Promising start for Leona Maguire at Women's PGA

Irish star tied for second as third women's major of year gets underway at Sahalee

Leona Maguire reacts to a tee shot on the 12th hole during the first round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington. Picture: Steph Chambers/Getty Images

Leona Maguire showed signs of a return to form with an opening round of 70 at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, one shot behind early leader Nelly Korda.

Maguire, competing in the third women's major of the year, opened her round with a birdie on the 10th and followed with three further birdies, as she finished in a large group on two-under-par at Sahalee Country Club in Washington State.

Joining Maguire at that mark are her Solheim Cup teammate Celine Boutine, last year's US Women's Open winner Allisen Corpuz and Japan’s Akie Iwal.

Maguire contended for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol last year, going out in the final group alongside fellow Irish Olympian Stephanie Meadow, but she slipped back to finish 11th. Meadow was among the later starters at Sahalee.

World No 1 Korda is looking for her seventh victory of the 2024 LPGA Tour season this week. She won the first major of the year, The Chevron Championship. 

On the PGA Tour, Séamus Power bounced back from his missed cut in last week’s US Open with a strong opening round of the Travelers Championship – the last of the PGA Tour’s $20m signature events of the season – at TPC Highlands in Connecticut with an opening round of three-under-par 67, which featured five birdies and two bogeys.

Shane Lowry had four birdies and three bogeys on the way to a 69.

On the DP World Tour, Matteo Manassero recovered from being "beaten up" at the US Open to claim a share of the lead in the first round of the KLM Open.

Manassero came through a 36-hole qualifier to take his place in the field at Pinehurst last week, his first US Open since 2016 and a first major appearance since that year's Open Championship.

And although it proved an unhappy return to the game's biggest events for the 31-year-old Italian, he bounced straight back with an opening 64 at The International in Amsterdam to share top spot with Finland's Mikko Korhonen.

"On the weekend I was tired even though I didn't play," said Manassero, who carded a triple-bogey eight on his opening hole at Pinehurst and went on to miss the cut following rounds of 79 and 75.

"It's stressful in a good way because you put a lot of energy in to prepare for a US Open and then it beats you up and then you kind of have a drop in adrenaline.

"I was a little tired, but I'm really happy to be playing and glad I that I have tournaments coming up to be honest. The US Open was a really tough experience, but you need to take it for what it is and reset."

Manassero certainly did that on Thursday as he carded seven birdies and no bogeys in pursuit of a sixth DP World Tour title, his fifth coming in March after a gap of almost 11 years.

"It was very, very satisfying," Manassero said. "It's a tough course so you need to earn a round like this round here and it was nice.

"It was a goal to win again, but not necessarily a short-term goal. I wanted to do well, be myself on Tour again after going through different changes.

"My goal was that and then I was going to see what results come and I've been really satisfied with those."

Korhonen made a hole-in-one on the fourth - his 13th hole of the day - and also recorded six birdies, the last two coming on the eighth and ninth, to join Manassero at the top of the leaderboard.

Rikuya Hoshino was a shot off the lead on six under in just his second event back following an 11-week lay-off.

Hoshino had to withdraw from the ISPS Handa Championship in his native Japan in April after being diagnosed with a collapsed lung and was ordered to undertake a month of complete rest by his doctors.

The Qatar Masters winner returned to action at the US Open, where he struggled to rounds of 78 and 81, but fired nine birdies and three bogeys in his opening 65.

Welshman Jamie Donaldson, a Ryder Cup winner in 2014, carded a one-over-par 72 on his 500th DP World Tour start, one shot better than defending champion Pablo Larrazabal.