2020 Tokyo Olympics | On a Roll

Growing up in Ireland, Leona Maguire felt her only path to the Olympic Games was as a swimmer. It wasn't until the summer heading into her sophomore year at Duke that she captured a European amateur golf championship and became a member of the Irish Olympic team, playing in the first-ever Olympic golf competition in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Five years later, Maguire's outstanding play once again has placed her into the Summer Games in Tokyo.

"The Olympics is the biggest sporting event in the world and any time you get to represent your country it is a huge honor," explained the native of County Cavan, Ireland. "The Olympic Games is something only a few people have ever said they have done. It's an incredible privilege to be there competing against the best in the world."

It is not surprising the former Duke golfer earned a spot to represent Ireland at another Olympics. The 26-year old member of the LPGA Tour has been winning golf tournaments since she was nine years old, continued to be very successful on the course in college and is off to an excellent start as a professional.

The 2018 Duke graduate was three-time ACC player of the year and owns the all-time record for weeks (135) at No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. Now, in just her second full year on the LPGA, she is having her best season as a professional. She is ranked 16th on the LPGA money list and has carded three straight top-15 finishes. Maguire owns a runnerup finish at the Meijer LPGA Classic and the LOTTE Championship, along with six additional top-16 placements.
Maguire will be joined at the Olympics by another Blue Devil, Celine Boutier — two of 60 golfers to compete Aug. 4-7 at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan.

Boutier will make her first appearance in the Olympics for France and has been one of the hottest golfers on the LPGA Tour over the last four months. She currently ranks 32nd on the LPGA Tour money list and has finished in the top-8 of her last three tournaments. A 2016 Duke graduate, she owns seven top-20 finishes on the season. Her highest finish of the year came at the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship, where she tied for fifth. Her incredible summer run also features a tie for 35th at the U.S. Women's Open, a tie for seventh at the KPMG PGA Championship and a tie for eighth at the Volunteers of America Classic in Texas.

"Really excited about having the opportunity to play in the Olympics and represent France," said Boutier. "It happens every four years, so you don't have that many chances to play in it, so it is very special."

Boutier is just the second Duke women's golfer to capture an LPGA Tour title, capturing the 2019 Handa Vic Open. (Brittany Lang was the first Blue Devil to capture a tour event as well as being the only Duke golfer to ever win a U.S. Open title.)

"The Olympics is like another major where you really want to play well," said Boutier. "But I try to look at it as just another tournament, take it one round at a time and try not to put pressure on myself," she added. "Having fun and enjoying playing are real keys to my game."

Boutier is no stranger to golf on the international stage. She has won several international amateur events including the 2012 European Ladies Amateur Championship and the 2015 British Ladies Amateur.

As a Blue Devil she won four individual events and helped the team to an NCAA title in 2014, the same year she was the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WCGA) Player of the Year and won the Honda Sports Award for golf. In late 2014 and early 2015, Boutier was the No. 1 woman in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. In September of 2014, as an amateur she finished 29th at the Evian Championship, an LPGA major in her home country.

Boutier admitted to truly enjoying her time at Duke while learning quite a bit about golf.

"It was a great stepping-stone for me, coming from France and having a chance to learn about American golf courses. Playing different types of grass and playing against the top amateurs helped me improve my game," she explained.
Since her days at Duke, Boutier has made a steady climb up the professional ladder.

"I have really enjoyed the process of improving my game," said Boutier, a member of the Solheim Cup team in 2016. "The changes in my swing, improving, the fact I have learned to take it one day at a time, my support system, that is key for me. All of those factors play into my golf game."

This will mark the second straight Olympic appearance for Maguire, who finished tied for 21st in 2016 at Rio.

"I really wasn't expecting to be in the Olympics in 2016, so I was just delighted to be there," she explained. "This time is different. I have a year-and-a-half of professional golf on the LPGA, which will help me. The postponement from last year actually helped me as well as I was able to improve and compete against most of the top golfers in the world on the tour."

Maguire played some of the best golf of her career at the recent KPMG PGA championship with a tie for 15th, her best finish in a major so far. She also hit a significant milestone in hard cash, as she broke through the half-million barrier in prize money for the season ($539,107).

She attributes a great deal of her success to her time at Duke, when she learned to compete both in and out of the classroom.

"Learning from those around me was my greatest experience at Duke," she noted. "Being at Duke you were always surrounded by people better than you. On the golf team, in the classroom — everyone always seemed to be doing something well, great accomplishments in whatever their field was. That pushed me to do better."

She is now taking those lessons and applying them to the next step in her career as a professional golfer, which includes handling not only crucial putts, but adoring fans as well.

"It's a little bit crazy to be in my shoes right now with people coming up asking for pictures and autographs," Maguire said. "I actually met a little girl at the Meijer LPGA Classic that was also named Leona. It's a privileged position we're in as professional athletes. You try and inspire people as much as you can. Still, ultimately it is about being yourself and conveying what I do and what I do best and working hard at helping them in whatever way I can, whether that's if they want to be golfers, or if it's in school, or if you're going to be a doctor or a lawyer or whatever."

Her quiet demeanor sometimes overshadows her steely determination and confidence. Playing a busy tour schedule, Maguire has found herself climbing up the leaderboard week after week.

"My first rookie year wasn't anything like what we were expecting," she said. "There was supposed to be a lot of new countries, a lot of new events, and all of that. The schedule got changed quite a few times, but it was nice to have that second half of the year to find my footing a little bit, travel, get to see some of the golf courses, figure out how the LPGA works and how many events I want to play in a row, that sort of thing."

This will mark the second straight Olympics that Duke women's golf will have two representatives compete, as Laetitia Beck joined Maguire in 2016 and tied for 31st representing her home country of Israel.

Credit: Johnny Moore, GoDuke the Magazine

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2020 Tokyo Olympics | On a Roll

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