'Excited' Maguire feeling like a rookie again — and that's bad news for Team USA

Leona Maguire. Picture: Ladies European Tour

Leona Maguire was a beast for Europe on her Solheim Cup debut two years ago and while she says she feels like a rookie again her old Duke University team mate Celine Boutier has no doubt who the Americans will fear in Spain this week.

After hosting the Volvo World Matchplay in 2009, 2011 and 2012, Finca Cortesin will be familiar to golf fans as an exciting matchplay venue that produced wins for a variety of players from Ross Fisher to Ryder Cup heroes Ian Poulter and Nicolas Colsaerts.

It’s a nightmare for spectators, caddies and players, given it’s perched on the side of a hill and best negotiated by golf cart (or scrambler motorbike as one wag remarked).

But that’s more appetising than facing the Co Cavan battler, who won four and a half points out of five in Europe’s 13-15 win in Ohio two years ago.

“Yeah, her last performance was essentially flawless,” said the French star, who is no slouch herself having won four points from four in Europe’s 2019 win at Gleneagles.

“So, yeah, very impressive. I think she's a very steady and consistent player, great around the greens, definitely a very good putter, so I feel like it's going to be definitely a weapon for match play.

“Her performance from the last edition of the Solheim Cup definitely shows that. I definitely would not want to be paired against Leona.”

Boutier has since won four times on the LPGA Tour, capturing her first Major, July’s Evian Championship, before winning the following week’s Women’s Scottish Open to jump to fifth in the world.

Maguire is a two-time LPGA Tour winner and while she’s had a quiet summer, she’s not trying to live up to her 2021 heroics this week but winding the clock back to zero and starting again.

Looking and sounding more relaxed than she has all year, her over-riding feeling for her first home Solheim Cup is excitement.

“Yeah, really excited,” she said. “There were quite a lot of Irish people heading over on my flight, even on Sunday, and then today there were quite a few tricolours out there, a few people dressed up already today, which is pretty impressive for a Tuesday. Hopefully we can give them some things to cheer about.”

As for living up to 2021, she said: “Yeah, I mean, obviously last time went about as well as it possibly could have, but it's a brand-new event this time, it's a brand-new venue, a brand-new team, both on the Europe and the US side.

“I think the U.S. have a fantastic team this time. I think they have a young team that's ready to go. Ultimately, I'll try and win as many points as I can, but we'll just prepare as well as we can and go in with very little expectations like the last time, the same way as I approach any other event.

“Just because it's worked well in the past doesn't really make much difference for this time.

It almost feels a little bit like a rookie again playing on home soil. This is all still a new experience for me, so just try and enjoy the week as much as I can and feed off the energy of the crowd as much as I can.”

In the absence of Mel Reid, her partner in crime at Inverness where they won two and a half from three — “She’s texted me but not with anything repeatable” — Maguire may well pair up again with Georgia Hall, or her former Duke teammate Boutier.

Europe might be favourites on paper to win for the third time running but with three rookies in the side in Swedes Maja Stark and Linn Grant and Scot Gemma Dryburgh, she’s not complacent.

“It's a new team and it's a new dynamic,” she said. “On paper it's one thing, but once the gun goes off, it's all about who holes the right putts at the right time.”

When it comes to pairings, she believes skipper Suzann Petterson has myriad options and “a fantastic team”.

“It's obviously a new team and you'll see some familiar pairings and some new pairings,” she said. “She's done a lot of these, she's done nine herself, so she knows what she's doing.

“So I think both myself and Celine are pretty flexible. We'll play with just about anybody, so we're going to do whatever Suzann needs us to do this week.”

The US side features four rookies but while there will be much focus on the out-of-form Lexi Thompson, who has missed seven of ten cuts on the LPGA Tour this season, Maguire is not complacent on that score.

“Yeah, but it only takes a hole or two to get some confidence,” she said. “You hole a putt and things change.”

Thompson was defensive when asked about her form and whether she could cut loose in matchplay.

“Well, I don't think match play has anything to do with it,” she said. “Match play, stroke play, you still have to play your game and golf.

“ But, yeah, might not have been the year that I wanted, but this is this week. I'm not focusing on the past. I'm here with my team this week  and going to represent my best.”

The fiesty Danielle Kang, who is still waiting for her clubs to arrive, then chimed in: “It's like Justin Thomas said, any shot, any moment can change your game. Can't rely (sic) on an entire player's career on just how she's been playing lately, right?”

Maguire wishes the matches were starting today rather than Friday and she’s bracing herself for a tough test on grainy greens.

“It was interesting coming from the summer of obviously not bermuda to getting back to it,” said the world number 17, who has not been her best on the greens of late. “But it's similar to Orlando and you are just switching up the technique with the chipping a little bit and things like that.

“Some of the greens are huge so where the pin is makes quite a bit of difference. You want to stay below the pin if at all possible. There's going to be a lot of putts with a lot of break on them this week, so definitely speed control will be key.”

As for those matchplay mind games, she said: “I go in with the mindset of expecting to putt everything so then you're not surprised if they ask you to putt it because obviously you putt it any other week of the year.

“Momentum is everything. I think giving putts is just a gut feeling at the time. I don't think I have a set distance on what is conceded. You look at the putt and just take it as it comes really.”

Like Ryder Cup week, the long wait for Friday is a chore for the players and captains, given the endless practice days and rounds of interviews.

“There's a lot of build up and it would be nice to get going tomorrow,” Maguire said. “But it's just about pacing yourself and making sure there's still plenty in the tank.”

Whether she plays five times this time around remains to be seen given the gruelling physical and mental challenge ahead.

“It's a very different test,” she said. “We just have to see how we feel and how the team is doing. It's going to be tough for the caddies but they are going to use those pneumatic compression leggings for their recovery. They're not something I particularly like but if it helps the caddies, it’s good.”

She added: “I mean, it's nice that the good weather, so no umbrellas and no extra waterproofs and everything. Any water out there, I think, as well, it's going to be hot. But, yeah, it's going to be just as much of a physical test this week as a mental test.

“Managing energy, I think, is going to be big. We have a lot of practice, a lot of media, a lot of things this week, a lot of dinners, so managing energy throughout the week is going to be key to make sure we still have plenty in the tank for Sunday.”

She never played foursomes with Boutier in college and not looking to reinvenet the wheel this week either, whatever Pettersen decides.

“We're going to try our best,” she said. “It's all we can do. I think me and Celine like to just stick to our own routines. We're pretty sort of quiet and just go about our business very quietly and very efficiently, same way as we do for any other week, any other major or big tournament. So, yeah, we'll have hopefully a lot of people cheering us on and hoping we do well and then, yeah, try and do as best we can.”

As for the captain, she added: “I mean, she's obviously very competitive, she has an unbelievable record, so we really want to win for her.

“But she's been great, she's been very open, she's been very transparent with everything this week, she's been communicating a lot with what she's thinking about pairings and different things.

“So, yeah, she's trying to get all of our inputs and really wants what's best for the team. Ultimately we have to hit the shots, so it's a little bit out of her control, but she's been really good so far.”

Opposite number Stacy Lewis sent Thompson, Ally Ewing and Kang out to bat at the first press conference.

Lewis, despite her form, is certainly up for her sixth appearance.

“It means the world to me to be able to play on the Solheim Cup,” she said. “I know every year that I know it's that year playing it's my No. 1 goal to be on that team to be able to represent my country. It's my favourite event by far. There's nothing like waking up, putting country's colours on, and going to represent and be alongside a team at that.”

As for Kang’s club woes, she revealed that she has got her putter.

“I do travel with my putter separately, yes, in a rifle case, because my putter is a different model, so we don't have the bending machine for it, and it bends a lot during travel, so I put it in a separate case to travel with because I don't have the means to get my putter checked every week,” she said. “And, yes, the clubs do get bent on the plane and, yes, they matter, to all the people wondering.

So thankfully the putter didn't get lost. But it's okay. The other 13 are coming. It's coming. We have faith. Stacy is on it. I mean, she's putting out fires, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one causing fire right now.”