LEONA MAGUIRE

 

Leona Maguire has followed a breakthrough year in 2021 with another in 2022.

Her first win on the LPGA Tour in the Drive On Championship in February was a first for any Irish Golfer, backing up her Player of the Tournament performance in last year’s Solheim Cup.

She signed an extension of four years to her long-term partnership with KPMG in January and then added a role as Touring Professional at the K Club in April.

Perhaps the greatest measure of her influence though was her crucial participation in the KPMG Women’s Irish Open at Dromoland Castle in September.

Back on the schedule after a ten-year gap, Maguire’s taking part triggered even greater levels of TV and media interestfor in the event, and a record crowd for a regular Ladies European Tour event, with almost 30,000 fans in attendance over the four days.

Managed by Niall Horan’s Modest! Golf management and now ranked 18th in the World, she has been sure-footed in terms of her performance on and off the course and still has the potential to go higher again at the forefront of Irish and European Women’s Golf.

 

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This is the tenth edition of our Sport for Business listing of 50 Women of Influence in Irish Sport.

Read more about the list and nominate who you think should be a part of it in 2022.

We are proud to do so again this year with AIG, an organisation that has pledged its commitment to equality in its partnerships with Gaelic Games, Tennis, Golf and more, for whom “Effort is Equal” and with whom we have ambitious plans to extend the reach of this annual celebration of the Women who are making a difference.

This year’s list will be drawn as before from the worlds of leadership, partnership, storytelling and performance.

We began this journey in 2013 when challenged that we would never be able to produce a list of twenty Influential Women in Irish Sport. The 20 stretched to 30, then 40 and 50 and it still does not do justice to the talent that is out there.

This year once more, to keep things fresh we will introduce at least 30 per cent of fresh names from last year. That will be the hardest part to have some names replaced but if it was too easy it would be of less value.

The list we will build over the coming weeks is a snapshot of those women who are making a mark on how sport is played, consumed, grown and delivered.

They are part of making the role of women in sport unexceptional by being exceptional in what they do.