Leona Maguire’s heroics at the 2021 Solhiem Cup can inspire the next generation of female golfers in Ireland and boost the women’s game in the country, according to her coach Shane O’Grady.
PGA professional O’Grady watched with pride from his home in Co Meath as Maguire became a household name over the weekend following her incredible performance as Europe defeated America in Toledo, Ohio to retain the Solheim Cup.
Maguire, 26, was instrumental in that victory, securing four-and-half points out of a possible five on her Solheim Cup debut. She was given a hero’s welcome home at Slieve Russell Hotel, in Co Cavan, on Thursday, but her rise to fame comes as no surprise to coach O’Grady.
“I’m a very, very proud coach,” said O’Grady, who is based at Black Bush Golf Club. “It was great that the world got to see that Leona is that good, because we know she’s been that good for a long time
“She’s been world number as an amateur, she’s eighth on the money list in America, which is way higher than any other European player, and I think a lot of people wouldn’t have been aware of that.
“She’s a class act and I did expect her to be one of the top players in the Solheim Cup. It was very nice to see her do it, but she is a big achiever and always has been, going back to her performances in the Curtis Cup and everything else.
“I think Leona’s performance for Europe is massive for ladies’ golf in Ireland. The men’s game has always been strong in Ireland, but ladies, we have no standout players, but I think Leona is the first one.
“She’s got her card on the LPGA Tour and she’s now a Solheim Cup player. That gives the next generation someone they can look up to, and other players below her a pathway follow in her footsteps and show that a female player in Ireland can achieve what Leona has achieved. It gives them a role model.”
O’Grady has played a key role in Maguire’s career ever since he was trusted to be her coach, along with twin sister Lisa when they were aged just 10-and-a-half.
“Anyone who came across the Maguire twins knew they were incredibly talented,” O’Grady recalls. “It was an honour and privilege that their parents brought them to me and trusted me to help develop them.
“They played in the Irish Open when they were 12, won ladies’ amateur events when they were 13 and 14, just young girls, they were the youngest players to be part of the Curtis Cup team in Boston when they were just 15. They would have been on the radar for people in golf for a long, long time.”
The Cavan twins took the amateur game by storm, and while Lisa retired in 2019, Leona’s game went from strength-to-strength.
She is arguably one of the greatest female amateur players of all time, sitting on top of the World Amateur rankings for no fewer than 135 weeks. After turning professional in 2018, Maguire, who has represented Ireland at two Olympic Games, is now a regular on the LPGA Tour in America.
