Dec 17,2024
Leona Maguire is enjoying a well-earned break ahead of the start of the upcoming LPGA Tour season, and the Cavan native is hoping to hit the ground running in 2025.
Having played a very busy Tour schedule throughout the past 12 months, combined with representing Ireland at the Olympic Games and Europe in the Solheim Cup, Maguire feels that the six-week lay off will serve her well ahead of her opening event in Florida at the end of January.
Maguire enjoyed a victory on the Ladies European Tour (LET) during the summer and finished runner up to world number one Nelly Korda at the Match Play in Las Vegas, while she also feels that there was an element of consistency to her game throughout the 2024 campaign.
Yet there were disappointments too, as Maguire felt that she did not bring her A game to the big events, in particular the major tournaments, and that was reflected in the world rankings as she dropped from 25th at the start of the year to her current position of 50th.
The highlight was probably that win in London, that was a goal at the start of the year to try to get a LET win under my belt, first Irish win on the LET so definitely a highlight," said Maguire, speaking to the media on Monday.
"And nearly won in Vegas at the start of the year, ran into Nelly, could have been better…Would have liked to have played better in the majors; didn't quite play as well as I would have liked.
"It was an up and down year, still fairly consistent, made a lot of cuts and made it to the Tour Championship. Didn’t quite have my A game as much as I would have liked but I felt Iike I managed a lot of events, and squeezed some good golf in there as well.
"So it’s nice to have a bit of an off season now to fine tune a few things and get ready for 2025."
Nothing too drastic, however, for Maguire who described herself as a creature of habit, although she is hoping for better results from her driver for the year ahead.
And she said that she tends to look internally after disappointments rather than lay the blame at the tools of the trade.
"I didn’t drive the ball as well as I needed to this year, so the US Open and events like that, it’s more penal, so it gets a bit more exposed at those major events," she said.
"So that’s one of the focuses of the off season, to fine tune the driver and get that a bit more dialled in again, and be good to go for the majors next year.
"I’m a bit of a creature of habit so you won’t see any major changes; Ping have a new driver, so in early January we’ll do a bit more testing with that as we get closer to tournament weeks.
"I’ve tried a few putters but I haven’t found one that is any better that the one I have in the minute.
"So a lot of it I tend to look internally and blame myself than blame it on the equipment."
Maguire’s first event of the year will take place at her home course in Orlando, the renowned Lake Nona track, which hosts the tournament of champions, which is only open to LPGA Tour winners from the previous two seasons.
And the Irish Olympian is looking to make a strong start to the campaign, which will allow for a more settled season ahead.
"Last year I played right up to Christmas and only had two weeks off so it felt like we just kept going last year, and then this year felt like two years rolled into one, it felt like we never stopped," said Maguire.
"So it’s nice to have a bit of a longer break, we have six weeks to work on a few things, rest, recover and reset and be ready to go again.
"I like to get off to a good start, it sets you up pretty well for the rest of the year and you have a bit more flexibility to pick and choose your schedule for the rest of the year.
"The ideal scenario is to do well early in the year and keep that momentum going, you have to be ready to go when the season rolls around, so starting the year at my home course in Orlando is one I always like to be able to hit the ground running at."
Maguire was part of the Solheim Cup team that relinquished its hold on the trophy, losing to a very strong USA side, and while Maguire was left out of several sessions, it has not dampened her enthusiasm for the tournament.
"Paris for me didn’t go particularly well," said Maguire, recalling her Olympic experience. "But the Solheim Cup singles, it was nice to finish up on a strong point there.
"It was a tough task on American soil against arguable one of the strongest teams in some time. Going for four in a row was a tough task and it hasn’t been done for a reason.
"But at the same time, it was an exciting Sunday, and it would have been some comeback if we pulled it off, but it means that the wait for the Netherlands in two years’ time a bit more dramatic with a bit more anticipation, and it makes you want to be part of the next one again."
