Leona Maguire believes her game is shaping up nicely heading into her home event – the 2025 KPMG Women’s Irish Open.
The Solheim Cup star enjoys playing in Ireland and is looking forward to another great week on the O’Meara Course at Carton House, A Fairmont Managed Hotel in front of home crowds.
Maguire had a T19 finish at the third Major championship of the year, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and a T18 at last week’s Dow Championship on the LPGA Tour.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Maguire. “It’s always one of my favourite events of the year, it’s nice to be back at Carton House.
“They did a fantastic job last year, there were great crowds, we got lucky with the weather. The course is in really nice shape, the greens are rolling really nicely and I’m looking forward to the week.
“I feel like my game has been shaping up quite nicely. I feel I had a good run at KPMG PGA Women’s Championship and then a slightly different format last week with the team event, but I feel I have some good momentum heading into this week. It’s nice to play in front of home fans and hopefully, give them something to cheer about.”
Maguire made history on the Ladies European Tour (LET) last year when she became the first Irish winner on Tour with her victory at the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – London.
There is a record number of Irish players in the field this week with the LET winner one of 16 who will be teeing it up on Thursday.
Since the event returned to the LET schedule in 2022, the number of Irish players has only increased, and Maguire believes that’s a testament to the tournament.
She continued: “That’s a big part of having this event, it’s important for the amateurs and the young professionals to get the experience of playing in a big event like this with the grandstands and the crowds and a big course.
“I played with Olivia Costello and Lauren Walsh this morning and you could tell Olivia was nervous but she’s young and it’s a big experience. Every year they play, they will have learned a bit more.
“It’s really nice to see the girls do well on the LET this year. Anna [Foster] had a good finish in Germany last week and it’s Lauren’s [Walsh] home course here at Carton House.
“It’s a lot of Irish players to have in the field, but that’s a testament to this event and what KPMG have done to grow the event year on year. It’s exactly the momentum and trajectory we want for this event.”
It’s always a busy week for Maguire, whose best finish at the event came in 2022 with T4 followed by T14 in 2023 and T15 in 2024.
Over 37,000 spectators attended the 2024 edition of the tournament and the Olympian is expecting big crowds again this week.
She added: “I don’t think it’s necessarily the pressure and expectation of the event, it’s more that it’s busy and there’s a lot going on. Year on year, I’ve tried to learn as much as I can and not to overdo it on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
“It’s nice to have the home support and you want to play as well as you possibly can to give them something to cheer about, but at the same time, the Irish crowds want someone Irish to do well.
“With 16 Irish players in the field this week, there’s maybe a little less responsibility on my shoulders. The first few years I felt I had a lot of responsibility at Dromoland, it’s nice to have more players helping this week.”
Maguire will get her title challenge underway at 9 am (local time) on Thursday alongside Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist and Irish amateur Aine Donegan.
Follow all the action throughout on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #KPMGWIO.
