It's a mark of the progress made by world No 1 amateur Leona Maguire that she was talking of the chances that slipped by after opening with a three-under 69 in the first round of the ISPS HANDA Ladies European Masters.

Playing on a sponsor’s invite, the 20-year-old from Cavan hit 16 greens in her opening round at The Buckinghamshire Golf Club near London, carding four birdies and a single bogey that left her in a share of 12th position at the end of day one.

The Duke University golfer made the brightest of starts with a birdie at the par-five 10th before successive birdies on the 13th and 14th holes got her to three under early in her round.

Four straight pars saw her to the turn in 33 strokes and the consistency in her play saw her continue her back nine with another five pars from the first.

She got to four under with a birdie three at the par-four sixth before giving up her only shot to par of the round with a bogey five at the eighth to finish on three under, three shots behind France’s Sophie Giquel-Bettan, who carded a 66.

“I’m really happy because I got off to a great start and made a few birdies in the first few holes, so I was three under though nine,” said Maguire.

“I had quite a few chances on the back nine but a few putts didn’t drop. I hit 16 greens, so it was pretty steady. I birdied a couple of the par fives and hit all the ones on the back nine, starting on the 10th.”

Maguire’s only bogey came on her penultimate hole, which at 425 yards was the longest of the par-fours.

“I made a bogey on eight after hitting a good drive but my second was left of the green in the hay so I had to hack at it to get on the green and then had two putts from there so it was a good bogey really, because the pin was long and the hole was playing tricky,” added Maguire.

“I’d have taken a three under going out this morning and it’s a good score. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Ireland’s Rebecca Codd endured a nightmare opening round, carding two triple-bogeys in an 11-over-par round of 83.