Leona Maguire has officially being confirmed as a Tokyo 2020 Olympian as the Irish team were confirmed today.
Stephanie Meadow will join Maguire in the women’s competition, Rory McIllroy and Shane Lowry are selected for the men’s team.
Tokyo 2020 will be Maguire’s second Olympics having competed at Rio 2016.
“Rio was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had” explained Maguire. “The Olympics is the biggest sporting event in the world, and to represent Ireland on the stage like that is an incredible honour”.
“I’m really looking forward to Tokyo. Golf is massive in Asia and particularly Japan. It will be my first time in Japan, and hopefully I can take the experiences that I had in Rio and build on it” added Maguire.
“In Rio I played well, but I think I was caught up in the experience of it, and was happy to be there. But I’m a little more dialled in for Tokyo, and I’m trying to finish as high up that leader board as I can.”
The golf venue is the Kasumigaseki Country Club on the outskirts of Tokyo city, and the tournament runs from Thursday 29 July until Saturday 7 August 2021.
The men’s event is the first on the golf schedule, and will feature Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, both of whom are in action this week at the Irish Open.
Lowry is heading into his first Olympics, and with his brother as Caddy, he is looking forward to competing in the Games,
“It is starting to be real. We played the US Open recently, so were really focused on that. And then all of a sudden it’s ‘wow, the Olympics is actually pretty close,’ so it’s very exciting”.
“It’s such an exciting experience to go through all the gear” declared Lowry, “everybody knows how patriotic I am, so to have your own gear with our team logo on it is pretty cool!”
“Obviously Rory is going to be one of the favourites there, if not the favourite going into the tournament, so I’d be doing my best to beat him to the gold medal!”
“Bu then you’ve got Leona and Stephanie there as well – Leona’s form over the past few weeks has been amazing. I think as a team if we brought back a couple of medals it would be amazing. For me growing up I never thought I would play the Olympics or be an Olympian, so to be able to go there and to stand on the podium with Amhrán na bhFiann would be a dream come true. It would just be cool to bring the medal back to Ireland.”
Player bios:
Shane Lowry; Date of Birth: 2 April 1987
Hailing from Clara, Co. Offaly, Shane Lowry will compete at his first Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Playing on the European and PGA Tours, his notable achievements include winning the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009 and the 2015 World Golf Championship – Bridgestone Invitational, however the highlight of his career thus far has been becoming a Major Champion, winning the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
Lowry finished T4 at the second Major Championship of 2021, the PGA Championship, and has carded 3 additional top 10 results this season.
Rory McIlroy, Date of Birth: 4 May 1989
Bio: Rory McIlroy is a four-time Major Champion and former world number one, having spent over 100 weeks at the top of the official World Golf Rankings.
McIlroy has represented Europe, Great Britain & Ireland, and Ireland as both an amateur and a professional and will make his debut Olympic appearance in Tokyo.
His 2021 season to date has seen him win the Wells Fargo Championship on the PGA Tour with T5 & T6 results at the Masters and World Golf Championship – Workday Championship respectively.
Leona Maguire; Date of Birth: 30 November 1994
Bio: Maguire competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics, finishing 21st overall and as leading amateur. Before turning Professional in 2018, Maguire, who is from Co. Cavan, spent 135 weeks as World Amateur Ranked number one.
Winning prestigious championships such as the Women’s Amateur Championship, the Irish Women’s Close Championship and winning a bronze medal with Ireland at the World Amateur Team Championships in 2016.
With two Professional wins under her belt on the LPGA Symetra Tour, Leona joined the LPGA Tour as a Rookie in 2020. Since then, she has climbed to 63rd in the Rolex World Rankings with 2nd place finishes at the Lotte Championship and Meijer LPGA Classic so far in 2021.
Stephanie Meadow; Date of Birth: 20 January 1992
Bio: Meadow becomes a two-time Olympian having competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics. As an Amateur at Alabama, Meadow became the Crimson Tide's first four-time first-team All-American.
She left Alabama as the career record holder in most every category. Turning Professional in 2014, Meadow won her first LPGA Symetra Tour tournament at the 2018 IOA Championship in a playoff.
She finished sixth on the Symetra Tour money list, thus earning her LPGA Tour Card for 2019. In August 2019, she won the ISPS Handa World Invitational at Galgorm Castle, just a stone’s throw from her home town of Jordanstown.
In the first Major Championship of 2021, the ANA Inspiration, Stephanie finished T19.
