KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

June 23, 2023

Leona Maguire

Baltusrol Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Here with Leona Maguire. 69-68 and sitting with the clubhouse lead after day two. How are you feeling stepping off the course?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, really happy with how I played today. Weather was a little bit trickier today, especially sort of on the back nine when that sort of rain came in. I think we were just glad we got finished. I think we've been pretty blessed with the weather the last two days.

Similar to yesterday, played really well. Gave myself a lot of chances. Didn't really hole any putts on the front side. But nice to get those three birdies coming in.

Q. The last birdie to close like that, what was that last hole like for you?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, hit a really solid 5-hybrid in there. It was nice to give myself a birdie putt up the hill to finish. Played the par-3s really nicely today, which on this golf course you kind of take par on any of the par-3s, so two birdies on the par-3s, pretty happy today.

Q. Does it feel like a nice continuation of last week?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, very different mentality, different mindset. But feel like my game has sort of taken over from last week. I'm very comfortable with how I'm hitting it, picking my targets and committing to those.

I think the big thing today was staying really patient given that we were in a two, jam-packed in a field that wasn't really moving. Did a good job at sort of staying -- concentrating and sort of warm when I needed to. It kind of kept the momentum going.

Q. What was the best part of your game today?

LEONA MAGUIRE: My approach shots were really good. Gave myself a lot of chances. Didn't quite read the greens well on the front side but stayed patient and kept giving myself some chances, and nice to see a few roll in on the back.

Q. How long was your putt on the last hole do you think?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Seven, eight feet maybe.

Q. When you have a lot of downtime during a slow round like today, what do you and your caddie chitchat about?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Everything, a whole lot of nothing. We had a really nice Ruth's Chris dinner on Monday night. We were talking about that. Anything really. Probably if we were mic'd up, it would be a whole lot of nonsense. No, we're just trying to keep it light. Nothing about golf, really.

Q. Was that the celebratory dinner?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah.

Q. What did you order?

LEONA MAGUIRE: It's Ruth's Chris. You have to have a steak. The sweet potato casserole is probably one of my favorite side dishes there are.

Q. It's got to feel a little bit like home out there today. Do you think having that experience in this kind of weather on what kind of feels like a little bit of a links golf course helped you out there?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, I suppose if this weather was at home, nobody would even comment on it. There wouldn't be a -- it was kind of visibility was poor, just sort of that drizzle all day. It was fun. I didn't play in a jacket for most of the day. It wasn't heavy enough for that. Yeah, nothing heavy enough where we had to worry about drying the grips or anything like that.

Overall it was decent out there. Yeah, I have nothing to complain about really.

Q. PGA TOUR put out an article talking about you and Padraig hooking up. What was that like, and if you don't mind sharing the tip or the short game help you gave you.

LEONA MAGUIRE: He swore me to secrecy so I won't be sharing any tips. I think Ireland as a country punches well above our weight when it comes to golf, and it's nice to have the guys looking out for me, Padraig, Paul, Shane. All of the guys have been very good to me, and very appreciative of all of that.

I know Shane had a good round yesterday, so it's nice to see that. I think we all just root for each other and want to see each other do well. There's not very many of us, so nice to have that sort of camaraderie between all of us.

Q. KPMG on the hat as an ambassador, it's got to mean a lot more to be leading in this event.

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, this is always one of my favorite events of the year. KPMG have supported me right from when I turned pro and very grateful for that. Nice to see a lot of the KPMG faces this week. Laura is a member at Lake Nona, so I see her quite a bit in Orlando, her and her husband Dave. Nice to have all them rooting for me and cheering for me.

Yeah, what they've been doing for women's golf the past number of years has been incredible. We're very fortunate.

I think the entire Tour this week is very grateful for the opportunity to be here this week at Baltusrol. I know it's a really tough test and it's a grind out there, but I think everybody is enjoying the privilege of being here this week.

Q. If you go back to Mizuho, I think you've now had seven straight rounds in the 60s. Is that a good stretch for you, or have you had better?

LEONA MAGUIRE: I have no idea. I didn't know it was seven until you just told me. Yeah, I feel like I've been playing really good golf from Vegas really. I had really bad blisters after Vegas. I was just about able to walk around the golf course at Mizuho, so that was the goal that week was to get around.

But yeah, feel like my game has been in really good shape for a couple weeks now. Obviously it was last week, and nice to continue that to this week.

Q. Have you ever had a halfway lead in a major?

LEONA MAGUIRE: No, I don't think so. This is uncharted territory for me. Whatever happens this week, I'm sure I'll learn a lot, and just sort of taking it one day at a time.

I think this golf course demands that. I think you can't think more than one shot ahead, let alone a hole or a round ahead. Just really taking it shot by shot and trying to hit as good a shots as I can.

Q. So winning is out of the question?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, that seems like a long way away. I think dinner first tonight and then we'll worry about tomorrow in the morning.

Q. We once told Shane we assumed he loved playing in the rain, and he said he absolutely hated it. When you see a day like this, what are your initial thoughts? Do you feel your experience in this stuff? Do you welcome it? Do you tolerate it?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, I don't think anyone looks out the window and sees it's raining and thinks, geez, I can't wait to go out there today.

Yeah, it's second nature. I've grown up in it. Most of the time at home if you wait for a dry day you're not going to play golf very often. It doesn't bother me. I know half the battle is having a good attitude and accepting it's going to be the same for everybody and you're going to hit good shots that are maybe not going to come off and things like that. Maybe just a little bit more patience than usual on days like today.

Q. Not many people get a parade. I'm just wondering when you think back to that day, what was your favorite moment?

LEONA MAGUIRE: You're talking about after the Solheim? I think it was the fact that my 96-year-old grandmother got to ride in the passenger seat beside me. It was right after COVID. The country had pretty much been in strict lockdown for a while, so she got to see a lot of people out on the streets waving and all the rest. I think it was almost cooler for her than it was for me, and it was nice for me to see her enjoy that so much.

Q. What's her name? Is it mom or dad's mom?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Dad's mom, Kathleen.