Maguire shakes off jetlag and digs deep to keep her home dreams on track

Despite early bogey, Irish star lives up to hopes and hype to shoot five-under 67 and stay very much in contention at Dromoland Castle

Watch towers: Leona Maguire pictured playing the 11th hole on her opening round of the KPMG Women's Irish Open in Dromoland Castle Golf Club, Newmarket On Fergus, Clare today. Pic. Brian Arthur

She may not have brought her A game to the first round in Co. Clare but Leona Maguire did bring enough to suggest she will be in the mix for a cherished KPMG Women’s Irish Open title come Sunday evening.

Maguire, 27, gave the Ladies European Tour and other tournament stakeholders exactly what this event needed as the national Open came out of hibernation yesterday for the first time in a decade. The Irish star, who this season won her maiden title on the LPGA Tour and secured her best finish to date in a major at last month’s AIG Women’s British Open, had not appeared best primed to match her commitment to the reborn Irish Open with sparkling play. She had arrived home jet-lagged from a missed cut in Portland, Oregon, and faced into a fourth start in as many weeks.