Inside Irish Golf: Sensation Leona Maguire blazing trail at Duke
The 20-year star from Ballydonnell in Co Cavan arrived at the Durham campus with her twin sister Lisa last August unsure what lay in store.
Fast forward nine months and she is ranked No 1 in the Women's Collegiate Individual Rankings by Golfweek magazine following a whirlwind start to the 2014-15 season that brought her second individual title on Saturday evening. Sister Lisa is also doing well, moving into the top 400 players in the entire USA.
A birdie at the second extra hole gave Slieve Russell star Leona her second sudden-death victory of the year in the ACC Individual Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro marking her out as a player capable of matching the stellar feats of McDowell and Meadow.
Now a budding LPGA Tour star, Meadow won three times for Alabama in her freshman year with 2010 US Open winner and Ryder Cup hero McDowell notching two wins.
But with two wins and five top 10s from eight strokeplay starts, Leona Maguire is on track to set a new record for an Irish freshman in the US.
“I’ve been playing pretty solid all year,” Leona said after her latest triumph following a playoff with Virginia’s Briana Mao. “It feels really good to get the win. To get an ACC title, it doesn’t really get much better than that.
“It is as pretty much as dramatic as it gets. Me and Briana had a great battle all day today. It was tied right up to the very end. To come out on top, after such a long tournament and such tough weather conditions is just great.”
Maguire led by two shots with a round to go but found herself trailing coming down the back nine.
“She made a lot of birdies on the front nine and really came at me,” she said after they had tied on 10 under. “I was just trying to stick with her the whole way and I knew if I could keep giving myself chances hopefully I would get a few birdies and catch up with her.
“I guess I did that in the end so that was great. I honestly thought I was one behind. I guess I calculated it a little bit wrong on the score. So I thought on 18 I was one behind so I only realised coming off the green that I was in a playoff.”
Her coach, Dan Brooks, was not surprised to see her lay up on the second play-off hole and get up and down to win.
“She could’ve knocked it onto the green, possibly, with a three-wood,” Brooks said. “But she opted to hit a five-wood, which landed her in a landing area right in front of the green, and it was a very smart shot, just really smart.
“It gave her an opportunity to chip and putt for a birdie, but it didn’t bring in the risk of going in the deep green side bunkers that would’ve come in if she had hit a three-wood. So I think it was a smart decision — I don’t think a lot of college golfers would’ve made that decision.”
Maguire got up and down for a birdie to win the event after Mao was forced to two-putt for a par. With the victory, she became the 13th Duke golfer and eighth Blue Devil freshman to win the ACC tournament title.
“Just to join that list is a great honour," Maguire said, "and especially as a freshman. I didn’t really have that big an expectation coming in as a freshman and stuff, but it’s great to get another win under my belt.”
The success of the Maguire twins is due in great part to the ILGU and their coach Shane O’Grady.
But their parents Breda and Declan also deserve huge praise for making them dedicate themselves to their studies last year, when they missed most of the season to study for their Leaving Certificate.
The pair toyed with the idea of turning professional and joining the Ladies European Tour, but felt a three or four-year stint at a top US college would be more beneficial.
“When we finished school we came to a crossroad and had to decide whether to turn professional and play on the Ladies European Tour or come over here and play college golf for four years,” Lisa explained earlier this season.
“I think we both came to the conclusion that our games probably weren’t ready and if we weren’t going to turn pro we’d make more progress over here playing against really good golfers and that tough competition would bring us to the next level where we can compete on the LPGA Tour.”
Apart from the summer heat, the Co Cavan pair have made a seamless transition to US golf and life at the Duke campus, which they describe as being like Hogwarts, the fictional college in the Harry Potter books.
“The transition hasn’t been too bad,” Leona said. “I guess the weather at the start was pretty tough for us. We don’t get the heat and the humidity so August and September was pretty tough. But overall the golf transition hasn’t been too bad.”
Put that last sentence down as the understatement of the golfing year.
The Rosapenna Senior Scratch Cup has only been in existence since 2005 when a 16 year old from Holywood in Co Down emerged triumphant at the spectacular Co Donegal club.
Fast forward a decade and Rory McIlroy is world No 1 and a four-time major winner and Rosapenna has also moved on, acquiring the neighbouring St Patrick’s Links to go with its two great courses, the Old Tom Morris and Sandy Hills links, to become one of the great Irish golf destinations.
The list of winners of the Scratch Cup is also a great one, with McIlroy followed by Brendan McCarroll, Connor Doran (2007 and 2010), Simon Ward, Enda Kennedy, Aaron Kearney, Dermot McElroy, Matt McAlpin and Eddie McCormack.
In fact, Doran came close to making it three wins on Sunday but having forced a play-off with Rathmore’s Ben Best and Warrenpoint’s Colm Campbell, he had to settle for second place.
Best was eliminated on the second extra hole of what turned out to be a six-hole play-off that ended with the reigning East of Ireland champion Campbell adding his name to the roll of honour.
It must seem like a million years away but one thing is certain, Arizona State University made a wise move when they offered Olivia Mehaffey a scholarship from September 2016.
The Royal County Down Ladies’ star created a little bit of history on Sunday when she birdied the second extra hole to beat England’s Samantha Fuller and complete a sensational hat-trick of wins in the Irish Girls Open Strokeplay Championship at Roganstown Hotel and Country Club.
Mehaffey is clearly the biggest Irish talent to emerge since Stephanie Meadow and the Maguire twins Lisa and Leona. And while she can hardly wait to get to Arizona to chase her dream of becoming world No 1, she’s happy to keep improving at home.
“I can't wait to get out there and get started in America because it's such an exciting adventure,” says the 17-year old who is studying Sports Science at Newry Southern Regional College. “But I’ve still got another year left in college here and I love it.”
Not set to turn 18 until 9 October, Mehaffey is determined to enjoy her last summer of Girls golf and she’s already aiming high with a spot on the Vagliano Trophy team to face the Continent of Europe at Malone at the top of her wish-list.
“I've been playing a lot and done a good bit of winter training and a lot of work with Robbie Cannon on my fitness and with Chris Jelly and Donal Scott on my game,” she says.
After such a sensational start to the year, she’s one to watch in this week’s Helen Holm Scottish Strokeplay at Troon, where she is joined by Annabel Wilson, Chloe Ryan, Jessica Ross, Mary Doyle, Maura Diamond, Niamh McSherry, Paula Grant, Sinead Sexton, Victoria Craig and Shannon Burke.
Making a successful move from amateur to professional golf is a tough as holing one of those downhill sliders on the ninth green at Augusta National.
But ask soon-to-graduate Chris Selfridge about his post college plans and the 23-year old from Castledawson, does his marketing degree from the University of Toledo full justice.
Not that he has to exaggerate in the slightest about a top amateur career that has seen him win the Home Internationals with Ireland and four domestic majors in three years — the East of Ireland, the Irish Amateur Close and back to back North of Irelands.
“I feel I am ready,” he says of his plans to hit the professional ranks next month. “My goal is not to make some cuts and earn some sort of status. Okay, I know it will hard to tee it up in your first professional event and win but I feel I can compete and challenge. I believe I am ready.
“I really wanted to get my degree and grow as a person and I did that. Four years of college golf has been great for my game.”
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