LEONA MAGUIRE AND Stephanie Meadow say they will take the positives from their Olympic golf experience, having both put themselves in contention this week.
Meadow finished seventh at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama after her fantastic final-day charge fell just short. She carded an impressive 66 today, finishing four shots off the medals on 12-under.
While USA superstar and world number one Nelly Korda took gold, Leona Maguire finished in a tie for 23rd on five-under after a challenging second half to the event which threw up “a few bad breaks”.
But as she said, “That’s sport, that’s golf, that’s life,” and she’ll take the positives.
“It was a bit of an up-and-down day,” the Cavan woman told RTÉ Sport’s Jacqui Hurley after today’s final round.
“I got off to a rough start but really proud of how I hung in. I played some really great golf on the back nine so I’ll take the positives from this week. There was flashes of gold-medal golf in there, just not enough of it.
'There were flashes of gold medal golf, just not enough of it' - @leona_maguire's assessment of her week as she finished in a tie for 23rd on -5#tokyo2020 #olympics #golf #rtesport
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 7, 2021
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“The Olympic spirit is not give up, keep trying until the very end and I felt like I did that this week even though I probably didn’t play my best golf. It’s still been a great experience and I’m proud to call myself a two-time Olympian.
“It’s been a great week, I’ve really enjoyed being in the village and getting to cheer on all the other athletes,” she added.
“The support from home has been phenomenal, that’s been the coolest part of this; seeing all the pictures and videos from home of people with flags in their garden and posters.”
Jordanstown native Meadow was similarly upbeat in her interview after a strong finish.
“Very happy,” she beamed. “It was a very solid day for me. I had lots of looks at it and made some putts, and it was nice to finish with a par on the last after a bad drive.
“It was a nice way to finish, and it was an incredible week. An incredible experience. Hats off to everyone involved. Despite Covid, it was still one of the greatest experiences of my life.”
Further detailing the Olympic experience in general, she continued: “I think the biggest thing is the recognition from home. So many people have called or text, people that I haven’t heard from in years. People from Belfast High who I haven’t talked to since I was 13 are tweeting about it.
'One of the greatest experiences of my life,' was how @StephMeadow20 described this week's golf, which saw her finish seventh on -12#tokyo2020 #olympics #golf #rtesport
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 7, 2021
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“The Olympics is such a grand stage, it’s an opportunity to grow the game, I think we’ve done that. Five years ago in Rio, we finished 20th and 30th. I think we were pretty okay with that, and now we’ve come so far. It just shows how much both of us are improving.”
Maguire made similar comments when discussing the excellent efforts of all four Irish golfers in Tokyo after Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry’s bids last weekend.
“Obviously the boys had really good chances. It was a shame to see Rory miss out in that playoff. Hopefully we’ve recruited a few new fans and golfers this week. On the ladies side, we’ve got a couple of big weeks coming up with the Scottish Open and British Open.
“Hopefully the people that were following us this week can keep following us along. We’ve still got quite a big season in the tank.”
After playing “probably some of the best golf of my life last week,” while equalling the lowest Major score with stunning 61 at the Evian Championship, Maguire is now focused on that major breakthrough on the world stage.
“It’s close, I just need a few things to click together at the right time,” she said, thanking the team around her. “My game’s in really good shape, I’m really happy with how the year’s going so far and hopefully we can have a strong second half to the season.”
And Meadow is hoping for the same, taking hope and confidence from her exploits in the Land of the Rising Sun.
“It’s something I can build off for the next few weeks and the rest of the season,” she concluded. “The interesting part about this week is all you think about is top-three. Maybe that should be the mentality I go into every tournament with, you never know!”
Bernard Jackman and Murray Kinsella are joined by Craig Ray on The42 Rugby Weekly to preview the deciding third Lions Test on Saturday.
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