead of her first appearance in a final group on Sunday on the LPGA Tour and only has eyes for more birdies on a course that reminds her of Dublin parklands such as Hermitage or Elm Park.
“This is what you practice for,” said Maguire, who has shot eight rounds in the sixties in her last 12 LPGA Tour strokeplay rounds. “I’ve been playing really nice golf as of late and working really hard, so it's nice to see it paying off and giving myself a chance on Sunday, which is where you want to be.”
Korda recorded 11 birdies en route to a 10-under par 62 matching the tournament record score with her career-best round.
But Maguire insisted she was unaware of Korda’s third-round charge and while she will be unable to avoid noticing her opponent today, she plans to do her own thing.
“I think you can't get too distracted in what everybody else is doing,” she said. “You can't control what they're doing.
Yeah, golf is hard enough without worrying what other people are doing.”
She knows she has to go low and she believes she can do it after making an eagle and 18 birdies over the first three days.
“I had eight birdies and an eagle yesterday, so, I mean, just trying to go and do that again tomorrow. It's out there. Everybody knows the score's out there.
“So like I said, hit a lot of fairways, greens, try and hole some putts and shoot a number and put some pressure on her.
“I'll try to get off to a fast a start as I possibly can and see where we're at. I mean, going to be well into the 20s (under par). I think we know that.
“What exactly it's going to be will depend a little bit on the pins and the conditions tomorrow. But, yeah, ultimately trying to go as low as I possibly can tomorrow.”
As for her form, she added: “Yeah, it's been great. Some of my lowest rounds I've ever shot. Playing some great golf, so been a fun three days. Hopefully, I can finish it off on a high note tomorrow.
“I would've liked to shot 10-under today, too. I didn't hole the putts, make the birdies that I needed to make. Just go again tomorrow.”
As for Korda, she put her performance down to missing the cut in the US Women’s Open two weeks ago her first (and only) missed cut so far this year.
“I was listening to Bubba [Watson] talk yesterday [at the US Open] and I’m like, you know, it makes so much sense what they say,” she said. “We take golf so seriously when you’re out here. You love it so much and you may say, ‘Ohh, it’s just golf,’ but their words struck deep after missing the US Women’s Open a couple of weeks ago
“I just have to realise it is golf. There’s going to be a lot more tournaments ahead of me. I’m going to miss a lot more cuts, I bet you that. As long as I’m learning from each situation. I think that’s the most important thing.”
She added: “Missing the cut was hard. Kind of have to take a step back and look at it in a sense of how Bubba and [Matthew] Wolff were saying. It’s golf. At the end of the day, just enjoy it. Have fun because you’re lucky to be out here.
“So, kind of new perspective in a way. It takes someone to say it out loud for you to realise it deep down inside, but when you play well throughout the season, you just put so much pressure on yourself.”
