T-MOBILE MATCH PLAY PRESENTED BY MGM REWARDS

April 4, 2024

Leona Maguire

Shadow Creek

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, here with Leona Maguire after her second round at the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards.

Just kind of completely different round than the first round. What did you take from your first round here at Shadow Creek that you brought to today to maybe kind of elevate your game?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, I felt like I played really solid yesterday. It was kind of a steady day, which is never a bad thing out here. It's tough. You have to hit -- it really demands every single shot in your bag. You have to drive it well. You really have to pick your spots into the greens. You have to putt well.

I took better advantage of the par-5s today, which made a big difference. Played the par-3s really nice. That was sort of the key difference between yesterday and today.

Q. You had a lot of great success at this tournament last year, a top 3 finish. How different was it playing stroke play these two last rounds compared to match play last year?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, I'm trying to sort of treat it the same. I feel like even in the match play you're still trying to go as low as possible and shoot as best score as you can.

I feel to get to that point, to match play, you needed to shoot 8-under par anyway, so the mentality is not too dissimilar.

At the same time, you're still playing stroke play. Ultimately you're trying to be in the top eight after tomorrow, so trying to shoot as low a score as you can.

Q. I don't know how much of a scoreboard watcher you are, but tomorrow do you pay attention if you're in the top eight and does that change your tragedy if you're on the border there?

LEONA MAGUIRE: For the most part you're just trying to shoot as low as you can. Around this golf course a lot can change from hole to hole just with sort of -- someone can make a birdie, someone male a bogey or a double pretty quick. It can swing quite quickly.

I won't watch the leaderboard for an awful lot tomorrow. I'm sure my caddie will keep an eye on it, as well as holes like 16 and 18. Coming down the stretch if there is something that needs to be done, it might change a decision.

For the most part, it's the same as any another week: trying to finish up as high as you can.

Q. What's the strategy going to be heading into tomorrow? I guess, yeah, what will be the strategy? What will you take from your first two rounds to maybe keep yourself up towards the top?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, I 0feel like my game is in really good shape. More of the same. Just trying to hit as many fairways and as many greens as possible. It's going to be tough tomorrow with the wind, so just trying to be patient. I feel like this course really tests your patience and you have to be very disciplined and just more of that again tomorrow.

I think this is a great golf course, one of the best courses we play all year. It's a great test, so it's really good practice heading into Chevron in a few weeks.

Q. It's still very early in the season. Where do you feel the game is right now and maybe some of the things you're still trying to figure out?

LEONA MAGUIRE: I feel like I've been doing some really good golf. Just hasn't all clicked together at the same time. We're trending in the right direction, which is nice.

Drove the ball really well these past few days. Yeah, just trying to felt my irons a little bit more dialed in and hole some putts. Yeah, if we can get the putter heated up come match play, we'll be pretty happy.

Q. I think you told me a little Palos Verdes you hoped it behaved itself. The last one, another Solheim Cup year, Olympics on the horizon as well. How much of a goal is that for you and how honored would you be to represent Ireland this year?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, absolutely. It's a massive summer coming up. We have a lot of golf to play in the meantime. We had a nice European Team dinner last night, so that was good to catch up with everybody and see everyone. Suzann and Caroline are over, so scouting people for match play.

Yeah, it's big summer. The Olympics would be a huge honor to be my third one again, and obviously the Solheim Cup is a lot of fun and you really want to be part of that. A lot of big tournaments in the meantime, so try and get my game in as good a shape come summer.