JP MCMANUS PRO-AM

July 4, 2022

Leona Maguire

Adare Manor Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Give us a sense of what it means to be here and what this event is all about?

LEONA MAGUIRE: It's an incredibly special event. It's a testament to JP, an event that he's put on to get the very best players in the world here and I'm just fortunate to be a part of this and it's an incredible venue. We've had a few incredible days so far. It's been amazing and the course is fantastic, hotel is one of best in the world. The food's been amazing.

Overall, we haven't even started the competition yet and it's been incredible, so, yeah, just a special week.

Q. Give us your thoughts on how good that golf course is out there.

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, it's definitely one of the best golf courses I've ever played. It's immaculate, like being on carpet most of the time. The aprons are like greens in most places. So yes, the greens are tricky, lots of run-offs and big slopes, but yeah, it's a fantastic venue.

Q. What are you looking forward to most over the next two days?

LEONA MAGUIRE: I think for me, being back home playing in front of Irish fans, it will be really special. There's a greater buzz about the event. There's supposed to be 35,000, 40,000 thousand people in the gates. We don't normally get that in LPGA events.

So to get that at home is going to be really special to have people cheering on. I'm sandwiched between Rory and Tiger today, so most of the fans might be in front of me and behind me. But it's cool, any time you get to play at home is special, and somewhere like this is even better.

Q. Just as far as it applies to your own game, after winning early year this season, did you set new goals for the rest of the year?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah it was nice to get a win under my belt so early in the season. Didn't expect it that early. The goal was to put myself in contention as many times as I could this year. Did a few weeks ago at Meier and came up a little bit short in the playoff. I think special attention to the majors in the next few weeks, Evian and British Open coming up. So they are sort of where the focus is right now.

Q. Just ask you how you are enjoying your time at home. Is it nice to get a bit of a break and refresh before the big tournaments coming up?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Absolutely. I haven't had much of a break. I've been flat-out since I've been home. I'm fortunate that these few days happened to work well with my schedule and having an absolute ball this week. Really enjoy being home. Don't get home too often these days, so this is a special place to spend a few days with my mom and my dad, my brother and sister are here. Very special week.

Q. Does it give you a chance to pause and look back and appreciate the success you've had this year?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Never in a million years would I have dreamed to be at something like this. These are the lads I group up watching on telly, and all the crowds and everything very fortunate that JP has me here this week, and yeah, I'm enjoying it as much as I can.

Q. On the couple of days here, you are blessed amongst men, the amateurs and the pros. Would you like to see more women on the list if the tournament happens again?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, I suppose fortunate that I'm here. There was none the last time. Every year there's progress. There's a few really good ladies playing. You never know, there might be a few ladies on the amateur teams that are up on the top of the leaderboard. The more ladies, the better.

Q. You played on the best golf courses in the world. How would you compare the greens and the playability of the greens here at Adare to them?

LEONA MAGUIRE: These are some of the best in the world. They are maybe not at top speed this week to make sure it's still playable. Some of the greens are huge with big run-offs and others are trickier where you have to manage your distance control into them.

Like I said, the aprons around some of these greens are better than the greens we play on the LPGA. Try not to take too many divots around the greens this week.

Q. Just wondering in terms of consistency this year, it's been a little bit up-and-down. Would you be happy just to miss a few cuts and win a major or do you like to be consistent every week?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, I mean, ultimately, you'd like to be up near the top of the leaderboard every week but that's golf. The only cut I've missed have been on poa annua grass, so haven't quite got the hang of that yet. I've won once and lost in a playoff once. I'd have taken that at the start of the year, top 10 in the U.S. Open.

I know how to contend so it's just a case of trying to do that more and more throughout the year.

Q. Just a quick question, whether our hosts this evening, today and tomorrow, JP and the McManus family, what's it been like to be with them over the last few days?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Incredible. JP and Noreen, they have really pushed out the wood. There has been no stone left unturned and they have been very personal. They have been at the dinners every night, talking to every and shaking hands with everybody. It's a nice bonus that Limerick got the win yesterday for JP. It's an incredible event to be part of and what they have done for the local community here in Limerick and the Midwest is fantastic.

So any bit we can do this year this week to help is only a bonus.

Q. Have you met Tiger yet?

LEONA MAGUIRE: I've not. I see him arrive, I was hitting balls when he achieved in the chopper yesterday. I haven't seen him.

Q. Are you going to chase him up, being the group behind him?

LEONA MAGUIRE: I shouldn't hit into him, there won't be any fear of that. I saw Tiger at The Ryder Cup in 2006 and got my picture taken. We'll see if we can replicate that this week.