Leona Maguire of Ireland plays a shot on the second hole during the first round of the CME Group Tour Championship 2024 at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Leona Maguire battled through a tough start to open with a three-under 69 in her bid for the biggest first prize in women’s golf at CME Group Tour Championship in southwest Florida.
The Co Cavan star (29) didn’t hit a green in regulation until the sixth hole in the $11 million season-ending event at Tiburon in Naples.
But a birdie four there, followed by three more at the 10th and the par-five 14th and 17th holes saw her cancel out a bogey at the fourth.
The Ballyconnell star, who has had just one top 10 finish on the LPGA Tour this season, is seeking a $4 million payday in an event where she was runner-up two years ago.
Her 69 left her inside the top 20, five strokes behind South Korea’s Narin An, who fired a bogey-free, eight-under 64 to lead by a shot in the clubhouse from American Angela Yin.
At The RSM Classic on the PGA Tour, European Ryder Cup star Ludvig Aberg endured a “rough” return to action in his first event since undergoing knee surgery in August.
The Swede made three birdies, three bogeys and a triple bogey seven in a three-over 73 in stiff winds on the Seaside Course at Sea Island in Georgia.
“Yeah, it was hard, obviously it was a rough day,” Aberg said. “It was a lot of rust I felt like, but I also felt like the good was pretty good but the bad was really bad.
“There’s some technical things that I’m working on in my swing. I want to load it a little bit better and that’s where that miss comes with the driver. Both times where I put myself in trouble today, it was off the tee.
“If I can fix those things and get a little bit better, I think tomorrow will be a little bit nicer.”
He was nine strokes behind Belgian talent Adrien Dumont de Chassart, who opened with a six-under 64 on the Seaside Course to set the early pace.
