Irish golf fans to get rare opportunity to see Leona Maguire up close in tournament play

From windy links to tree-lined parkland, such is the nature of tour golf, and for Leona Maguire – following on from her career-best fourth-place finish in a Major after her hugely impressive performance at the AIG Women’s Open – the move back to a higher ball flight for this week’s ISPS Handa World Invitational provides a different type of challenge but also one where Irish golf fans will get a rare opportunity to see her up close in tournament play.

“It’s a very different test but I’m looking forward to playing in front of a home crowd and trying to build on the momentum from Muirfield as much as I can, a little rest and then go again...it will be nice to be back in familiar territory again,” said the 27-year-old Co Cavan golfer who again showed her world class credentials in closing with that best-of-the-day bogey-free 66 in Sunday’s final round to achieve that best ever finish in a Major.

Maguire’s season has a long way yet to run, with the LPGA Tour stretching all the way to November – with upcoming tournaments in Canada, the United States, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and then the final two, including the CME Tour Championship, back in Florida – so there will be some decisions yet to be made with regards scheduling. She has already decided not to play in the Canadian Open.

For now, though, it is about focusing on the World Invitational which has been something of a trendsetter for professional golf in that it features men’s and a women’s tournaments run simultaneously (with the first two rounds played at Galgorm Castle and Massereene Golf Club in Co Antrim, and the final two at Galgorm Castle) and for which Maguire is one of the headline acts.

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The women’s tournament is an LPGA Tour event, which counts towards the season’s order of merit where Maguire is currently in 13th position. Stephanie Meadow, who missed the cut at Muirfield, is also in the field and looking to improve on her current Race to CME standings of 63rd, while Olivia Mehaffey is playing on a sponsor’s invitation. Meadow won the women’s tournament in 2019 when it was an LET event and not yet sanctioned by the LPGA.

Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn defends the title she won last year, while Solheim Cup players Georgia Hall of England and American Ryann O’Toole are also in the field.

The men’s tournament features on the DP World Tour and presents the opportunity for a large number of fledgling professionals to enhance their careers, with in-form Tom McKibbin and John Murphy among those who have impressed in recent weeks on the Challenge Tour getting the opportunity to make an impact on the main circuit. McKibbin is currently 16th and Murphy 28th on those Challenge Tour standings.

In all there are 15 Irish men in the ISPS Handa World Invitational field – McKibbin, Murphy, Paul Dunne, Cormac Sharvin, Niall Kearney, Charlie Williams, Dermot McElroy, Tim Rice, Conor Purcell, Gary Hurley, David Higgins and Simon Thornton along with amateurs Josh Hill, Jack Hearn and Robert Brazil – where England’s Daniel Gavins is the defending champion.

The final field for this week’s FedEx St Jude Championship – the first of the season-ending play-off tournaments – must await a legal applications to a US court from a number of LIV Golf players (Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones) who have sought an injunction on the PGA Tour’s decision to prevent them playing in it.

Joohyung “Tom” Kim’s clear cut win in the Wyndham Championship – the final regular tournament of the PGA Tour – catapulted the 20-year-old South Korean into the play-offs. Playing on a sponsor’s exemption and previously with special status only on the tour, Kim’s win brought him inside the top-125 to qualify while also bumping England’s Matt Wallace out of those to progress.

Rory McIlroy, currently sixth in the FedEx Cup standings, returns to tournament play for the first time since his third place finish behind Cam Smith in the 150th Open. The world number three opted to take a three-week break from competition but is set to play all three FedEx Cup play-off tournaments before switching his attention to events in Europe, including the BMW PGA at Wentworth and the Alfred Dunhill Links in Scotland.

Séamus Power, another player to have taken a break after St Andrews, also returns to competitive action in Memphis, while Shane Lowry – who narrowly made the cut in the Wyndham – is also playing in the St Jude.

Leona Maguire at the 2022 Majors

Chevron Championship: Tied-39th ($25,281)

US Women’s Open: Tied-8th ($261,195)

KPMG WPGA: Tied-54th ($26,002)

Evian Championship: Tied-65th ($14,604)

AIG Women’s Open: Tied-4th ($309,546)