Latest news with #AnnaNordqvist
The Irish Sun
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
‘Not my usual golfing attire' jokes Leona Maguire as she stuns in photoshoot for Women's Irish Open
LEONA Maguire quipped "Not my usual golfing attire" while showing off glamorous photoshoot pics for the Women's Irish Open. Once again the Cavan native will be the top drawer 6 The leading Irish hope tees off at 9am from the Carton House course Credit: @leonamaguire 6 She said it was 'fun' to combine the course with fancier clothes than is typically seen there Credit: @leonamaguire 6 It was shot in association with sponsors BMW Ireland and KPMG Ireland Credit: @leonamaguire 6 The Solheim Cup star reckons she is getting back to top form Credit: @leonamaguire Instagram followers loved seeing her more fashionable side being debuted on the course while promoting this week's showpiece event on the Irish golfing calendar. Maddy hailed: "Absolutely slayyyy". In a similarly empowering message, Valerie Wheeler of Olivia branded her a "model" while Ana praised: "That jumpsuit with the red shoes is badass." The KPMG Women's Irish Open tees off today for the fourth year running since its 10-year hiatus. Read More On Irish Sport Maguire reckons she is hitting form at the right time as the 30-year-old has finished in the top 20 in her last two events. And Maguire — one of 16 Irish players in the field — said: 'It's always one of my favourite events of the year. "It's nice to be back at Carton House. I feel like my game has been shaping up quite nicely. "I feel I had a good run at KPMG PGA Women's Championship and then a slightly different format last week with the team event, but I feel I have some good momentum heading into this week. Most read in Golf 'It's nice to play in front of home fans and hopefully give them something to cheer about.' Maguire tees off at 9am, alongside Sweden's Anna Nordqvist and Clare amateur Áine Donegan. Shane Lowry and famous American singer are spotted in Dublin playing indoor golf together Last year 37,000 spectators flooded Carton House to set a record attendance for the event. Maguire was the highest Irish finisher in The pair will be joined by There will also be a record number of Irish players - 16 in total, including seven professionals and nine amateurs - competing in Kildare. 6 Her shoot also included a few indoor pics Credit: @leonamaguire 6 It's easy to see why the Kildare venue has five stars to its name Credit: @leonamaguire Maguire will be joined by fellow Irish competitors Olivia Mehaffey, Sara Byrne, Lauren Walsh, Annabel Wilson, Anna Foster, and Canice Screene. An Irish golfer is yet to win in the competition's 30-year history. When "Since it came back at Dromoland a couple of years ago (2022) the tournament has really elevated and built year-on-year. "We have increased numbers of spectators and obviously the increase in the number of top quality players coming over. "Anna Nordqvist, Charley Hull, they're a little bit taken aback when they see the number of Irish fans that come out. "Even this week I've had a few friends taking pictures beside Luas signs of me and it's a bit surreal at times. It's one of the pinnacle events and one of the premier events on the Ladies European Tour."
Irish Times
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Leona Maguire factor clear for all to see as 15 home-based players join her at Irish Open
The sprinkling of stardust at the KPMG Irish Open grows heavier. It is fair to say the tournament – which last year was acclaimed as the best on the Ladies European Tour (LET) – punches above its weight. This latest edition again has Leona Maguire as the headline act, with a supporting cast including Solheim Cup players and Major winners. Anna Nordqvist, Charley Hull, Madelene Sagstrom and Georgia Hall are among those Solheim Cup teammates of Maguire's providing star appeal. Lottie Woad, the world amateur number one, is playing on a sponsor's invitation in the tournament, which has a €450,000 purse. The O'Meara Course at Carton House, Co Kildare , is a worthy setting. Of the 132 players in the field, a record 16 – seven professional and nine amateurs – are Irish. It is, in many ways, a reflection of Maguire's pioneering impact. She has created history by becoming the first Irish player to win on the LPGA Tour and also on the LET. Now, a queue of players are keen to follow in her footsteps. READ MORE So far, an Irish Open has proven beyond Maguire's reach. 'It's always one of my favourite events of the year,' said Maguire. 'I feel like I have some good momentum heading into this week.' She is back on home soil after a stretch of events in the United States that, after a rough few weeks, brought improvements with back-to-back top-20s in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship and the Dow Championship. Those encouraging performances came after four missed cuts, but the 30-year-old Cavan woman wasn't letting the bad run get on top of her. 'I wasn't very concerned; I knew I'd been playing well,' she said. 'The LPGA [Tour] is very competitive. It's probably the most competitive it's ever been. And I felt like I actually played some good golf and just wasn't quite showing up as a scorecard, just tiny little things. It wasn't any major issue. 'That's the nice thing with golf. It's sometimes not as far away as you think it is, or it looks like from the outside. No matter if it's going well or not going well, you kind of have to stick to the same process, same routines. Trusting that the team behind the scenes have planned everything out, that we're working on the right things, are working in the right direction, even if the results sometimes don't quite click as fast as you'd like.' The days of Maguire appearing to carry the entire weight of home expectations into this tournament have passed. The arrival of Lauren Walsh, Anna Foster, Sara Byrne and Annabel Wilson into the professional ranks has helped grow interest in the sport. All of them are performing strongly on the LET after also emerging through the US collegiate ranks and Golf Ireland team programmes. Anna Foster tunes up for the Irish Open at the O'Meara course, Carton House. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho Byrne was a standout Curtis Cup player on last year's winning Great Britain and Ireland team against the United States before winning her LET card at Q-School. She has been named in one of the marquee groups for the opening two rounds alongside English duo Hull and Hall. Foster, the 23-year-old Dubliner, comes in on the back of a career-best fourth-place finish in the German Masters. She identified her ball-striking as a strength in her aim to make an impact with the benefit of home support. She said: 'In general, I'd say ball striking, being able to get it in play and find fairways and greens . . . that would be my strongest point. I can always fall back on that. Since turning pro I've been trying to work on my short game a lot and working on my mental game – probably the most important at this level. Everyone is really good at golf, at the same high standard. It is finding these tiny things each week that might give you an edge.' Walsh, of all, is the player probably most familiar with the O'Meara course as she is the touring professional at Carton House and will also have strong Kildare support from her home club Castlewarden. The seven Irish professionals competing are Maguire, Walsh, Foster, Byrne, Wilson, Canice Screene and Olivia Mehaffey. The nine Irish amateurs are Beth Coulter, Áine Donegan, Olivia Costello, Anna Dawson, Emma Fleming, Rebekah Gardner, Róisín Scanlon, Anna Abom and Marina Joyce Moreno.
NBC Sports
17-06-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Nordqvist up to 'challenge' as Solheim Cup captain
Anna Nordqvist joins Golf Central to discuss where her success in major championships stems from, what it means to captain the 2026 European Solheim Cup team, and how she is embracing the challenge.
Boston Globe
01-06-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Sweden's Maja Stark wins the US Women's Open for her first major championship
The 25-year-old Stark became the sixth Swede to win an LPGA major, and the first since Anna Nordqvist earned the Women's British Open title in 2021. Stark, who played at Oklahoma State from 2019-21, is the first Swede to win a US Women's Open since Annika Sorenstam in 2006. This is Stark's second LPGA title. She also won the 2022 ISPS Handa World Invitational, a Ladies European Tour event in Northern Ireland that was co-sanctioned with the LPGA Tour. Advertisement
RTÉ News
21-04-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Caroline Hedwall and Mel Reid named Europe's Solheim Cup vice-captains
Europe captain Anna Nordqvist has named Caroline Hedwall and Mel Reid as vice-captains for next year's Solheim Cup in the Netherlands. Hedwall has represented Europe as a player on five occasions, with Reid competing four times and also acting as vice-captain in 2019 and 2024. "If the Solheim Cup is happening, I want to be there for Europe in whatever way I can contribute," Reid said. "Some of my fondest core memories have been during a Solheim Cup week and in that European team room. I am honoured that Anna asked me to be one of her vice-captains." Europe will bid to regain the Solheim Cup from the United States at Bernardus Golf from 11-13 September 2026.
