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Leona Maguire was one of many birdie machines chugging along at Kapolei Golf Club during the early stages of Friday’s third round of the LPGA Lotte Championship.
“You see people that start off nearly at the cut line and were up near the lead before we teed off,” Maguire said after her 7-under-par 65.
For most, the wheels fell off somewhere along the line, and they failed to stay within striking distance of leaders Lydia Ko and Nelly Korda.
Maguire, however, enjoyed a boost that propelled her to sole possession of fourth place headed into today’s final round at 16 under. It wasn’t quite as dramatic as Amy Yang’s second-round ace on Thursday that gave her momentum enough to climb into fifth. But Maguire’s eagle of the par-4 No. 15 was clearly the shot of the day Friday.
“I didn’t see it go in,” Maguire said. “It was a nice number for us. We were sort of debating between a 55 degree and a wedge for me, and just picked up a little bit of wind. And that is what it was doing on the back nine. It was swirling a little bit, it was dropping, it was picking up. … hit it exactly where I wanted just right of the flag. I thought it was nice and then (fellow player Lee) Mi-Hyang started to cheer, so then I had a feeling it went in, which is just a bonus.”
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Maguire, who started the day nine strokes behind second-round leader Yuka Saso, had been quietly holding her spot with a steady stream of birdies on the front nine Friday. The eagle, though — on a hole she had parred the previous two rounds — showed that perhaps she can be a factor even though she enters today five shots behind Ko.
“People have been going low here all week. You’re just trying to keep up with everybody and make as many birdies as you can. You don’t have time to stop and think,” she said.
Earlier in the week, Maguire said she likes courses that make her think. That makes sense, since she’s a Phi Beta Kappa who graduated from Duke with nearly a 4.0 GPA, majoring in psychology.
Having a brain doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t just grip it and rip it when it’s called for.
“I think you just have to keep your foot down and go as low as you possibly can and see where it is at the end of the day. … So you know everybody else is going to go low, so you just have to do the same. Can’t really be looking around you and you seeing what’s going on,” she said. “It’s just a case of making as many birdies as you possibly can and hopefully maybe pick up an eagle along the way.”
Maguire, 26, isn’t your typical rookie. She was a highly decorated youth player in her native Ireland, and one of the NCAA’s best in her time as a Blue Devil. This is her second rookie year because of last year’s season being abbreviated due to COVID-19 concerns.
She won on the Symetra Tour, but is still looking for her first LPGA victory.
“Obviously Lydia and Nelly are right there and they’ve been doing it for a while,” she said. “But (the final round is) the same mindset as I had today. Today was moving day. I knew I had to go low to keep up with those ahead and around me. It’ll be the exact same tomorrow. Unless they get nasty on us and tuck a few pins.”
Even that wouldn’t ruin her first visit to Hawaii.
“It’s sort of a chill place to be, so I’m trying to take that onto the golf course,” Maguire said.
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