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Irish Times
a day ago
- Lifestyle
- Irish Times
Golfer Leona Maguire: ‘I wanted to beat my twin Lisa. She wanted to beat me'
Bags of clubs are lined up like sentries outside Carton House in Co Kildare where golfers from all over the world are preparing for the KPMG Irish Women's Open. I'm here to talk to Leona Maguire, a trailblazing pioneer of Irish women's golf. Inside the clubhouse, some of the golfers, athletic-looking types in pristine sportswear, are helping themselves from a protein-forward buffet. One woman walks past carrying an abstemious looking plate loaded with three boiled eggs and a lump of brown soda bread. Maguire, it turns out, is also fond of an egg. I find this out during the quick-fire round of our interview. I've only been given half an hour with the Irish golfing legend so I figure I better get as many questions in as possible and hope a few rapid inquiries towards the end of our chat will prove an efficient use of the time. When I ask about her favourite post-round snack or meal she says she loves breakfast. 'I'd have breakfast for any meal.' The Cavan woman is picky about her eggs, though. 'We grew up with chickens and hens at home, so I'm very particular about my eggs. They have to be real eggs; they can't be any of the powdered stuff sometimes you get in some hotels. They have to have yolks with almost an orangey tint to them.' I tell her about the woman I saw earlier with the boiled eggs. 'Yeah,' she says, confirming the eating habits of her fellow golfers, 'there's a lot of ham and cheese and boiled eggs.' The hens and chickens she grew up around were in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, where she and her twin sister Lisa were golfing child prodigies with two schoolteacher parents. Does she remember her first experiences with golf? 'Dad got us three clubs and we started off at the par-three course down at the Slieve Russell' (the golf and country club formerly owned by businessman Sean Quinn). READ MORE They soon went further afield, 'playing with the boys, four-hole competitions. It was a Mars bar for the winner kind of thing.' Were they beating the boys? 'Probably not in the beginning … eventually we graduated to nine holes and 14 holes and then we were playing with the boys more regularly … they quite enjoyed having the help and there was slagging if they lost, but they were always very good about it.' [ Leona Maguire factor clear for all to see as 15 home-based players join her at Irish Open Opens in new window ] There seemed to be no other girls playing at the time; the Maguire twins were a golfing anomaly. She remembers there was the attitude of 'ah, girls playing golf – when they get to be teenagers, they'll give it up. But Dad saw past that. He saw there were opportunities out there for women in sport.' It helped to have a twin also in the game. 'There were two of us. That was a nice thing. We always had each other.' They were only 11 when they were asked to carry the Ryder Cup trophy into the K Club for the presentation ceremony in 2006, the year Europe beat the US in a decisive victory. The pictures show two grinning girls, ponytails swinging, wearing matching red trousers as they hold the cup high. Leona Maguire (right) with her twin sister and caddie Lisa at a pro-am event before the Irish Open at Mount Juliet Estate in Co Kilkenny in 2022. Photograph: Ross Kinnaird/Getty I met her twin Lisa earlier, while Leona was getting photos taken. Lisa turned professional in 2018, the same year as her sister, but retired a year later. She's now a newly graduated dentist, starting a job in Cork later this year. Were they competitive growing up? 'Oh, definitely,' she tells me. They're still close. Lisa spent the past few weeks with her sister in Detroit, while Leona played the Dow Championships as part of a duo called the Irish Goodbyes . 'We were very close, but also I wanted to beat her as well,' Leona smiles when asked about rivalry with her twin. 'We were competitive from a young age. It didn't matter what it was. My mam always said we'd fight over snakes and ladders. I wanted to beat Lisa. She wanted to beat me, but if I didn't win, I wanted to see her win as well. So we'd fall out and fall in just as quickly. It never lasted very long, but I think that brought us both on without realising it.' Was she disappointed when Lisa made the decision to retire? 'I mean, it'd be nice to have her out on tour but at the same time it's nice to see her happy and doing well and excelling in something that she's good at. I think she deserves a lot of credit for choosing her own path.' Long before turning professional Maguire, who is now 30, made her mark on golf. She was ranked best in the world for a record 135 weeks as an amateur, winning the Mark H McCormack Medal three times for being the top-ranked woman amateur globally. On a scholarship at Duke University in the US, where she studied psychology and marketing management, she won several college titles and awards for outstanding play. The wins kept coming when she turned professional in 2018. The following year she won two tournaments on the Symetra Tour. In 2022, she became the first Irish woman to win on the LPGA (Ladies Professional Golfing Association) tour landing the historic victory in the Drive On Championship. She played a starring role in Europe's Solheim Cup victories in 2021 and 2023. Leona Maguire celebrates with the Solheim Cup after Europe's victory over the United States in Toledo, Ohio in 2021. Photograph: Maddie Meyer/Getty Last year was a big one: she became the only Irish woman to win on the LGPA European Tour, won the Aramco Team Series event in London and was inducted into the Women's Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame. If you go on the LGPA website and search for her name, you learn that since turning professional seven years ago she's racked up just over $5 million (around €4.2 million) in prize money. What does she spend it on? 'We came from a modest background. I don't need a lot of money to keep me happy. I'm not big into material things. I don't have a big handbag or watch collection.' She tells me she's building a home in Cavan which will make a fair dent in her savings and, as a keen cook and baker, she likes going to fancy restaurants when she travels. There is a lot of travel. She's been competing in China and Singapore in the past year – the golf season is long, beginning in January and not ending until November. [ Leona Maguire: 'I was in China and Pádraig rang me from Arizona to give me his opinion on things' Opens in new window ] When I tell people I am going to interview Maguire, inevitably some golfing enthusiasts look for tips. One of my brothers has a more existential question: 'Will you ask her why I play so well some weeks and so badly other times?' Maguire laughs, feeling my brother's pain. 'Time, it's just time,' she says. 'We always joke with people in the pro ams that if they are very good at golf they are probably not spending enough time in the office. It's one of those annoyingly frustrating sports … even for us at our level there are things you'll be great at one day and not so good the next. But you always hit one shot that keeps you coming back the next day'. In this, the psychology degree comes in handy, especially when experiencing a dip in form: 'Golf is one of those sports where you lose more times than you win. So you have to take the lows with the highs and you have to be resilient and mentally strong.' Leona Maguire: 'When we were growing up women weren't allowed in some clubhouses.' Photograph: Scott Taetsch/Getty She's a huge sports fan herself, enthusing about her colleagues in elite Irish sport, listing women such as 'Katie Taylor, Kellie Harrington, Rachael Blackmore and Sonia O'Sullivan.' 'I'm a huge admirer of theirs and we swap stories'. She's been to the Olympics three times. [ Irish women on top of the sporting world Opens in new window ] Golf is traditionally a male-dominated sport – 'when we were growing up women weren't allowed in some clubhouses'. Maguire has seen women's golf evolve over the past 20 years. How could it be better promoted? 'I think it would be nice to see it on TV more often and in better time slots,' she says. 'It used to be just a highlights package at midnight on a Thursday or something like that. It's starting to get more and more prime-time slots. 'The big thing is getting as many people out to Carton House this week. When people come and watch, they're very impressed with the standard and even a lot of men would say when they come out to watch us it's more relatable, and they pick up more things about the rhythm and the timing and the accuracy of it. They're quite impressed. So I think the biggest thing is getting more eyes on it, and then once the eyes are there, we can retain the fans.' We have a few minutes left for the quick-fire round. Coffee or Tea? 'Tea,' she says quick as a flash. 'I don't drink coffee.' Morning round or afternoon tee-off? 'Morning.' Who would win in a putting contest between her and her twin sister Lisa? 'Well, probably me now but back in the day, I don't know,' she says smiling diplomatically. Any golfing superstitions? She tells me about a lucky ball marker she's carried around in a pouch for 15 years, it has a shamrock on one side and the Slieve Russell on the other. Golfers typically have long careers, Maguire could have another 30 or 40 years in the sport. 'I don't know about that but I don't see myself stopping any time soon,' she says. 'I enjoy what I do. I always say I've one of the best offices in the world. It changes every week. I'm very lucky to have the job I do. It's brought me to some incredible places.'
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Sports Nutrition
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Sports Nutrition Constructor: Ryan Mathiason Editor: Anna Gundlach JON (29A: "Napoleon Dynamite" star Heder) Napoleon Dynamite is a 2004 movie whose title character is a socially awkward high school student who lives in Idaho. JON Heder portrays the title character. KOREA (42A: Country Buldak Ramen is from) Buldak Ramen is a brand of spicy instant noodles from South KOREA. The company's website says, "We fearlessly push limits, bringing bold, next-level heat to the table." STEPH CURRY (17A: NBA star who has won four championships with the Warriors) STEPH Curry has played basketball for NBA's Golden State Warriors since 2009. The Warriors were NBA champions in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022. STEPH CURRY holds the NBA career record for three-pointers (3117) and the record for the most three-pointers in a single season (402 in 2015-16). MIKE TROUT (24A: MLB star who has won three AL MVPs with the Angels) MIKE TROUT has played baseball for MLB's Los Angeles Angels since 2011. He was the American League MVP in 2014, 2016, and 2019. SERBIA (26A: Belgrade's country) Belgrade is the capital and largest city of SERBIA, a landlocked country in Europe. Belgrade is located at the juncture of the Danube and Sava rivers. ASIA (28A: Largest continent) ASIA is nearly 1.5 times larger than Africa, the second largest continent. Our crossword friend ASIA is making its first appearance of June today, and its ninth appearance this year. KATE (44A: Musician/comedian Micucci) KATE Micucci is the Oates half of the musical comedic-folk duo Garfunkel and Oates. (Riki Lindhome is Garfunkel.) The duo's name is derived from "two famous rock-and-roll second bananas," Art Garfunkel and John Oates. Kate Micucci also performs as a solo act and has acted in a number of movies and TV shows. JERRY RICE (52A: 49ers star who has the most receptions in NFL history) JERRY RICE is a former professional football player. He played for NFL's San Francisco 49ers from 1985-2000. He also played for the Oakland Raiders (2001-2004) and the Seattle Seahawks (2004). He has 1,549 career receptions (covering 22,895 yards), an NFL record. Here's a fun thing. In addition to his NFL accomplishments, JERRY RICE has a name that is crossword-theme friendly. In the five years I have been blogging about the USA Today crossword, this is the fifth time JERRY RICE has been a theme answer. We also saw his name as a theme answer on June 28, 2020, June 23, 2021, September 26, 2021, and March 6, 2022. ONO (58A: Hawaiian fish that's a palindrome) ONO is the Hawaiian name for the wahoo, a fish found in tropical and subtropical areas. In Hawaiian, "ONO" means "delicious," or "good to eat." IOWA (61A: Corn Belt state) Hello from IOWA! I wrote about the Corn Belt three days ago when we saw IOWA clued as [State in the Corn Belt]. KELSEY PLUM (62A: WNBA star who has won two championships with the Aces) KELSEY PLUM played basketball for WNBA's Los Angeles Aces from 2017-2024. The Aces won the WNBA championship in 2022 and 2023. Beginning with the 2025 season, KELSEY PLUM is playing for WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks. SKYE (68A: ___ terrier) The Scottish dog breed known as the SKYE terrier is named for Scotland's Isle of SKYE, where the breed was discovered. POPLAR (4D: Tree in the willow family) POPLAR trees are fast-growing, making them valuable for timber production and shade. POPLAR trees are in the same family (Salicaceae) as willow trees. My cat, Willow, says, "Did someone say my name?" (I know this isn't actually a cat reference, but the opportunity was too good to pass up.) CINEMA (49D: Bollywood business) Bollywood is a term used to refer to Hindi CINEMA. The word is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (the former name of Mumbai) and "Hollywood." MLS (64D: Seattle Sounders FC org.) Seattle Sounders FC is a Major League Soccer (MLS) team in Seattle, Washington. The Seattles were an MLS expansion team in 2009. STEPH CURRY (17A: NBA star who has won four championships with the Warriors) MIKE TROUT (24A: MLB star who has won three AL MVPs with the Angels) JERRY RICE (52A: 49ers star who has the most receptions in NFL history) KELSEY PLUM (62A: WNBA star who has won two championships with the Aces) SPORTS NUTRITION: Each theme answer is the name of a SPORTS figure whose last name is a food. This is a fun theme. I'd say that a meal of CURRY, TROUT, RICE, and a PLUM would be fairly nutritious. I appreciate that the four theme answers represent four different SPORTS leagues: the NBA, the MLB, the NFL, and the WNBA. And it was a fun choice to clue them all in a parallel fashion, mentioning some of their accomplishments. Thank you, Ryan, for this excellent puzzle. USA TODAY's Daily Crossword Puzzles Sudoku & Crossword Puzzle Answers This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for June 6, 2025 by Sally Hoelscher
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Amazon.com (NasdaqGS:AMZN) Launches New Partnerships Enhancing Product Reach And Employee Rewards
experienced an 18% increase in its share price over the past month, influenced by several developments. The launch of Edible Garden's Kick. Sports Nutrition product line on Amazon may have highlighted the platform's potential for market expansion, contributing positively to its valuation. Similarly, Audientes' initiative to distribute its hearable product, Companion, through Amazon in Europe likely added to this growth narrative. Meanwhile, Innovation Minds' integration of Amazon Business supports the company's ongoing diversification strategies. Despite the broader market experiencing varied performances, these initiatives from Amazon entities likely fortified investor confidence, aligning with the upward stock movement amidst overall market optimism. Buy, Hold or Sell View our complete analysis and fair value estimate and you decide. Explore 22 top quantum computing companies leading the revolution in next-gen technology and shaping the future with breakthroughs in quantum algorithms, superconducting qubits, and cutting-edge research. The recent developments highlighted in the introduction signify Amazon's robust efforts to widen its market reach, potentially bolstering revenue forecasts. The introduction of new product lines through its platform underscores Amazon's ability to leverage its expansive retail network, which may positively influence anticipated revenue and earnings growth figures. Over a three-year period, the company's total shareholder returns were substantial at 96.03%, indicating strong performance and substantial investor gains. This longer-term growth provides context for the recent one-year return where Amazon underperformed the US Multiline Retail industry, which saw a rise of 12.5%. The short-term share price increase of 18% may partially reflect these strategic advancements. In terms of future outlook, the price target of US$239.33 suggests a promising potential for share price appreciation, especially considering the current trading price of US$185.01 reflects a substantial discount to this target. This gap indicates an expectation of further growth aligned with optimism surrounding Amazon's operational efficiencies and expansion in AWS and advertising, both anticipated to drive earnings. However, uncertainties in tariffs, market competition, and high operational costs remain critical factors for the company's performance. Investors should consider these aspects in conjunction with the analysts' revenue and profit margin projections when evaluating the potential trajectory of Amazon's stock. Unlock comprehensive insights into our analysis of stock in this financial health report. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include NasdaqGS:AMZN. This article was originally published by Simply Wall St. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
