Leona Maguire recovered from a slow start to burst into contention on day one of the Cognizant Founders Cup.
Maguire found the water on the par-5 2nd off the tee and after dropping a shot there she came home with seven birdies to move to within three shots of Rose Zhang on six-under after a 66.
“I didn’t think I hit a bad drive on 2 and got like a funny bounce, went in the water. So, yeah, bogey there. Wasn’t the ideal start when most people are probably picking up birdies on that hole. Just stayed really calm, really patient, and picked up a nice birdie on 3, which felt like a bonus. It’s probably the hardest hole on the golf course.
“So, yeah, didn’t drive it as well as I would’ve liked to but gave myself a lot of chances with my irons into the greens and holed some nice putts early which gave me some momentum. Just kept going, yeah.”
The Cavan star reeled off four birdies in five holes, including three in a row from the fifth before adding further birdies on 10, 12 and 15 to climb into a share of third place and she was surprised to see that she wasn’t leading.
“I feel like if you drive it well it opens up a lot of chances. Once you start missing fairways it gets really difficult really fast.
“Kind of surprised the scoring is as low as it is, but at the same time, if you’re giving yourself those chances, the par-5s are gettable and things like that. So there will be people making eagle. It’s one of those things if you play well you think it’s not too bad. If you start missing a few shots it creeps up on you really fast.”
Maguire took two weeks off as she prepares for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and she is back in action feeling refreshed.
“Yeah, it’s nice. Two weeks off, so coming in here recharged and refreshed, which is nice. Felt like the first sort of bit of the year was really condensed and really packed and a lot of travel, so nice to get sort of those two weeks of a breather to work on a few things and recharge the batteries a little bit and come in here fresh.”
The two-time LPGA Tour winner was home in Cavan over the last fortnight and could be spotted wrapped up in the wooly hat, practicing. More of those conditions are expected across the weekend in New Jersey.
“I think you just to keep hitting really good quality golf shots and staying really patient. Obviously the weather is a little bit unpredictable for the nest few days. Bit of a Irish weather maybe in store. Hopefully not too Irish. But I think we’re going to get a little wet tomorrow morning, so keeping the ball on the fairway and out of the rough is going to be key.”
Stephanie Meadow is ten shots adrift on one-over.