The Solheim Cup teams are all set with the finalization of the American team last week. Leading into the competition, we will rank all 24 players in the Solheim Cup for both teams, continuing with Leona Maguire
Ranking Leona Maguire must start first with addressing the elephant in the room. I do not care about what happened in 2024, where she was kept on the bench for three sessions and sat all day Saturday. This is a new team, a new year and a new captain. One who I think will use one of her best players properly.
In the same way Rose Zhang was viewed as the future of the United States Solheim Cup team, many viewed Maguire the same way for the Europeans. Heck, she was on the GB&I Curtis Cup team dating back to 2010, where she was facing off against Lexi Thompson and Jessica Korda, that despite being about the same age as her, are players we view from a completely different generation.
After a decorated amateur career playing for Duke, Maguire made her debut in the Solheim Cup in 2021, and it literally is impossible to find a better rookie showing. Maguire went out in all five matches and won 4.5 points, and was the main catalyst for the incredible upset on road soil. It was clear Maguire lived for this type of event and the energy and the fire that comes from the crowds.
Maguire wasn’t quite as great in 2023, but still performed well. Once again she went out in all five matches and notched a winning record at 3-2. Winning 7.5 points across the first two Solheim Cups you ever play in isn’t just impressive, its the type of stuff legends are made of.
Even in that strange 2024 Solheim Cup, Maguire performed pretty well. She got a win alongside Ally Ewing and in her fourball match alongside Georgia Hall, they ran into a complete and total buzzsaw like the rest of Europe did on that first day.
Maguire hasn’t played well for the most part this season. She does have three top-10 finishes, but those have been erratic and surrounded by missed cuts. Still, a player like Maguire deserves a lot of trust heading into a competition like this. For Nordqvist to use a captain’s pick on her, it tells me she trusts Maguire as well.
The biggest question to ask with a player like Leona Maguire, would you rather have her on your team or on your opponents team? I think the answer is pretty clear.
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