As Leona Maguire stood in the middle of the ninth fairway, the umbrellas started to pop up. One by one, those in the gallery unfurled their multi-coloured brollies to fend off the rain. But nothing could rain on Maguire’s parade, for the 21-year-old was queen of her own domain.
In the first day of the Curtis Cup, she reigned supreme. Even the Tricolour and Union Jack tattoo on her face stayed intact.
As it turned out, the rainfall was short-lived. The majesty of Maguire’s play, though, lasted considerably longer: it extended from the first tee to the 15th green where she and Bronte Law tied up a 4 and 3 win over Sierra Brooks and Bethany Wu. Job done, a couple of fist pumps to one another.
This was the player at her best. Although she had suffered from vertigo at last month’s US collegiate championship, Maguire, a student at Duke University but back on home turf for a third Curtis Cup cap, played with sharpness. Her drives invariably found the middle of the fairway, her putts rolled true.
“I’m in good shape,” she said.
Foursomes win
Having earlier wrapped up a foursomes win in tandem with Charlotte Thomas, Maguire played fourballs with Law. Two leaders, both now veterans of three Curtis Cup campaigns.
Leaders? A nod. “We know what to expect, the captains know what to expect. All week, we’ve been trying to pass on any bit of advice we can give to the other girls,” she said.
Their actions spoke louder than words. In this match, they took control early on – going two-up after four – and kept the door closed on the Americans. For instance, when Brooks ran in a 20-footer for birdie on the seventh, looking to reduce the deficit, Maguire rolled in her own 15-footer to halve the hole.
“Myself and Bronte, we talked about not giving them any chance. Any time they looked at going into the hole, we closed that out. That was our game plan: to keep the pressure on them and we did that right to the very end . . . we stayed incredibly patient as well and this course needs a lot of that.”
So two wins from two. “We have a lot of work ahead of us, but it’s good start,” said Maguire.
