Leona Maguire calls for more prize money in Irish Open to close pay gap with men’s event

"We’re only playing for a fraction of what the guys are playing for."

The first and only Irish woman to win on the LPGA Tour - who was central to the resurrection of the Women's Irish Open in 2022 after a 10-year hiatus - has criticised the fact that the winner of this year's competition will win a "fraction" of what the winner of the male event will likely take home the following month.

The prize purse for first place at this weekend's Women's Irish Open will take home €400,000, while the winner of next month's Amgen Irish Open at Royal County Down - which will feature the likes of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry - will leave with a whopping €6 million.

Over 40,000 golf fans are expected to descend on Carton House in County Kildare today for the four-day tournament. Thirteen Irish players will be in the field, including Maguire who has had a “mixed” year, missing the cut in three of the five Majors and finished last in the Olympics due to illness.

"There’s always improvements to be made," the 29-year-old said. "I mean, we’re only playing for a fraction of what the guys are playing for.

"We’re playing for 400 grand this week. They’re playing for nearly $4 million in Boston this week on the LPGA so it was a choice to be here. So there’s always improvements you’re always trying to make year on year."

She continued: "The quality of the golf courses has been fantastic, obviously Dromoland and Carton this year, and KPMG’s support backing this event has given it a lot of gravity and a lot of weight; both the purse and the schedule is a big part of getting that world class field which I feel like this event deserves.

An Irish win this week would be a huge boost for the event, and the Cavan native is looking to turn a good year into a great one, starting this week.

When asked by the Irish Independent what a win at her home event would mean to her, she replied: "Incredibly special, every golfer wants to win their national open.

"The pieces are all there. I’m just trying to get them to click all at once. So, you never know, this might be the week."

The status of the women's game has risen exponentially in the last few years, thanks to the success of players like Maguire, Nelly Korda and Charley Hull.

According to the National Golf Foundation, from 2020 to 2022, more than 800,000 American women took up the sport to bring the total to 6.4 million female golfers.

While the number of female golfers rose about 15 percent, the male golf pool increased by just 2 percent in the same time frame.