Leona Maguire muscled her way to a 1-under 71 on Friday at the Aramco Championship, what wound up being one of the lowest scores of the day after the winds started to swirl in the second round at Shadow Creek.
Hailing from Cavan, Ireland, the Duke University alum is more than familiar with the types of conditions that are generally a nuisance at this property, and Maguire showed that mettle in the second round, making three bogeys and four birdies to put herself in a tie for second with 18 holes remaining in North Las Vegas, five shots behind 36-hole leader Lauren Coughlin.
After opening with a 2-under 70 on Thursday, Maguire parred the first three holes to kick off her round two before picking up her first birdie of the day on the par-5 fourth hole to move to 3-under for the tournament. She capitalized on another par 5 when she birdied the seventh to climb to 4-under, but the 31-year-old then erased that effort with a bogey on eight, making the turn at 3-under total.
A bogey on 10 dropped the Irishwoman back to 2-under, but she recovered immediately with a birdie on 11 to again sit at 3-under with seven holes remaining. Maguire made her third bogey of Friday on the par-4 15th hole, putting her at 2-under coming down the stretch at Shadow Creek.
The two-time LPGA Tour winner then mustered up some magic late, knocking her third shot on the par-5 18th hole close and burying the resulting birdie try to finish in the red, something only 10 other athletes did in the second round just outside of Sin City.
“Going out, I think we knew it was going to be tough,” said Maguire. “Obviously, (it was) a lot windier, different wind than we got all week as well, which made some holes play quite a bit longer. We knew we were going to get the firmer end of the greens this afternoon, so just a case of staying extremely patient.
“We played here a few years ago when it was stroke play into match play, and the conditions were worse. The rough was worse. Wind was worse. So today maybe didn’t – it was bad but didn’t feel as bad, so I think that maybe helped as well.”
That edition of the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards that Maguire referenced in her post-round interview on Friday was the one in which she finished second to Nelly Korda after falling to the American 4 and 3 in the Championship Match. That performance is one of two top-three finishes she has previously tallied at this venue, along with a tie for third that she recorded in 2023 when she lost to Ayaka Furue in the semifinals.
And while the demands of a stroke-play tournament differ greatly compared to a match-play event, those strong past experiences are something on which Maguire has leaned through 36 holes this week in pursuit of a position at the top of the leaderboard.
“The more you play this golf course, you know the banks and certain things,” said Maguire. “It’s extremely tough either way. Sometimes, you’re better off not knowing what some of the holes do. We were joking on the course, there was a couple of pins today that we’ve never seen. We’ve seen about 20 pins on this golf course, and today, we saw a few we have never seen before.
“It’s a fantastic golf course. It’s one of the best courses we play all year. I think you could have a major championship here in the morning and no one would think twice about it.”
What’s been interesting to watch over the last 36 holes is Maguire’s navigation of a lengthy Shadow Creek as one of the shorter hitters on the LPGA Tour. So far this season, the Irishwoman is averaging 249.63 yards off tee, which had her ranked 142nd on Tour before she teed it up in the Aramco Championship. But she’s been able to take advantage where she can this week, making birdie on six of the eight total par 5s she has played thus far, thanks in large part to the variety of shorter wedge shots that Maguire has in her arsenal.
“I always flight my wedges, but for the most part, it’s so gusty out here. There are a lot of crosswinds with the wedges. Yes, you want to get it high enough that it stops, but if you can get a little bit of spin, great,” said Maguire. “Really felt like I took advantage of the par 5s and the short par 4s the last two days pretty well. There are not a ton of birdie opportunities out here, so you really need to take advantage where you can on those holes and take your pars elsewhere.”
Off the golf course, it’s also been an enjoyable week for Maguire as Leona has her twin sister Lisa in the gallery rooting her on, something that’s become a bit more of a rarity since Lisa has begun practicing dentistry in recent years. Lisa had never been to Las Vegas before the Aramco Championship, and Leona, who teed it up in four editions of the T-Mobile Match Play before this week’s event, has had a blast exposing her sister to the wonders of the Vegas Strip.
“Always fun having her out. She hasn’t been out in a while. I think Boston was her last event last year,” said Maguire with a smile. “Somehow, I always seem to play a bit better when she is here, but she has a real job back home that keeps her busy. It’s great having her here. She’s never been to Vegas before, so it’s been cool to show her around a bit. She’s been shocked at some of the things she’s seen. Really nice to have her, and just a shame it’s only for a week.”
Maguire has a five-shot deficit to make over the next two days at Shadow Creek, what’s set to be a fairly tall order if the conditions become even firmer and faster in the third and final rounds. But Leona knows better than most anyone in this field what it takes to have success at this venue and is ready for the challenge that awaits her on the weekend in Sin City.
