Leona Maguire became the most successful rookie of all time as Europe won golf's Solheim Cup last night.
The visitors beat the USA 15-13 in Ohio to retain the trophy. The Cavan native collected four-and-a-half points from a possible five over the three days.
Maguire led the early charge. The debutant swatted aside Jennifer Kupcho aside, 5&4. Maguire eagled the par five second and never looked back. Maguire carried a nine-wood to devastating effect at the Inverness course. After winning, when it was her turn to hold aloft the trophy, loud chants of ''MVP'', ''MVP'', ''MVP'' boomed around the 18th.
She says it was a memorable experience.
''Its been an incredible week. It was a dream come true to be here but to go and win a Solheim cup on American soil is just.... I mean you can't even imagine. We've had a phenomenal team this week from top to bottom and this is an experience I'll probably never forget.''
The result also means that Catriona Matthews becomes Europe's first-ever two-time winning captain.
Leona says she will take confidence from her Solheim Cup performance.
The 26-year-old said she exceeded her own expectations.
''Never in my wildest dreams did I think that the week was going to go this way. It's been an honour to represent Europe and the trust that all the captains in the team had in me was incredible. Its given me an incredible confidence boost and I wouldn't have been able to do it without them.''
Leona's jubilant sister Lisa told SKY “I knew Leona is incredible, everyone at home knew Leona is incredible, now the whole world gets to see how incredible she really is. We couldn’t be more proud of her.”
A little more @leona_maguire magic 🪄#SolheimCup pic.twitter.com/IIzQtSBVlS
— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) September 6, 2021
Anyone need putting tips?!
Just call @leona_maguire 📲🇪🇺#SolheimCup pic.twitter.com/v2y9MCvi9E
— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) September 6, 2021
.@leona_maguire secures the win & puts the first point of the day on the board for #TeamEurope #SolheimCup pic.twitter.com/MA4UaDoHzS
— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) September 6, 2021
