Leona Maguire relishing Pebble Beach challenge ahead of US Open

EMBRACING THE CHALLENGE: Leona Maguire gets another major opportunity on another iconic venue on the far coast of the States. Pic: AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Two weeks removed from her 11th-place finish at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol after leading through 36 and 54 holes, Leona Maguire gets another major opportunity on another iconic venue on the far coast of the States. The LPGA’s idle week in between allowed the Cavan golfer to clear her head for to oceanside challenge.

“I think it was nice to have a week off last week and sort of recharge and reset and be ready to go again,” said Maguire. “I think this is obviously going to be a really good test again this week. Been pretty spoiled the last few weeks. Some really, really good golf courses. I think Pebble is definitely living up to the hype. It's a pretty cool place to be.” 

Maguire’s recent form has elevated her profile heading into Thursday’s first round (she’ll tee off at 10.24pm Irish time with major winner Jennifer Kupcho and world No. 7 Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand). She posted eight consecutive rounds in the 60s in winning the Meijer LPGA Classic in Michigan and putting herself in position the become the first Irish woman to win a major.

Though her fading 74 in the spotlight of the final Sunday threesome at Baltusrol didn’t turn out as hoped – even par would have gotten her in a play-off with champion Ruoning Yin of China – the experience was another stepping stone in Maguire’s development on the major stages.

“I think I played some really good golf,” she said of the KPMG Women’s PGA. “It was nice to be in the last group for Saturday and Sunday. Showed me that I have the golf to be able to compete with the best players in the world. Yeah, some good momentum heading into the rest of the majors this summer.” 

She’ll face a very different test at Pebble Beach, but the formula of hitting fairways and greens that pushed her to the top of the board at Baltusrol will suffice at a US Women’s Open.

“Missing the greens, there's a lot of really thick rough around the greens and chipping is really difficult,” Maguire said of Pebble. “I think staying below the pins on the greens, as well, they're pretty slick above them, so lots of greens, lots of fairways, and that will go a long way this week, I think.” 

Maguire doesn’t have to look far for inspiration this week. Her fellow Lake Nona resident Graeme McDowell won his major in the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach – albeit on a much firmer setup than the women found waiting for them this week.

“G-Mac talked about hitting to certain sections on greens and things like that, a lot of strategy,” Maguire said of the advice he offered. “He's not the longest hitter, nor am I, so I think strategy is key when you come to a place like this.” 

The US Women’s Open is being played for the first time on the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Links set along the scenic coast of the Monterey Peninsula. Maguire grew up watching the men play US Opens there as well as annual visits for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Getting to encounter the familiar course first-hand is a treat.

“There's a lot of iconic holes out here,” Maguire said. “Obviously 7 was quite a bit shorter than I had thought. 18 is obviously one of the most famous holes. You're obviously trying to go as tight to that cliff as you can staying left of the Cypress tree, and obviously there's been a lot of famous shots over the years surrounding that, so I think that's a pretty cool one, having seen it on TV for a long time, getting to actually play it in real life.

“I think a lot of us have grown up watching the guys here and US Opens, the AT&T Pro-Am and all that, so it's really special to be here for a US (Women’s) Open. It's one of our biggest events of the year, so I think we're all just enjoying the week. Pebble is one of those bucket list places for a lot of people, so for us to be able to play seven days in a row out here, it's something that I think none of us are going to forget for a long time.” 

Maguire obviously hopes to improve on her career-best T8 last year in the US Women’s Open at Pine Needles in North Carolina. She’s once again “avoiding any expectations” this week: “I think it's one of these golf courses you just have to enjoy the challenge of it. We'll try and execute on the targets we've picked and ultimately see where that ends up at the end of the week.” 

Following McDowell’s footsteps at Pebble to become the first Irish woman to win a major would naturally be the ultimate outcome.

“I think it's everybody's dream to win a major, and to do it at a US Open at Pebble would be incredibly special,” she said. “But I suppose there's a lot of golf to be played between now and Sunday, so we'll take one round at a time and try and play as well as we possibly can.” 

Maguire isn’t the only Irish entry in the field this week at Pebble. Amateur Áine Donegan, a 21-year-old Clare golfer out of Lahinch, booked a spot in her first major and LPGA event by finishing second in the 36-hole qualifier at The Peninsula Golf Club in San Mateo, California.

The rising junior at Louisiana State University is making the most of her opportunity, signing up for a practice round Tuesday at Pebble Beach with Annika Sörenstam, Michelle Wie West and Lexi Thompson.

“I think she played a practice round with Annika this morning, so I think Annika probably had a lot more wisdom to pass on than I would yet,” said Maguire of Donegan. “But it's obviously a fantastic achievement for her to even be here to qualify, and hopefully she has a fantastic week. It's obviously her first major, so it's a pretty special one to be able to say your first major was at Pebble Beach.” 

Donegan tees off at 3.33pm Irish time with Thai phenom Patty Tavatanakit and Korean Sung Hyun Park.