By: Max Bechtoldt
Ireland has far from the deepest group of players, but they do have a duo with a lot of Olympic experience. Both of the Irish players making their way to Paris in 2024 also played in Rio and Tokyo. This makes the Emerald Isle unique as the only country to send the same team to all three Olympic games. Meet here, the seemingly permanent, Olympic women’s golf team from Ireland:
LEONA MAGUIRE
Of course, when you think of women’s golf in Ireland, one name really stands above the rest. Leona Maguire has turned her all-time great college career into stardom on the LPGA Tour. It could be argued she has slightly underachieved, with just two victories on tour since her full-time start in 2020, but she has made her impact in other ways. Most notably, her prowess as a match play competitor. In the Solheim Cup, Maguire is 7-2-1, a record that I don’t think even does her performances justice. Maguire has become the star performer for Europe across her two appearances. Maguire has also made it at least to the semifinals of the Shadow Creek Match Play each of the last two seasons, including a runner-up finish in 2024. The No. 32 ranked player in the world has finished top-25 in her previous two Olympic appearances.
STEPHANIE MEADOW
I don’t think Meadow is likely the first name people would think of when the term three-time Olympian is used, but the Olympics are where she’s played some of her best golf. The 32-year-old from Northern Ireland has no wins on either the Ladies European Tour or the LPGA Tour, but did finish seventh in Tokyo. Despite a round one 72, she shot 66, 68, 66 on the final three days to get her within reach of the medal stand. Meadow’s other most prominent moment was at the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, where she was in strong position to win on the back nine Sunday. While Meadow’s 2023 season was relatively strong, with four top-20 finishes, she hasn’t captured that same success in 2024, missing five cuts in 11 starts with only one top 10.
