Leona Maguire out to banish bad memories as she chases huge prize money
Leona Maguire is looking to erase bad memories of last year as she gears up for the first women's major of 2025.
Maguire, 29, has returned to The Woodlands this week, the venue where 12 months ago she missed her first cut in a major for four years in the €8m Chevron Championship.
An opening level par 72 was followed by a four-over 76 to miss the cut by two shots as Nelly Korda's remarkable winning streak continued, the American adding a fifth straight victory to her CV.
Maguire's missed cut was her first in a major since the 2020 AIG Women's Open at Royal Troon - and came less than two weeks after she was beaten by the world number one Korda in the T-Mobile Match Play final.
That final appearance was a high in a disappointing season for the Cavan golfer as she had her struggles off the tee and changed caddy. 'I don't feel like I played that much worse golf than last year," she said. "But there are a lot of people who played a lot of incredible golf.
"What Lydio (Ko) did, Nelly — there are a lot of people playing the best golf of their careers. It was a bit of an up and down year, but that's sport. Not everything goes in sort of a linear climb.
"At the same time, I felt like I played some really good golf in spots. The standard on the LPGA is just getting higher and higher and there were a lot of close calls this year of a shot here and a shot there. So yeah, a learning year.'
But, as she prepares to tee it up in the 132-player event this week that includes Korda as one of 24 of the top 25 players in the current world rankings and all eight winners to fate from the 2025 LPGA Tour season, Maguire - one of 66 LPTA Tour winners in the field - can look to build on a solid start to this year.
She has made the cut in all of her eight Tour events this season to date, with ninth place in the opening HGV Tournament of Champions - the first event of the new campaign - her best finish.
But Maguire will be hoping to find something special this week to really kick-start her year in the first of five majors, with the winner taking home a cheque for a massive $1.2million.
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