Leona Maguire began with a steady, if not spectacular, round of 71 at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open, a score that currently leaves her just four shots off the lead at The K Club.
A total of 16 home-based players are teeing it up at the Co Kildare venue with much focus on Maguire as she looks to find form ahead of another Solheim Cup appearance in a fortnight’s time.
Having dropped from a career-high 10th place in the World Golf Rankings in June 2023, the Cavan golfer currently languishes in 82nd place, and so could do with a good showing on home soil.
Maguire birdie the first, the 10th, before a run of pars until the 16th, where she dropped a shot. Birdies on 18 and the second gave hope of a strong finish but that did not materialise with a five to follow on the par-four sixth.
Anna Foster finished with an even-par 72. The Dubliner, who also began on the 10th, carded two birdies early on in between a dropped shot on the 13th. And while she picked up another shot on the second, a double-bogey six at the fourth was a blemish on the way home.
Italian Alessandra Fanali is the clubhouse leader after a 67, a shot clear of England’s Annabell Fuller.
Watch the KPMG Women’s Irish Open from Thursday to Sunday at 2pm each day on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player