Leona Maguire: ‘It’s been a long journey... nobody sees that grind behind it’

Leona Maguire has dealt brilliantly with the external expectations and did it her way.

Leona Maguire kisses the trophy after victory at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Crown Colony Golf & Country Club in Fort Myers, Florida, on Saturday. Picture: Douglas DeFelice/Getty Images

Talk all you want about God-given talent, but there’s no huge mystery to Leona Maguire’s incredible success and a maiden LPGA Tour win that likely catapults her into the world’s top 20.

Her three-shot victory in the LPGA Drive On Championship at Crown Colony Golf & Country Club in Fort Myers on Florida’s gulf coast was a historic first by an Irishwoman on the LPGA Tour.