SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France – History says Leona Maguire relishes an electric atmosphere. The Solheim Cup has become part of her DNA, but this week she is intent on marking her mark in the Olympic Games.
While the Irishwoman is making her third appearance in sport’s biggest global spectacle, Paris 2024 appears set to provide her with a comparable stage to shine.
Back at Rio 2016, Maguire was still an amateur and just happy to be taking part, while the Games in Tokyo were held during the pandemic when there were no fans in attendance.
That isn’t the case this week. After sampling the great crowds that were in attendance for the men’s competition as a fan for Sunday’s thrilling finale, Maguire is relishing experiencing it for real as a player with near sell-out crowds expected once again as the best women in the game tee it up at Le Golf National.
“Out watching the guys at the weekend, there's a lot of Irish jerseys, and it felt like we were closer to home rather than France,” she said at a pre-tournament press conference on the eve of the competition. “It almost has that sort of Solheim Cup/Ryder Cup sort of atmosphere to it with the grandstands and the crowds.
“I think it's going to be very exciting, and it's one of those things where you want to do as well as you can to give the fans as much to cheer about as you can.”
It was on her Solheim Cup debut in 2021 when Maguire stole the show as she amassed 4½ points to make history as the leading European points-scorer in a single Solheim Cup.
She was again a driving force for Europe two years later when she registered three points from a possible five in a tied match at Finca Cortesin. The more the fans, the better she plays more often than not.
While different from a major championship – and a Solheim Cup for that matter – the Olympics is another platform to showcase the depth in the women’s game to a global audience.
“It's the Olympic Games,” said Maguire regarding similarities she sees with other big events in golf. “It's the biggest sporting event in the world.
“For me, my first experience at the Solheim Cup, one of the cool things I took away from it back home in Ireland, a lot of people watched golf, and a lot of people watched women's golf for the first time that would never normally watch women's sport or women's golf. And I think the same is probably true of the Olympic Games as well. I met quite a few Irish people walking around over the weekend.”
As Maguire alludes to, there is a real buzz in the Ireland camp at these Olympics. They have already enjoyed their most successful Summer Games, with seven medals so far – bettering their previous record haul of six at London 2012.
Those medal-winning performances are a source of inspiration for Maguire this week as she looks to do what Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry were unable to in the men’s competition.
“I was at home this past week in Ireland, and the buzz around the country that everyone was talking about how we won medals in the pool for the first time in a long time, and there's a boxing medal coming up tonight (Tuesday),” she said. “This is the most successful Games for Ireland ever. We just won in Olympics, and it's very cool to see Irish people succeeding on one stage. You want to be part of that.
“You're sitting home watching and you want to see the Irish flag go up on the podium and even better if the national anthem gets played.
“I think you saw it with Scottie (Scheffler) on Sunday, everything he's won, he's practically won everything, and how much it meant to him. You saw if with (Novak) Djokovic as well, he's done everything in tennis, and it seemed to mean an awful lot to him.”
Maguire, who has finished 21st and 23rd respectively in her past two Olympics, is joined in Irish colours this week by compatriot Stephanie Meadow, with the pair among 15 players in the 60-strong field to have played at each of golf’s last three involvements at the Olympics.
They do so at a venue that is new in their careers as professionals, with Maguire excited about the challenge the Albatros course poses.
“It's going to really test every part of your game,” she said, “and I think whoever comes away with the medals this week is going to have to have played some really great golf. Exactly how it should be for an Olympic Games.”
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