Who is Leona Maguire?

One of the biggest talents on the LPGA Tour, Leona Maguire is the top ranked Irish golfer in the women’s game.

Maguire won her first LPGA event in 2022 at the LPGA Drive On Championship, where she recorded an 18-under-par total over just three rounds. More recently, she won the Meijer LPGA Classic by two shots, her second victory on the circuit. She is the first golfer from the Republic of Ireland to win on the LPGA Tour.

But who is Leona Maguire?

She was born in Cavan, Ireland in 1994 and decided to focus solely on golf at the age of nine. She grew up with her twin sister, Lisa, who was also a professional golfer, but now works as the manager for Leona.

Maguire held the record for most weeks at the top of the World Amateur Golf Ranking, until Rose Zhang recently broke that record.

• Who is Rose Zhang?

The golfer from Ireland played in three Curtis Cup matches, winning two of them in 2012 and 2016.

In 2018, she made the jump to playing as a professional, after an amateur career that made her one of the most exciting prospects in world golf.

In her first start as a pro, Maguire finished in a tie for 15th on the LPGA Tour. Later that year, she secured her card for the Ladies European Tour (LET).

In 2019, Maguire recorded her first win as a professional at the Windsor Golf Classic in California. Later that year, she secured her card for the LPGA Tour, the top tier of the sport for women.

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It was in 2021 when things started to take off for Maguire’s career. She played in four major championships, recording a top 30 finish in all of them. This led to her getting selected for the Solheim Cup as a rookie, where she won four and a half points out of five. That point total is a record.

Now, Maguire is one of the best known and highest rated players in golf. She was the first Irish golfer to break into the top-ten of the women’s golf ranking.

In recent major championships, she has been close to the lead, with her best finish so far coming at the 2022 Women’s British Open, where she finished in a tie for fourth.

• Maguire taking positives from major near miss

Statistically, Maguire is one of the best putters on the LPGA Tour. In the 2022 LPGA Tour season, she ranked for ninth in putts per green in regulation. That helped her to finish ninth in the money list for the circuit, with total earnings that year of over $1.8million.