LEONA MAGUIRE CARDED an underwhelming, three-over 74 in the first round of the LPGA La Championship at Wilshire Country Club.

Maguire sits outside the top 100 after the first day’s play, fully 10 shots off leader Linnea Johansson, after a day marred by two double bogeys, one of which came on the par-five 15th.

Stephanie Meadow found better form, shooting a one-under 70 to leave her in a tie for 33rd place. 

Sweden’s Linnea Johansson leads after a superb seven-under par 64. 

Johansson, ranked 358th in the world, hadn’t made a cut in two prior starts this season, but she was on-target on Thursday as she hit 14 of 14 fairways and 15 greens in regulation.

“(I) played fearless golf today and really went after a lot of pins and managed to hit them very close and roll in the putts,” Johansson said after a round that featured seven birdies without a bogey. “I actually managed to roll in the longer ones more than the shorter ones. It was just a great day all-around.”

The 29-year-old, who played college golf in the United States and first earned her LPGA tour card in 2020, has yet to post a top-10 finish.

“Obviously it’s been a little ride for me the past couple of years, struggling a little bit out here,” she said. “The girls are good. It’s the best players in the world, so it should be tough, and so it is. It’s tough for everybody.

“But days when it clicks and when you really hit the shots that you want and manage to roll putts in, that’s the days you really enjoy it a little bit more … starting off the tournament here like this, it’s great.”

Johansson had a one-shot lead over 2019 champion Minjee Lee of Australia and Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh.

Lilia Vu, who won her first major title at the Chevron Championship on Sunday, carded a 69 and was joined in the group at two-under by world number one Nelly Korda of the United States.

Defending champion Nasa Hataoka of Japan opened with a one-under par 70.

With reporting by Gavin Cooney