Leona Maguire seven off Irish Open leader after brilliant moving day 63

Leona Maguire tees on the 18th. Pic: Tom Maher/Inpho

A brilliant nine-under round of 63 leaves Leona Maguire seven shots adrift of leader Casandra Alexander going in to the final day’s play at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open and hoping to pile pressure on the South African come Sunday afternoon.

Maguire’s bogey-free effort leaves her in a tie for sixth.

It could have been even better with two gettable birdie putts on 16 and 18 going awry and a tougher, 20-foot effort on the par-three 17th coming up just shy as conditions went from wetter to saturation levels late in her day.

The Co. Cavan woman, who could only manage two rounds of 71 to start the tournament despite some impressive play, had voiced her frustrations after the latter effort by suggesting she could have shot ten-under.

Ironic, then, that she should have matched it or gone at least one better a day later.

“I knew there was a low one out there,” she said shortly after completing her third round at lunchtime on Saturday, “and honestly, I didn't really play it that much better today than I did yesterday.” 

So, why the difference? No single reason. 

Maguire pointed to the odd bit of luck and an ability to hole a few more putts having done some extra homework on the greens late on Friday with Simon Keelan who is on her bag for the first time here.

It felt counter-intuitive to be focusing on what-ifs after such a standout day’s work but she was left to rue the weather gods when the hooter sounded to postpone play within minutes of her leaving the 18th.

That meant Alexander, who was top of the ladder on 18-under par at that point but had just bogeyed the 9th hole, was spared play in the type of treacherous conditions where grips and lies can become very, very tough.

The look on Maguire’s face as it sounded said everything.

“She obviously hits it far,” said the Irishwoman when asked what it meant for the leader, for herself and for the tournament. “She's going to make a lot of birdies, but we'll try and make her sweat and see what happens.” 

The plan, she said, would be to try and make 20-under on day four and see where it leaves her.

A long shot, then, and the fear was it would get even longer again given Alexander had shot 63, 66 on days one and two and seemed set to go low again when play resumed after an interval of roughly an hour at the Kildare venue.

That didn’t happen. A six-time runner-up in 2026, she saw her hopes of running away with a first win of the year stalling on a back nine that she could only navigate in level par. It left her carding a 69 and saw her overnight lead shrink from five shots to three.

Hardly disastrous, but Alexander has let tournaments slip through her fingers in recent months and there are four players between herself and Maguire with Czechia’s Sara Kouskava the closest on -13 to the frontrunner’s -18.

The pack has caught a scent.

If a first Irish Open title for a home player remains an outside shot, Maguire’s was a round that can inspire confidence ahead of the Solheim Cup in the Netherlands, and reinforce belief that her commitment to a swing rebuild under coach Sean Foley is on track.

“Sean said in the beginning, [it will take] two years. He said ideally two years, but there have been sparks of it. On any given week, it can be quicker than that. But yeah, two years till it's fully, fully better.” 

It was a day for low rounds despite the watery canvas.

Lauren Walsh was first of the half-dozen Irish players to have made the cut into the clubhouse. The Castlewarden golfer somehow managed a 65 despite carding her second triple bogey of the week. She has posted two double bogeys this week too.

Walsh is five-under and in a tie for 24th.

Canice Screene, the best of the Irish across the first two days of play, was two-under for the day through 11 and in a tie for 13th alongside Anna Foster who is already done for the day after hitting a brilliant 66 but tumbled south with a ten at the par-five last after a 76.

Anna Foster had a better day, signing for a 66 and moving up into a tie for 15th overnight. 

Aine Donegan is two back and tied for 24th after a 69 while Annabel Wilson is level par for the week after a one-over round of 73.