Leona Maguire is on the cusp of making history as she leads heading into the final round of action at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
Sitting on 7-under, the Cavan woman holds a one shot lead over Jenny Shin.
Two shots back is fellow Irishwoman Stephanie Meadow. The Antrim star is on 5-under par and will play alongside Maguire and Shin in the final group on Sunday.
Here's a look inside the life and career of Leona Maguire:
Rise to the top
From Ballyconnell in county Cavan, the 28-year-old enjoyed an incredibly successful amateur career in the United States.
She spent some 135 weeks as the number one ranked amateur in the world in two stints from May 2015 to May 2016 and then from August 2016 until February 2018.
Maguire turned professional in June 2018 and slowly began to work her way through the ranks on the professional circuit, but it's 2021 when she began to leave a real mark on the game.
In 2021, she broke inside the top 50 in the world as she consistently earned high finishes on the LPGA Tour.
that same year, she finished sixth place at the Evian Championship, her highest major finish in her career at that time.
And she shortly represented Ireland at the Tokyo Olympic Games
Solheim Cup and LPGA success
And it didn't stop there for Maguire as she then made history in September 2021 as the best ever rookie at the Solheim Cup.
She won 4.5 points, a record for a rookie, as Europe defeated the United States 15-13 in Ohio.
Maguire was nominated for the RTE Sportsperson of the Year after her Solheim Cup exploits and has carried her fine form into the 2022 season.
A groundbreaking moment followed for Maguire as she became the first every Irish golfer to win an LPGA tournament last February.
Maguire had three strokes to spare as she the Ladies Professional Golf Association’s Drive On Championship, and earned almost €200,000 in prize money for her troubles.
The win catapulted her into the top 20 in the world rankings and solidifies her status as Ireland's greatest ever female golfer.
After a number of close finishes, including a fourth placed finish at the British Open last year, Leona took home the win in the LPGA Meijer Classic last week to pick up her second victory on tour.
Family life
Maguire's twin sister Lisa is also a talented golfer, who ranked as high as 10th in the amateur world rankings in a successful career.
Like Leona, Lisa also turned professional in June 2018, but retired in November 2019 after struggling to develop a new swing to compete with other professionals.
And their dad Declan has spoken about how their late grandmother Marian - who died last September - played a part in Leona's success in Florida earlier this month.
Dad Declan said: “We all think she [Leona’s granny] had a hand in last Saturday.”
Mum Breda – Marian’s daughter –added: “That’s what Leona said too. It was my birthday and she said, ‘I’m sure granny had a hand in getting this lovely present for mammy this year’.”
A framed photo of Marian with her identical twin granddaughters, Leona and Lisa and their brother Odhran, sits pride of place on a coffee table in the sitting room of their bungalow.
Leona and Lisa were both marked out as golfing prodigies from the age of 10, and Marian was their greatest supporter – saying decades of the rosary for their success.
Schoolteacher Declan said: “She used to say, ‘If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be’ but she made sure to say the rosaries anyway and light all the candles to be sure – she’s definitely saying them up above too.”
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