Leona: “I wouldn't be playing golf if it wasn't for Sean Quinn”

Leona Maguire admits she wouldn't be where she is today without the help of former billionaire businessman Séan Quinn who created Slieve Russell Hotel Golf and Country Club, where she learned the game with her twin sister Lisa.

The world number 11 is regarded as a Major winner in waiting, but if the Quinn was key to her getting started in the game, she's also grateful to Irish golfing legends Pádraig Harrington and Paul McGinley, as well as caddie Dermot Byrne for the advice that helped her become the first Irish woman to win on the LPGA Tour this year.

Next season she hopes to build on her incredible Solheim Cup debut, when she won four and a half points from five to help Europe retain the trophy, by making the team that will be going for an unprecedented hat-trick of wins at Finca Cortesin in Spain next September.

But she's also hoping to become the first Irishwoman to win a Major and she revealed she was given some of the secrets of Major success by three-time Major winner Harrington after visiting the Dubliner at his Rathmichael home the week before finishing tied fourth in the AIG Women's Open at Muirfield.

"To be fair, I've been very lucky the lads have all been a huge help to me," Maguire said this week as she helped announce a new date for the KPMG Women’s Irish Open, which will be played at Dromoland Castle from August 31 to September 3. "And given that no ladies have done what I've done or what Stephanie (Meadow) has done on the LPGA.

"So Paul (McGinley) has been huge. Paddy's been a huge help. And obviously, Dermot is very, very good friends with them all over the years."

She refuses to reveal exactly what advice Harrington gave her this summer, but she hopes it will serve her well when she chases one of the five women's Majors next year.

"When I went to the house, I just picked his brains a little bit about everything and anything," she revealed with a grin. "He didn't need much prodding, I suppose because he's got a wealth of knowledge.

"So it was mostly the short game we did, just bits and bobs, I suppose. And just how to prepare for events and how to practice and get ready for things.

"I mean, he has incredible insights. So it's nice to be able to lean on him."

So were there any pearls of wisdom from Harrington on how to get that Major win?

"There were, yeah, but I'm not gonna go into too much detail. He did tell me there were a few things he told me that he wouldn't be telling me if I was one of the lads, so I'll keep them close to my chest!"

Now 28, Maguire took the game aged 10 and having concentrated on swimming up to then, she admits she would never have dedicated herself to golf had not been for Quinn, who was the subject of a recent three-part RTE documentary 'Quinn Country', which chronicles the rise and fall of the Fermanagh-born businessman.

"To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't be playing golf if it wasn't for Sean Quinn," said Maguire, who hails from Ballyconnell in Co Cavan, in the heart of Quinn Country. "If the Slieve Russell wasn't there, I wouldn't be playing golf. So I know the documentary and all the rest and people have their opinions.

"Where I'm from, you saw on the documentary that the lights went out in the mountain….he had the foresight to build the Slieve Russell.

“There's an 18-hole golf course there. There's a par three golf course there. That's where me and Lisa spent countless hours on the par three course.

"We couldn't join until we were 12. He was pretty firm on that. That probably added a bit of extra motivation as well. If it wasn't for the Slieve Russell and the vision of Sean Quinn, both myself and Lisa probably wouldn't be playing golf."

Maguire broke through in February by winning the LPGA Drive On Championship and went on to rack up another nine top-10 finishes, including runner-up finishes in the Meijer LPGA Classic (after a playoff) and the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship as well as a tie for eighth in the US Women's Open and for fourth in the AIG Women's Open.

"Obviously, the win was probably the highlight," she said. "Getting that so early in the season. It seems quite a while ago now. But that would have been top of the list.

"At the end of last year, there were a lot of nearlies and close calls in 2021. So it was nice to get it that one sort of ticked off.

"And then I suppose the main focus for this year was to target the majors and the bigger events, and we got a couple of them wrong. But we got the US Open and the British Open very right.

"And then the plan for the second half of the year was to focus on CME. We got that right. So a lot, a lot of positives to take out of this year and a lot of learning from them as well."

While she admits she wasn't as consistent this season, missing five cuts and made some scheduling mistakes, she jumped from 42nd to 11th in the world and emerged as player with the game to win a Major.

Winning a Major is one of her big goals for 2023, but she's also got that Solheim Cup.

"It's going to be a big year," she said. "I think there are four majors scheduled in the course of seven, eight weeks during the summer, so it's going be a big summer of golf, that's for sure. I just want to build off this year. I'm ranked obviously 11th in the world now, so I'll be trying to crack that top 10 and just keep trying to be up there in contention week in, week out as much as I can."

One of the shorter hitters among the elite players, she hopes to put on more distance but not at any price.

"It's a combination of a lot of different things," she said of the speed and gym work that leads to distance gains. "But again, it's about not going so far down the rabbit hole that you lose the wedges and the putting and all the things that have got me got me to where I am. So it definitely is something that I'm putting time and effort into. But it's not the only thing."

As for her caddie, she admits he's key to her success and having already been to three of next year's Major venues with previous employers — Pebble Beach for the US Women's Open, Walton Heath for the AIG Women's Open and Baltusrol for the KPMG Women's PGA — she's upbeat about her chances.

"He's gotten to know my game pretty well, at this stage," she explained. "He's pretty astute. He's pretty blunt and to the point. And he's been a huge asset on my bag and I suppose anybody that knows Dermot, he doesn't get too excited when things are going well. He doesn't get too down when things aren't.

"So it's nice to have that clear and level head on the bag as well. And I suppose it's an added bonus that he's Irish as well. So he kind of gets my sense of humour and gets things."
As for winning one of those Majors — she played new Chevron Championship venue, The Woodlands, during her college days with Duke and shot a final round 61 (the lowest round ever shot in a major, male or female) to finish tied sixth in The Evian Championship in 2021 — she's feeling positive because the tougher the challenge, the better she plays.

"I think that's always been the case," she said. "When you have to think that that tends to suit me a bit more. I plot my way around, not being the longest and all that. So try to play to my strengths.

"I think we got the planning slightly wrong for KPMG (T54) and for Chevron (T39) this year. We learned from that. We planned the US Open a lot better; planned the British Open a lot better.

"So we did a lot of things right and planning for the big events, we'll try and try and learn from that as much as we can next year."

"I mean, I'd like to win a major, but it's one of those things. Whatever happens, I'll put in the work, I'll try and put myself in as good a position as I can and if it happens next year, so be it.

"If it takes a bit longer, that's fine, too, I suppose. You need a lot of things to go right to win on the LPGA. I think the LPGA has been as strong as it ever has, and the majors are no different. So it's very hard to win a major, but I'll give it my very best shot next year."

Tickets for the 2023 KPMG Women’s Irish Open will go on sale in early January.