Leona Maguire finds inspiration in Ireland's Olympians after 'mixed' year

Leona Maguire says she hopes to feed off the inspiration of Ireland's Olympic heroes as she heads into the closing stretch of the 2024 season.

Maguire tees off shortly before 2pm on Thursday at the O'Meara Course at Carton House as the KPMG Women's Irish Open comes to the Kildare venue for the first time.

She returns to home soil after a patchy year, in which she made history by becoming the first Irish player to win on the Ladies European Tour in London last month, but also struggled in the majors, failing to make the cut in three.

However, the two-time LPGA Tour winner is remaining patient and saw evidence of green shoots in her performance at the Women's Open in St Andrews last week.

"It's been a mixed year," Maguire told RTÉ Sport's Greg Allen on Wednesday. "Obviously, I didn't contend in the majors the way I'd like to. But that's golf.

"I've been working on a few things. Some of it's worked. Some of it hasn't.

"You just try and keep plugging away. You never know when it's going to turn.

"You see that with Keegan Bradley last week on the PGA Tour. He just got into the FedEx and then won. So, you never know when something really great is around the corner.

"Ultimately, all I can do is keep working as hard as I can and keep having a really good attitude. And try to keep being inspired by the heroics of our great athletes in Paris a few weeks ago."

World class.