Leona Maguire: Europe Solheim Cup star embracing Irish sporting role model status

Niall Horan's involvement in this week ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland was always going to swell the gate, but Leona Maguire has been giving the pop star a run for his money in the popularity stakes.

Horan's every utterance on the first tee at Galgorm Castle as he and pro-am partner Robbie Keane were about to hit their tee shots elicited excited responses from his young female fans.

But Europe Solheim Cup star Maguire, 27, was also much in demand for photographs and autographs and she granted every request in matching up to the role model status that she now occupies in Irish sport.

The Irish public love their sporting stars but reserve particular affection for the females that bestride the world stage.

Was there ever a more popular Irish sporting icon than Sonia O'Sullivan? So big in Irish terms, that she became known as simply 'Sonia', with mention of her surname unnecessary.

Another athlete Ciara Mageean, whose most recent success was a Commonwealth Games 1500m silver medal on Sunday, has started to occupy similar territory, with her openness in showing her emotions, even when things are going wrong on the track, endearing her to a nation.

This week's World Invitational at Galgorm Castle and Massereene sees men and women's professionals playing for equal prize money in DP World Tour and co-sanctioned LPGA and Ladies European Tour events.

But Maguire has been the face occupying the centre of all the tournament billboards which have been springing up all over Northern Ireland.

A fundamentally reserved individual, Maguire admits the attention is sometimes a little hard to take in, such as a recent meeting with a young fan who informed her that she had taken 'Leona' as her confirmation name when receiving the Catholic sacrament.

"It's an Irish tradition, people take a saint's name for their confirmation," smiled the Cavan woman.

"Leona is definitely not a saint's name. It's a little bit surreal."

But after not having any Irish women's professional golfers to look up to as she fell in love with the sport, Maguire feels a responsibility to embrace her role model status.

"For me there were no Irish players on the LPGA, so it was Padraig Harrington and Tiger and those guys, getting to watch them and getting to follow Padraig around in Irish Opens and Paul McGinley, and Rory [McIlroy] and Shane [Lowry] in later years.

"It's big that there's an event here that little kids can come and watch and get a glimpse into what they might want to do in the future. It becomes more real than if it was just on TV."

Maguire also believes the symbolism of the equal prize funds of £1.26m that will again be up for grabs in the Northern Ireland event is important.

"There's obviously usually a big gap between men's and women's prize funds so to be playing for the same money is massive.

"It's also about equal access to the venues and the same resources.

"The crowds will be exposed to the men and the women and get to appreciate the value in both. Overall it's a win-win."

After her stunning Solheim Cup debut last September as she notched 4.5 points from five games, Maguire's immediate target heading into 2022 was securing a first LPGA victory.

The Irishwoman didn't have to wait long as she triumphed at the Drive On Championship in February and she went close to another win as she lost a play-off in June with her summer also including top-10 finishes at both the US Women's Open and last weekend's Women's Open at Muirfield, where she shared fourth place after a closing 66.

"I put in a lot of hard work over the off-season and it was nice to come out of the gates quite quick this year," Maguire told BBC Sport Northern Ireland.

"I came up just a little bit short in the play-off in the Meijer Classic, but contending in the US Open and British Open and getting those two top-10s was huge."

This week's event sees Maguire tee up in Ballymena 15 years after playing in her first professional tournament in nearby Templepatrick when she and twin sister Lisa - as 12-year-olds - became the youngster participants in Ladies European Tour history when they competed at the then Northern Ireland Open

"We were rabbits in the headlights that week but it was a fantastic experience getting to play against some of the best golfers in the world and test our games at that point," she recalled.

This week, Lisa will be on Leona's bag after ending her own professional career in 2019 as the world number 17 continues her golfing odyssey.

"That was always the dream. The goal was always to be a professional golfer and to try and be playing against the best players in the world, week-in, week-out, but there are no guarantees in life, no guarantees in sport.

"A lot of people have helped me out along the way. A lot of hard work has gone in behind the scenes, nice to be here and be part of a busy LPGA schedule that's been going pretty nicely this year."