They are saying happiness is a protracted stroll with a putter, however even a brief stroll could be excellent news for Séamus Energy and Leona Maguire as they face essential exams this week.
For Maguire, the AIG Girls’s Open represents her ultimate likelihood to win a serious title this 12 months and whereas England’s Lottie Woad is the favorite at Royal Porthcawl, the Co Cavan star has proven indicators lately that she’s bought the sport to powerful it out.
Whereas she’s ranked fiftieth for strokes gained placing on the LPGA Tour, the Solheim Cup stalwart was sixth for placing within the KPMG Girls’s PGA and sixteenth final week within the Girls’s Scottish Open, the place she completed 15 pictures behind the spectacular Woad.
She’s additionally happy with the development in her iron play in current weeks, and he or she has good reminiscences of golf in Wales, the place she gained the 2017 Girls’s Newbie Championship at close by Pyle & Kenfig.
“I additionally performed the Vagliano Trophy at Royal Porthcawl in 2011,” recalled Maguire, whose seventh-place end within the Evian Championship put her comfortably inside the highest 60 who qualify for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. “I do not keep in mind a lot of the course, to be trustworthy, however the climate was not very good.”
The climate might be Maguire’s buddy this week with rain forecast for at present in addition to winds gusting to 25mph for her 7:58 am tee time alongside American Andrea Lee and Korea’s Amy Yang.
Lauren Walsh goes out within the second group of the day at 6:41 am and qualifier Anna Foster within the third final at 3:11 pm.
All eyes might be on the 12:54 pm group that includes defending champion Lydia Ko, 2023 winner Lilia Vu and the sport’s latest star Woad.
The English takent gained the KPMG Girls’s Irish Open by six pictures and got here third within the Evian Championship as an novice earlier than profitable by three pictures on her skilled debut on Sunday.
“I do not know quite a bit about her sport personally, however the little that I’ve seen, she appears tremendous spectacular and has that type of cool, calm, collected manner, and that is, I believe, fairly essential as a participant,” Ko mentioned.
“She’s type of come out with a bang, and I am certain she’s going to maintain persevering with to play effectively.”
Woad (21) does not imagine the previous couple of weeks have heaped extra stress on her shoulders in an occasion the place the winner will obtain $1,462,500 from a $9.75 million purse that’s been bumped up by $250,000 this 12 months.
“There’s all the time stress, clearly, however I do not assume there’s any greater than there was from my perspective earlier than any of the previous couple of weeks,” she mentioned. “Type of nonetheless was desirous to contend there, and that is nonetheless the goal.”
As for the take a look at, she mentioned: “I believe it will likely be a very good take a look at this week. We’ll see; climate is all the time a think about hyperlinks golf. I believe par is an effective rating, after which you have to take an opportunity on the par-fives, actually.”
Energy would love to search out the suitable line and do extra than simply contend within the ultimate common occasion on the PGA TOUR season in North Carolina.
Solely the highest 70 after the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Nation Membership in Greensboro will qualify for the primary occasion of the FedEx Cup playoffs, and A hundred and thirtieth-ranked Energy should win to make that leap.
Any progress he makes might be welcome as he nonetheless has not less than six Fall Sequence occasions after September’s Amgen Irish Open to interrupt into the highest 100 within the FedEx Cup standings, who might be absolutely exempt subsequent season.
A chilly putter has had a lot to do with Energy’s struggles this season as he is 151st for strokes gained on the greens in comparison with 91st in 2024, 63rd in ’23, and fortieth in ’22.
However after placing the waist-length arm lock putter within the bag final week, he confirmed some enchancment from center distance and completed joint twenty eighth within the 3M Open for his greatest end since April.
Making the highest 70 within the FedEx Cup will give those that qualify for the FedEx St. Jude Championship the possibility to make the highest 50 who qualify for the second playoff occasion, incomes entry to subsequent season’s full slate of Signature Occasions.
In the meantime, Daniel Mulligan, Liam Nolan, Max Kennedy, Jonathan Caldwell, Dermot McElroy, Alex Maguire and Mark Energy play the Farmfoods Scottish Problem supported by The R&A at Schloss Roxburghe.
