Ireland's Leona Maguire: "It was nice to be in the last group [at the Women's PGA Championship]. Showed me I have the golf to compete with the best players in the world"; watch US Women's Open all week live on Sky
Thursday 6 July 2023 06:44, UK
Leona Maguire says she has the golf game to compete with the best players in the world, as she gets ready to compete at the US Women's Open this week at Pebble Beach, live on Sky Sports.
The 28-year-old Irishwoman continues to seek a first LPGA major title win, but has come increasingly close in recent times.
Last year, she finished fourth at the Women's British Open and eighth at the US Women's Open, while she took a one-shot lead into the final round of the Women's PGA Championship last month before falling away.
The Cavan native is convinced she has the quality to compete with anyone on the tour.
"I'm feeling good. I think it was nice to have a week off last week and sort of recharge and reset and be ready to go again. This is obviously going to be a really good test again this week.
"Been pretty spoiled the last few weeks. Some really, really good golf courses. I think Pebble is definitely living up to the hype. It's a pretty cool place to be.
"I've played some really good golf. It was nice to be in the last group for Saturday and Sunday [at the Women's PGA Championship]. It showed me that I have the golf to be able to compete with the best players in the world.
"Yeah, I have some good momentum heading into the rest of the majors this summer."
Pebble Beach hosted the men's PGA Championship once and the men's US Open six times. The course is on the schedule for 2027, 2032, 2037 and 2044 as well, and the US Women's Open plans to return three more times.
With Thursday's tee times, Pebble Beach takes its position in the US Women's Open rotation, now on the schedule for three appearances (2035, 2040 and 2048) beyond this year.
With prize money and momentum on its side, women's golf figures to be further enhanced by showcasing this major tournament at an easily recognisable setting.
"A lot of us have grown up watching the guys here and US Opens, the AT&T Pro-Am and all that, so it's really special to be here for a US Open," said Maguire.
"It's one of our biggest events of the year, so I think we're all just enjoying the week. Pebble is one of those bucket list places for a lot of people, so for us to be able to play seven days in a row out here, it's something that I think none of us are going to forget for a long time.
"I think it's everybody's dream to win a major, and to do it at a US Open at Pebble would be incredibly special. But I suppose there's a lot of golf to be played between now and Sunday, so we'll take one round at a time and try and play as well as we possibly can."
Maguire added she has put no pressure on herself heading into the US Women's Open.
"I think I'll avoid any expectations. I think it's one of these golf courses you just have to enjoy the challenge of it.
"We'll try and execute on the targets we've picked and ultimately see where that ends up at the end of the week."
Watch the US Women's Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins on Thursday from 9pm via the red button on Sky Sports Golf and midnight on the main channel, with all the coverage also available on the Sky Sports Golf YouTube channel.
