Leona Maguire has opted for expertise—and good humour—by becoming a member of forces with veteran Tralee caddie Verner Tess for the foreseeable future.
Whereas Warrenpoint’s Colm Campbell will as soon as once more have Lahinch’s Daniel McInerney on his bag as he begins his defence of the Pierse Motors Volkswagen-sponsored South of Eire Novice Open on the Co Clare hyperlinks in the present day, Maguire can be going with somebody who is aware of the ropes as she returns to LPGA Tour motion for the CPKC Girls’s Open in Canada tomorrow.
Maguire and caddie Dermot Byrne ended their three-year partnership final month when the two-time LPGA winner and Solheim Cup star missed her third minimize from 4 main begins this 12 months within the Amundi Evian Championship.
The Ballyconnell battler (29) nonetheless has lots to play for this season and with the AIG Girls’s Open at St Andrews, the KPMG Girls’s Irish Open and the Solheim Cup simply three of the large occasions on her schedule, Tess ought to make the transition a cushty one.
The Kerryman (pictured above, second from left alongside Simon Keelan, Catriona Matthew and Shane Codd) in is a 20-year LPGA Tour veteran with a string of prime luggage in his resumé.
“She is going to like his no-nonsense old-school method,” one tour insider mentioned of Tess, who’s famend for his good humour.
“The person has extra tales than anybody!”Tess is extremely regarded throughout the sport and loved two stints with two-time Solheim Cup-winning captain Catriona Matthew and one other good run with Australia’s Katherine Hull Kirk that included a runner-up end to Yani Tseng within the 2010 Girls’s Open at Royal Birdkale.
He was Europe’s caddie captain within the 2019 Solheim Cup win at Gleneagles and in addition loved a profitable spell with England’s Charley Hull.
An excellent caddie definitely made all of the distinction to Campbell (37) when he claimed his first large matchplay title with a one-up win over Peter O’Keeffe in final 12 months’s South of Eire closing.
Campbell had the companies of Lahinch’s Daniel McInerney (pictured under with Campbell) final 12 months and credited his inexperienced studying expertise as key as they overcame rain and 60 kmph gusts.
“He’s been an enormous assist,” Campbell mentioned final 12 months. “Particularly when the wind and the rain was unhealthy. “And his native information helps, he can play as effectively, so it’s good to have somebody like him on the bag.”
The veteran is seeking to turn into the primary man to retain the ‘South’ since Michael Guerin accomplished a hat-trick of wins in 1963.
“Not solely was it one I used to be seeking to win, I’ve been travelling to the South for thus lengthy, however it was my first match play victory as effectively and it was additionally my first match play closing, so I used to be completely delighted,” mentioned Campbell.
