Leona Maguire roars into KPMG Women's Irish Open mix with stunning 65
Leona Maguire plays the 11th hole in the second round of the KPMG Women's Irish Open in Dromoland Castle Golf Club, Newmarket On Fergus, Clare today. Pic. Brian Arthur
Leona Maguire roared right back into contention for a dream win in the KMPG Women's Irish Open when she fired an eagle and six birdies in a stunning seven-under 65 to claim the clubhouse lead at Dromoland Castle.
The world No 18 took a three-hour nap yesterday afternoon to get over her jet lag and a devastating second-round 75 that left her tied 42nd overnight, ten shots behind Sweden's Moa Folke.
But she dug deep for the massive home crowd that grew in size throughout her round and after overcoming a bogey at the first with key par saves at the second and fifth, she played her last 13 holes in eight-under-par.
"Yesterday I felt like I couldn't do anything right and today, it seemed to slot into place on the back nine,” she said. "We will come back out tomorrow and hopefully, we can have more of that tomorrow and give all the people who came out to support me something to cheer about."
After getting up and down from sand for birdie at the par-five sixth, she made a crucial par save from 10 feet at the eighth and then caught fire by playing her last 10 holes in seven-under.
Her run started when she knocked in a 14-footer at the ninth to turn in one-under. But she found a real spark when she holed a lightning-fast chip, 30-foot chip for birdie at the 12th, then birdied the 14th from three feet and the 15th with a bunker shot to 18 inches before ripping her second to 10 feet at the 16th and rolling in the eagle putt to go six-under for the day.
Firing at pins, she had a chance from around 10 feet for birdie at the 17th and while she misread that one, she overcame a duffed attempt to go for the green at the 18th and hit a wedge to around 18 feet before rolling in the birdie putt to a huge roar from a gallery of around 3,000 to set the clubhouse target at nine-under.
After coming home in 31, she was five shots behind Folke, who turned in one-under to lead on 13-under par. But the Co Cavan believes another round in the low sixties could give her a chance.
"The crowds were fantastic," Maguire said. "From about the seventh or eighth, the crowds starting gathering and that chip in on 12 was massive.
"I felt like I didn't have a lot of momentum yesterday, and not much the first day either. Golf is a funny game. You don't need much to go one way or the other, and it was nice to finish strong today."
Having flown in from the US west coast, she admitted jet lag was a problem for the first two days.
"I was exhausted after yesterday," she confessed. "I took a three-hour nap yesterday afternoon, so it gave me more energy coming out here today. There has been wonderful support this week and you don't want to let anybody down, give them as much to cheer about as possible and I did that today."
She was hugely aggressive on the back nine and mind have gone even lower had 10-footers fallen at the par-three 13th and 17th.
"That's the position I'm in," she explained. "Dermot said to me on the 13th tee that we were going to be brave and start going at pins; we had nothing to lose. Sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn't. Today it did at least I have made up some ground."
She knows she could be six shots or more behind going into the final round, but she's not ruling out a round in the low sixties.
"I had 20-under in my head at the start of the week and I'll try get as close to that as possible," she said.
"Yesterday knocked me back a bit, but there are a lot of chances out there and you can go on a run, just have to be patient and take chances when you get them."
She said at the start of the week that winning an Irish Open and following in the footsteps of Padraig Harrington, Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy would be just one step below winning a major.
"It's definitely different, definitely envious of the lads getting to share the burden, it's just me this week and hopefully there will be a few more in the coming years," she said of the pressure of being a pathfinder for women's golf here as the tournament returns following a 10-year gap.
"It's been great having the crowds cheering me on, good or bad. I was disappointed after yesterday. We went down to Bunratty for dinner last night and we met a man out walking his dog and he said, 'I know you're disappointed but you have no idea the amount of people who are rooting for you.'
"I felt that today."
Her front nine was testament to her fighting qualities.
After missing the first green left, she opened with a bogey and slipped 11 shots off the lead.
But after getting up and down from 50 yards for par after her drive ended up way above her feet on the edge of a bunker, she lipped out from 25 feet at the third, then chipped and putted for par at the fifth after behind forced to play short right of the green from behind a tree.
"That pitch on two nearly went in. It was about 50 yards, I think," she said. "I thought I hit a pretty good drive. I thought it was better than the girls, and they ended up with perfect drives, and I was standing with the ball miles above my feet. It was about staying patient, and I got it up and down.
"It's a tricky start, four is a tough hole, five is tough, so it's trying to manage it through those few holes and then take your chances. Six is a chance, eight is a chance and nine is a chance."
Her luck turned at the eighth, where she overshot the green but made a 10-footer for par and then birdied the next.
"It was as good as any other birdie," she said. "I didn't hit the best shot in, and that was a tricky up and down and it was massive for momentum.”
