Leona Maguire (born 30 November 1994) is an Irish professional golfer. She held the record for the most weeks at the top of the World Amateur Golf Ranking. She was the first Irish woman to win on the LPGA Tour and the first Irish woman to win on the Ladies European Tour.
Early life Maguire is a native of County Cavan. At the age of 9, she gave up a promising swimming career to concentrate on golf. She is 15 minutes younger than her twin sister, Lisa Maguire, who was also a professional golfer and retired in 2019.
On 10 September 2005, she won the 10th HSBC British Wee Wonders Championship by 11 shots at the Balgove Course, St Andrews, Scotland, with a finishing round of 61. Two months later she finished runner-up to her sister Lisa in the Young Masters Golf Junior Series at La Manga in Spain.
Amateur career 2007–2014 Playing in the Northern Ireland Ladies Open at Hilton Templepatrick Hotel & Country Club in June 2007 at the age of 12, Maguire broke the record as the youngest golfer to participate in a Ladies European Tour event.
In May 2008, she won the Lancome Irish Women's Amateur Close Championship at Westport, County Mayo.
Maguire won the Portuguese International Ladies Amateur Championship in January 2011 by 15 strokes. Later that same year, Maguire won the Irish Women's Open Stroke Play Championship.
In April 2012, Maguire became the first Irish golfer to win the Irish Girls Open Strokeplay Championship. Two months later, she was part of the Great Britain & Ireland Curtis Cup team which defeated the US at Nairn, Scotland. Shortly afterwards she won the Irish Women's Amateur Close Championship for the second time in her career.
Maguire left secondary school at Loreto College, Cavan, in Ireland with top scholastic honours and joined Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, U.S.
2015 Maguire reached first place in the World Amateur Golf Ranking on 13 May 2015 after winning three times in the United States. She helped Duke win the NCAA South Bend Regional title and was voted the ACC Player of the Year and ACC Freshman of the Year.
Maguire was a selection for the 2015 ACC All-Star team and she won the 2015 Annika Award for the best golfer of the year in American college women's golf and was chosen as a member of the South Bend Region All-Star team as well as was honoured both as the Women's Golf Coaches' Association (WGCA) Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year for 2015 and was included in the 2015 WGCA All-American team. She was also the recipient of the 2014–15 Golfstat Cup presented to the player who has the best scoring average.
On 25 June, Maguire was named on the 2015 All-ACC Academic Team which recognises academic as well as athletic excellence. The same month, she won the Golfweek National Player of the Year award and was selected to Golfweek's All-America First Team. On 6 July Maguire was named on the WGCA 2015 All-American Scholar Team.
Maguire was undefeated representing Great Britain & Ireland in the 2015 Vagliano Trophy against Europe, held at Malone Golf Club, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
At the 2015 European Ladies Tour's ISPS Handa Ladies European Masters at Buckinghamshire Golf Club, Denham, England, Maguire finished second, but as an amateur she did not receive the prize money of €50,000.
Maguire was also invited to play in the final major of 2015, The Evian Championship in France and finished as leading amateur. Again as an amateur Maguire did not receive the prize money of €18,648 but advanced in to the top 300 of the Women's World Golf Rankings. In September Maguire was awarded the European Ladies' Amateur Golf Ranking's gold medal. In December she won the Irish Women's Amateur Golfer of The Year award for the third time.
2016
In June, Maguire was selected on the All-ACC Academic Team, and the 2015-16 WGCA All-American Scholars Team which recognises academic excellence as well as athletic excellence, each for the second year in a row.
At the 2016 Ricoh Women's British Open at the Woburn Golf and Country Club, England, Maguire finished as leading amateur. She regained her world number one amateur ranking on 3 August 2016. The same month she represented Ireland at the 2016 Rio Olympics Women's Golf, and finished in a tie for 21st.
In September, Maguire helped Ireland to a bronze medal in the 2016 Espirito Santo Trophy held at Mayakoka El Camaleon Golf Club in Mexico. In November, she helped Duke win the East Lake Cup held in Atlanta, Georgia.
With the intention to turn professional Maguire entered the LPGA Tour qualifying school in October. After successfully completing stage II, Maguire withdrew prior to stage III and stated she would return to Duke.
2017 In April, Maguire won the ACC Championship for the second time, and was selected as ACC Golfer of the Month for the sixth time in her college career. In May, Maguire was voted the ACC Women's Golfer of the Year for the second time, and was selected for the All-ACC Women's Golf Team for the third year in a row. Maguire was selected for the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District III Women's At-Large Team, which recognises the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. Maguire was also named the USA Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) National Player of the Year for the second time in three years and became just the fifth player in history to win the award multiple times. She was also selected for the WGCA First Team All-Americans.
Maguire was, for the second time in her career, awarded the 2016-17 GolfStat Cup for the best scoring average. Maguire finished in first place on the Golfweek/Sagarin women's college end of season rankings. On 8 June, She won the Annika Award, and became the first person to win it twice. On 17 June, Maguire won the British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship, beating Ainhoa Olarra of Spain 3 & 2 in the final at the Pyle & Kenfig Golf Club, Waun-y-Mer, Wales.
On 25 June, Maguire was named the ACC Women's Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and was selected to the All-ACC Academic Team for the third year in a row. On 28 June, Maguire won the Golfweek National Player of the Year award for the second time, and was selected to Golfweek First Team All-America for the third straight season. Maguire was selected for the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholars Team for the third year in a row. On 10 July, she was awarded the 2017 Edith Cummings Munson Golf Award by the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA).
On 12 September, Maguire began the 2017-2018 College Golf season by winning the Jim West Challenge, including the lowest round of her career, a 63. Her 54-hole 13-under par total of 200 broke the tournament all-time record. She helped Duke win the team title as well as setting a new school team scoring record of 33-under par. This was her fifth title of 2017. On 22 October, Maguire qualified to play in the professional Symetra Tour in 2018 by finishing in ninth place at the LPGA Qualifying Tournament Stage II. On 9 November, Maguire was selected as ACC Golfer of the Month for November 2017, which is the eighth time she has won the monthly award. On 27 November Maguire was named 2017 Global Golf Post Female Amateur of the Year. She was chosen as a member of the Global Golf Post All-Star amateur team of 2017 for the third year in a row.
2018 On 31 January, Maguire broke Lydia Ko's record for the most weeks at the top of the World Amateur rankings, with 131 weeks.
Maguire claimed her third win of the 2017–18 college season by winning the ACC Championship for the third time. On 23 April Maguire was presented with the Duke University Lifetime Achievement Award. She was also voted the Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Golfer of the Year for the third time in her career and was chosen for the All-ACC Team for the fourth time in her career. On 10 May, Maguire was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, America's oldest academic honor society.
On 11 May, Maguire was awarded the ACC Plaque for Excellence, Scholarship and Athletics. Maguire's final 70.97 college career scoring average is the best in NCAA history for any female golfer with at least 100 rounds. On 22 May, Maguire was selected for the USA Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-Americans First Team. On 9 June, Maguire was selected to Golfweek First Team All-America for the fourth season in a row. On 20 June, Maguire was named the ACC Women's Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row and was also named to the All-ACC Academic Team for the fourth year in a row. On 4 July, Maguire was selected for the 2017-18 WGCA All-American Scholars Team which recognises academic excellence as well as athletic excellence, for the fourth year in a row. On 6 July, Maguire was selected on the annual ACC Honor Roll for the fourth year in a row. On 12 July Maguire was awarded the 2018 Edith Cummings Munson Golf Award by the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) for the second year in a row. Amateurgolf.com selected her as the second best female amateur golfer of the last ten years. Golfweek selected Maguire as the best women's college golfer of the last decade. Professional career 2018 Maguire turned professional on 5 June 2018. Both she and her twin sister Lisa Maguire signed to singer Niall Horan's golf management company Modest! Golf and also signed sponsorship deals with Puma, Ping, Allianz and KPMG. She based herself in Scottsdale, Arizona. The week she turned professional, Maguire made her professional debut on the LPGA Tour at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, where she finished in 15th place. The following week, she made her debut on the Symetra Tour at the Decatur-Forsyth Classic, where she recorded the first hole-in-one of her professional career. In December, she secured Category 5c exemption status for the 2019 Ladies European Tour by finishing fifth in the Qualifying Finals Lalla Aicha Tour School in Morocco.
2019–2020
In April 2019, Maguire won her first professional tournament at the Windsor Golf Classic on the Symetra Tour in Windsor, California, after a playoff against Pajaree Anannarukarn. In May, Maguire broke the course record at the LET Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic on the Faldo Course at Emirates Golf Club in Dubai with a round of 64. In May, Maguire progressed through the U.S. Women's Open qualifying tournament. Maguire won the Symetra Classic by a five-stroke margin. In October 2019, Maguire secured her LPGA Tour card for the 2020 season by finishing seventh on the on the Symetra Tour money list.
Maguire was ranked 100 on the LPGA Priority List for the 2020 season. In February, she achieved her first top five finish as an LPGA professional with a fourth place in the ISPS Handa Vic Open.. She moved up 62 places in the world rankings. On 13 September, Maguire recorded her highest placing in a professional golf major with 18th place in the ANA Inspiration at Rancho Mirage, California. Maguire ended the year ranked number one on the LPGA Putting Average statistics list with an average of 28.69 putts per round. She also secured her tour card for 2021.
2021