Ireland’s Leona Maguire says she is targeting more time near the top of major leaderboards next season after having played her part in a “phenomenal year for Irish women in sport” in 2021.

“I think it’s been a phenomenal year for Irish women in sport,” she said.

“I think we’ve taken the 20×20 campaign and ran with it.”

Maguire, who turned 27 on Tuesday, added: “We’ve put it into action and shown, given the right opportunity, what our female athletes can achieve, not just on a national level but on a global stage.”

While Maguire was unable to clinch her first LPGA Tour title, she enjoyed a stellar 2021, jumping from 177 to 43rd in the world rankings after posting five top-10 finishes, including that strong showing at the Evian Championship – her highest finish in a major – in July, which she secured with courtesy of a stunning final-round 61.

The two-time Symetra Tour winner also competed at the Olympics for the second time and produced a superb performance on her Solheim Cup debut, winning four and a half points from her five matches, a record for a rookie, as Europe beat the United States 15-13 in Ohio.

With her star on the rise, the Cavan golfer spoke of how she can relate to Katie McCabe after listening to the Republic of Ireland captain talk about dreaming of playing football at the highest level after going to games with her dad when she was younger.

“It doesn’t matter what the sport is, I think we can all identify with that,” said Maguire, who is planning to spend three weeks at home over the Christmas break.

“I remember going to Irish Opens with my dad when I was younger and going to watch the Solheim Cup at Killeen Castle in 2011, getting to play in Irish Opens myself and watching Michelle Wie and Suzann Pettersen and hoping I’d be like them.”

Maguire also spoke of being inspired by Irish boxer Kellie Harrington’s gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and said she was heartened to see how many people were talking about women’s golf after her Solheim Cup experience.

“That was the thing with the Solheim Cup. I didn’t just want to go there and take part.

“I wanted to do my very best and contribute in a meaningful way and that was the special thing – after I came home from the Solheim, seeing people talk about it having watched it.

“People that normally wouldn’t watch golf, or watch women’s golf, were watching it and chatting about it and suddenly people were experts on it.

“It was fun for me to see people excited about it, and people from all walks of life and all ages – older men, little boys, little girls, which is something I’ve never really experienced before, in terms of me playing anyway.”

Major focus for 2022

Having signed off her season with a tie for 12th at the LPGA Tour Championship, Maguire says she is looking forward to some downtime after a “hectic” past few months.

And while she is yet to discuss goals for 2022 with her team, she admits the majors will form a big part of her focus heading into the new year after securing three top-15 finishes this term.

“I think the majors are something that I’ll definitely be targeting,” she said. “I got my first top 10 in a major at the Evian Championship so I’d like to be in contention a little bit more in those next year while also putting myself in contention in the regular tour events.

“It was a very consistent year, a lot of top 20s this year so hoping for more top 10s next year, and just working my way up that way.

“It’s hard to focus on the outcomes too much. There’s a lot of great players on the LPGA and ultimately I can’t control what they do, so all I can control is what I do.”

While her 2021 season was largely positive, Maguire did endure a few “low points”, namely at the LPGA Match-Play in May where she missed out on a last-16 spot, but she remains proud of how she bounced back from that disappointment to produce her best form over the summer.

“Yeah I think you learn different things from all those different experiences,” Maguire reflected.

“You draw on them at different times and things like Evian are great confidence boosters, but at the same time when things don’t go as well, it’s time for a bit of a reality check to see what’s not working and what needs attention.

“It’s a long season and it’s not always plain sailing so I’m happy with how I was able to reset and go again. Couple of weeks after that [Vegas] was my best stretch of the year, so I’m proud with how I dealt with all that and put into action rather than ruminating and letting it spiral down.”