Leona Maguire's Irish Eyes Focused on Making History

Leona Maguire ended Saturday in the exact same position as she was after Friday’s round. And since she’s still in the lead at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Maguire is just fine with that.

Maguire, who has a one-shot lead heading into Sunday’s finale, managed to keep things steady through Saturday’s third round with a 2-under 69.

She leads by one over Jenny Shin and by two over Stephanie Meadow.

Maguire, who won last week’s Meijer LPGA Classic for her second LPGA Tour title, is now in prime position to match Nelly Korda who, in 2021, won the Meijer and then went on to win the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club.

Since 2010, there has been five golfers, including Korda, who have won a major championship after winning on the LPGA Tour the week prior. Jin Young Ko, also in 2021, was the last golfer on the LPGA Tour to win back-to-back weeks.

“Obviously I feel good. My game is in good shape. Yeah, I mean, if you had offered (being in first place through 54 holes) for me last Sunday, I would have taken it,” Maguire said. “My energy levels are good. I feel like we've executed our plan really well this week and tried not to think about it too much. Just one more day of doing the same thing.”

According to KPMG Performance Insights, each of the last seven winners of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship held the lead at the halfway mark and sixteen of the last 25 women's major winners held the 54-hole lead or co-lead.

Maguire opened with a birdie on her first hole of the day and added another on the par-5 7th. She bogeyed No.11 but added another circle to her scorecard on the par-4 15th. Although Maguire had an ill-timed birdie on the penultimate hole of the day, she had an easy two-putt birdie on No.18 to put a bow on her day.

Maguire’s Saturday 69 was her eighth straight round in the 60s, which is tied for the longest streak on the LPGA Tour this season.

Her tee-to-green effort has remained exceptional through three rounds at Baltusrol. She’s missed just four fairways and six greens in regulation in 54 holes.

“I feel like I'm hitting my targets pretty well,” Maguire said. “I wasn't quite as disciplined today maybe as I should have been. We picked really good targets. I kind of just got off a little bit on the back nine.

“But, yeah, for the most part executing really well and just need to do that again tomorrow.”

Despite a laundry list of men’s golfers with Irish roots who have won a major championship, it’s never happened before in the women’s game.

“I mean, it's never been done before, and obviously there's a lot on the line tomorrow, but trying to treat it no different than any other day tomorrow,” Maguire said. “I have massive support back home. I always do. Irish fans are the best fans in the world. They're rooting me on. I think there was quite a few out there today as well.”

Meadow, who is from Northern Ireland, and Maguire, from the Republic of Ireland, go way back. Meadow – who notched her season-best finish last week at the Meijer LPGA Classic and is in third, two shots back of Maguire – said with a laugh she’s known Maguire since she was reading the Harry Potter book series.

“I can't think of anything much better for Irish women's golf, which is incredible,” Meadow said. “We have been close. We've known each other since […] she was probably 10, and I was 13 or something like that. So, it's been quite the journey together for both of us to make it.

“We're great friends, and we stay on the road together sometimes. So, it's just great for Irish golf.”

With Meadow in the mix and Maguire making a move, there’s a good chance Irish eyes will be smiling on Sunday evening at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.