By Kent Gray
From amateur superstardom to the summit of the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic leaderboard. Welcome to the astronomical talent that is Leona Maguire.

In just her 17th round as a Ladies European Tour player, the former world amateur No.1 carded a sizzling eight-under-par 64 on Wednesday for the Faldo course record and a two-stroke lead over Germany’s Olivia Cowan after the opening round of the 54-hole Pro-Am.

The 24-year-old Irishwoman banished any fears that playing under floodlights might be a disadvantage in pro golf’s first day-night event with a flurry of nine birdies. It could have been even better save for a bogey on the par-4 14th but that was a mere blip as Maguire continued her meteoric rise under the Faldo’s equally bright LED lights.

After spending a record 135 weeks at the summit of the World Amateur Golf Rankings, Maguire turned professional on June 5 last year. She entered the paid ranks with a pro world ranking of 614 but has soared a staggering 377 places to No.237 in the intervening 10 and a bit months.

Illustration by Clarkwin Cruz

Followers of the LET might not have seen the 64 coming after last week’s Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco where Maguire stuttered to a share of 46th place with rounds of 76-71-79-74. But don’t be fooled. Earlier in April the twin – her sister Lisa shot a three over 75 here yesterday – claimed her maiden pro title and a $22,500 payday with it at the Windsor Golf Classic on the Symetra Tour, the feeder to the LPGA.

It seems her stocks are only going in, ahem, One Direction: Maguire signed with the golf management company part-owned by boy-band heartthrob Niall Horan when she relinquished her amateur status.

“I guess I just need to play at 3 o’clock and then in darkness… that’s the way to go for me,” said Maguire whose career-best round was a 62 playing collegiate golf for Duke University.

“I had no idea I was on track for something like that [the course record 64. I was just trying to hit as many greens and fairways as I could. I struggled with my irons in Morocco and talked about it with my coach back at home and we obviously found something that was working pretty well today.”

Indeed. Maguire nearly holed-in-one on the 8th – “I hit a 7-iron and it looked in all the way and was literally this far short [roughly two inches] – and converted all of her “close range to tap-in” birdie attempts before rolling in a 25-footer on 18 to put an exclamation mark on her round.

So what happened on 14? “I hit it through the fairway and got a flyer out the back. That was when the lights were coming on and I misjudged the chip.

“I adjusted quite quickly [to the lights], actually. It was a lot better than I thought. The lights went on when we were on 13 and 13, 14 were a little tricky. But I played the last four holes really nicely. It seems like night golf suits me.”

Cowan, meanwhile, rattled off seven birdies in her opening round but dropped a late shot en-route to her still impressive 66. A shot further back of The JA The Resort-sponsored 22-year-old is Spaniard Nuria Iturrios who signed for a 67 to show no hint of any hangover from her victory in Rabat last week.

German Karolin Lampert was the star of the morning shotgun, establishing the course record with a bogey-free 68 courtesy of a conservative game plan that looked sage until Maguire got into her stride.

“I was just making sure I had good numbers, especially on the par fives, because I wasn’t sure if I could get there in two, so I laid up,” said Lampert. “I didn’t make any mistakes. I missed one green and made up and down but didn’t hole too many putts. I’m really happy though because the greens are playing quite tough. I think if you drive it well then you get a lot of opportunities. It gives you a lot of chances if you hit good shots.”

Just ask Maguire who was a major contributor to the 28 pros who played in the afternoon/evening shotgun returning a combined stroke average of 72.03, more than a shot better than the morning starters. Imagine what Maguire might do in broad daylight.