SPORTSWOMAN OF THE MONTH:CONSIDERING IT'S four years since the Maguire twins, Leona and Lisa, won the first of our monthly awards you'd be forgiven for doing a double take when you read that they're still just 16 – and 16 is, it has to be said, is exceptionally young to be awards' veterans.
Unlike so many sporting prodigies, though, who tend to fade from view after showing such early promise, the Maguires continue to progress and Leona is The Irish Times/Irish Sports Council Sportswoman of the month for January.
Last year was a particularly memorable one when they became the youngest players to appear in the Curtis Cup for Britain and Ireland, both registering victories in the singles on the final day.
Shane O’Grady, who has worked with the twins since they were 10, noted recently how they had “grown a lot and got a bit stronger” over the winter, allowing them to add distance to their game. “Before they were always giving up 20 yards and couldn’t get near the par fives, but they now hit it the same length as – if not a bit longer than – the top women amateurs.”
That development was in evidence at the Harder Hall Invitational Championship in Florida in early January when the girls opened their year impressively with top-20 placings, Leona finishing sixth.
It was, though, a difficult time for the Maguires, who learnt of the sudden death of their grandfather on the day of the final round.
By the end of the month however, they were able to pay a fitting tribute to him by dedicating their performances at the Portuguese Amateur Open Championship to his memory, Lisa coming 10th, making her the second highest finisher from Ireland and Britain. The top finisher? Leona. Incredibly, she won the tournament by 15 strokes from her nearest rivals, Germany’s Karolin Lampert and Karlijn Zaanen of the Netherlands.
She opened with a 66 to lead Zaanen by two shots, following that with a two under round of 70 on a testing day when play was suspended for a period because of heavy rain. Another 70 on day three stretched her lead to eight shots, before a final round of 68 gave her a quite remarkable victory in a tournament that featured over 80 of the top amateurs in Europe.
Her goal, said O’Grady, was to break 10 under par – she finished on 14 under. “Lisa got a bit unlucky, particularly on the second day when they had a rain delay,” he said. “But Leona gave the most complete performance I’ve seen from her on a long golf course.” The twins combined, though, to win the Nations Cup section of the tournament for Ireland.
That, then, was how the girls, who are in their transition year at Loreto Cavan, began the 2011 season in Europe. Next in their schedule is the Spanish Amateur Championship and beyond that “the plan is to play a tournament a month and then two a month when the season gets going,” said O’Grady.
Previous monthly winner
(This year’s awards cover December 2010 to November 2011):
December: Fionnuala Britton (Athletics). The Wicklow runner just missed out on a medal at the European Cross Country Championships, finishing fourth but given the same time as the runner in third.
