Cork caddie Simon Keelan takes over Leona Maguire's bag at Irish Open
Ireland’s Leona Maguire speaks with the media after her round. pic: Nick Elliott/Inpho
Leona Maguire has confirmed that she will have Cork’s Simon Keelan, up until recently the long-term caddie to Irish compatriot Seamus Power on the men’s PGA Tour, on her bag for the foreseeable future.
Keelan, a former professional at Monkstown Golf Club, first hooked up with Power in 2019 but the pair parted ways just weeks ago and he partnered Maguire around the K Club for the opening round of the KPMG Irish Open on Thursday as she carded a one-under 71.
“I knew him and Seamus had parted ways a few weeks ago,” Maguire explained post-round at the Kildare venue. “I suppose I've always enjoyed having Irish caddies on the bag and I knew Simon before when he was on LPGA a little bit in my early days and he was just finishing up. I guess the timing just worked out quite nicely.
“The plan was always to have him this week. The caddy that I had, Colin [Cann], he didn't want to come back for the Irish. He lives in Seattle. He just didn't want to come all the way back to go all the back [to the US again] to come back [to the Netherlands] for Solheim. So the plan was to have Simon this week.”
Maguire parted company with Wicklowman Dermot Byrne back in 2024 and, while golf is a global sport, that green tint can have some comforting and profitable effects on a player from these shores as they traverse the world.
“Yeah, they're similar in terms of how they see the game,” she said of Byrne and Keelan, “and it's also nice to have an Irish person on the bag: a little bit biased, a little bit same sense of humor.
“It was funny, one of the things - and it seems like a small thing - but being in practice rounds or cleaning the ball or whatever, I used to always get on the tee and just say ‘liathroids’ to Dermot, and he'd hand me a ball. And I haven't been able to say that for a couple of years.
“So it was funny on like the 5th tee the other day, I said it to Simon. He went with the ball. so it's nice having an Irish guy, and obviously he did very well with Seamus at a lot of big events. He's also played on the ladies' side before as well. So it's a nice mix, and yeah, so far so good.”
Maguire has been rebuilding her swing in 2026 under new coach Sean Foley and she finds herself four shots adrift of early leader Alessandra Fanali of Italy, who shot a five-under 67, after the early morning start on day one of her national open.
The Co. Cavan golfer kicked off with a birdie at the par-five 10th, her first, in perfect conditions but couldn’t add another despite chances at 12, 13 and 14. A bogey at 16 and birdie on 18 left her on one-under at the turn.
That moved to two-under with a brilliant two at the par-three 2nd but chances were few and far between on a back nine played in near constant rain and a bogey at the 6th left her shooting 71 on a day when some of her approach play maybe deserved more.
“I started off really nice, gave myself a lot of chances early. It would have been nice to hole a few more putts on the back nine, our front. Then that rain came in and it was a little bit nasty for a few holes.” A solid start, she called it.
The course is playing longer than earlier in the week after the rain but Maguire believes there is a low score to be made on a week when further showers are expected. She is certainly well in contention as things stood early afternoon.
Maguire aside, there are 15 Irish players on show this week. The pick of them shortly after lunchtime was Sine Donegan who had reached two-under through five. Annabel Wilson, Canice Screen and Hannah Burke all stood at one-under at various stages of their rounds.
Olivia Mehaffey finished on one-over, as did amateur Emma Fleming while another amateur Olivia Costello ended with a 78 having played some exceptional golf alongside Maguire but finding big trouble at 17 and p for a pair of double bogeys.
In other Irish golf news, Brooks Koepka has joined the already stellar field for this year's Amgen Irish Open at Doonbeg. The American star joins fellow countrymen Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed in the field aswell as European big-hitters Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy.
The event takes place from the 10-13 September.
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