Leona Maguire inside top-10 at Irish Open after steady opening round

Leona Maguire has placed herself inside the top-10 after the first round of the KPMG Women's Irish Open following a tidy three-under par round of 70 at Carton House.

Maguire, the main attraction for the galleries in Maynooth, sits just two strokes adrift of the leaders after a bogey-free opening round as she seeks a second victory on the Ladies European Tour and a first on home soil.

The Cavan woman registered all three of her birdies on par-5s at the par-73 O'Meara course, which is hosting an Irish Open for the first time - its brother layout, the adjacent Montgomerie course, having hosted the men's Irish Open three times in 2005, 2006 and 2013.

Maguire made a fine start with a birdie at the par-5 opener. Another followed at the sixth but she had to wait to the penultimate hole to climb onto -3. Impeded by a tree at finding the first cut at the 18th, she cut a beautiful hybrid into the front of the green and made sure of a closing par.

The two-time LPGA Tour winner heads the Irish challenge, sitting only two shots behind the leading trio - Italy's Alessandra Fanali, Finland's Ursula Wikstroem and Spain's Luna Sobron Galmes.

Wikstroem, still seeking a first Tour win at the age of 43, briefly held the lead on her own after six birdies in her opening 12 holes. However, a bogey on 14 brought her back level with Fanali on five-under and a birdie-bogey finish saw her card 68.

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Of the 13-strong Irish contingent at Carton House, a grouping which contains eight amateurs, four are currently under-par.

Maguire's fellow pro Olivia Mehaffey carded a one-under 72, as did the in-form Dublin amateur Anna Abom, playing out of the Edmonstown club, who, starting on the back nine, birdied the 13th and 14th to get off to a