One long Irish golfing wait has already come to an end this month, what chance a double as Leona Maguire aims to become Ireland's first female major winner at the Chevron Championship, which tees off today at Carlton Woods in Texas.
Rory McIlroy's career grand slam at the US Masters not only cemented itself as Ireland’s best-ever golfing moment, but it belongs in the pantheon of greats when it comes to sporting memories from this island.
There was a time when McIlroy's grand slam - or even another major - seemed only a matter of time. In the end, it took 11 years.
At the end of the 2022 season, it also seemed inevitable that Maguire would make history.
Over the two previous seasons, she had played nine majors and earned top 10 finishes in three of those - a tie for fourth at the '22 British Open her best return.
In 2023 there were no top-10 major finishes, but five cuts made and a tie for 11th in there too at the Women's PGA.
Last season though, alarm bells rang as Maguire's slump in form extended to the major scene. Five events played, missed cuts in three and not even close to contention in the other two.
It’s extended outside the major circuit too. The 2021 season brought a top-10 finish in every fifth event on the LPGA Tour, an incredible one in three the following year and just over one in three in 2023.
From 2024 to the run up to this first major of 2025, the 30-year-old has claimed one top-10 finish in 34 starts.
There were times when she found her best golf, such as winning the LET Aramco Team Series last July, but as of right now, there isn’t a serious case to be made for her being a live contender and Irish bookmakers have her priced around the 140/1 to 150/1 range.
Jeeno Thitikul and holder Nelly Korda share the favouritism ahead of the event, and understandably so.
Thailand’s great young hope Thitikul has been racking up the wins across numerous Tours ever since her first pro victory in 2017 – but her major hunt continues.
Her hunt for any victory in 2025 also continues, but five top-10 finishes in six events stresses just how consistently brilliant she has been.
She leads the LPGA this season in shots gained while her putting has been the seventh best on Tour. With a driving distance average of a more than acceptable 270.20 yards, she is well equipped for this 6911-yard beast, one of the longer courses these players will face.
Thitkul is an expected multiple major in waiting, but getting that first one is easier said than done, although six top-10 finishes over the last three seasons show she is putting herself there or thereabouts in major events.
Korda, of course, has no such issues with two majors already stacked away, including in this event last season which was her fifth straight tournament win – a phenomenal achievement.
The American doesn’t carry the same invincibility into the tournament as last year when her win seemed almost preordained, but she’ll be hard stopped.
While Korda was celebrating, it was here, at the Chevron, where Maguire missed her first major cut since the tail-end of 2020. She will need no reminding of that.
The player herself doesn’t feel her golf has gotten progressively worse, more so that those around her continue to reach new heights.
Maguire knows she has it in the locker and seven cuts made in eight events this season has allowed her to steady the ship if not send it full steam ahead.
It would take something incredibly special to come out on top of this stacked field, but Maguire remains a special golfer and if she starts hot on Day 1, then maybe those long odds will start to tumble and thoughts of a jump into 'Poppie’s Pond’ may become more realistic.
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