Leona Maguire will likely tee it up in Rio de Janeiro later this summer when golf makes its way back to the Olympics for the first time since 1904, but growing up, the Cavan, Ireland, native was not sure what sport she wanted to pursue.
A junior at Duke, Maguire is the second-ranked amateur player in the world and currently sits at No. 49 in the Olympic rankings, with the top 60 players qualifying. Although she is now the highest-ranked player from Ireland, Maguire pursued several other sports as a child—including swimming, track and soccer—before settling on golf.
"The Olympics have been a goal of mine since I was a little kid. I didn’t know what sport I was going to be in, and it’s great now that golf is back in the Olympics and I have the opportunity to go," Maguire said. "I know there’s been a little debate over majors versus Olympics, but for me, an Olympic gold medal is as big as they come."
Maguire has not played many professional events recently because of her schedule with the Blue Devils, but the 2015 National Player of the Year has a packed schedule leading up to the Olympics. After finishing tied for 32nd individually at the NCAA championship in late May while battling vertigo, she helped Great Britain and Ireland to an 11.5-8.5 win against the U.S. in the Curtis Cup last weekend by going 4-1 in her matches and will play in several professional events to try to seal her trip to Rio.
The two-time All-American will compete in the Ladies European Tour's Tipsport Golf Masters event this weekend in the Czech Republic. Maguire, who has played in three of the sport's five majors, will also make her U.S. Women's Open debut in early July before the July 11 Olympic qualifying deadline and compete at the Ricoh Women's British Open in late July.
"My schedule this summer is sort of being based around trying to play as many pro events as I can to try and make that cut for the deadline in July," Maguire said.
Duke head coach Dan Brooks said he was excited to watch Maguire's summer unfold, noting that she should be fine as long as she gets enough rest between summer events. Maguire has posted 16 top-10 finishes in 19 starts with the Blue Devils.
"There has not been a player on my team that handles things better than Leona Maguire," Brooks said. "That ought to be her middle name, 'Handle.' [She] handles weather, difficult golf courses, extremely tight schedule, academics—she’s just a really strong kid."
Maguire is not the only Duke player returning to school who will gain international experience this summer.
Sophomore Virginia Elena Carta, who claimed the individual national championship at NCAAs, will compete in the LPGA's Marathon Classic, in addition to the U.S. Women’s Amateur and European Ladies’ Amateur Championship.
Watching his players compete in pressure-packed events during the summer is nothing new for Brooks, who is the all-time winningest coach in Division I history and has coached four individual NCAA champions and 25 All-Americans.
"It’s really great because every time they play in something like this, they’re so much better prepared for what we do," Brooks said. "If you play in a really important, big event with all the best players, everything seems a little easier after that."
Maguire, whose best major finish came at the 2015 Evian Championship with a tie for 34th, noted that she hopes her previous experiences can lead her to new heights before her third season in Durham.
"Any time you play in a big event with players that are on a world-class stage, the pros are playing on that sort of stage day-in and day-out. I’m not, but I try and get to play against people who are better," Maguire said. "For me, you always learn things and hopefully I can bring the experiences that I’ve had in those events in the past and build off them and do even better."
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