Leona Maguire is searching for consistency as she heads into the meat of the season. Four upcoming Majors – starting with next week’s US Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles – will provide the defining part of her year’s work.The 31-year-old Cavan golfer has blown hot and cold so far this season, having brought in renowned coach Sean Foley to implement some swing changes. A runner-up finish alongside world No 1 Nelly Korda – and behind Lauren Coughlin – in the Aramco Championship in Las Vegas has been the high point of Maguire’s season. However, five missed cuts have also formed part of her results record.The stern examinations are set to come thick and fast. The US Open on June 4th-7th, will be followed by the KPMG Women’s PGA at Hazeltine (June 25th-28th). Then it’s the Amundi Evian Championship in Evian-les-Bains, France (July 9th-12th) and the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes (July 30th-August 2nd). Maguire feels the challenges will suit her.“You very much have to plan your way around, very strategic,” she says of the upcoming tournaments. “Major championships are always a bigger and better test. You have to kind of test all aspects of your game. “You have to drive it well. You very much have to be disciplined with your approaches and you have to chip and putt your way around.”She added: “It’s just a case of putting all the pieces together, driving it better this year, driving it longer, driving it straighter. The approach shots just need to be fine-tuned a little bit in the next few weeks.”Of bringing Foley into her coaching set-up, having been with swing coach Shane O’Grady since her teenage years, Maguire explained: “I had a pretty honest conversation with Shane at the end of the year and he liked what Sean’s suggestions were. He’s obviously based in Orlando where I am over here and he’s worked with a few of the girls that I know pretty well.“[Sean] was adamant that I needed to get more width and turn in my swing and needed to get a higher ball . . . there was no guarantees that it was going to work. There’s no guarantees that it still has worked. But that was a risk I felt like I wanted to take to bring my game to the next level. And, you know, Shane’s been a massive part of my journey all along the way. He always will be.”Maguire is in the field for this week’s Shoprite tournament at Seaview resort in New Jersey, where Lauren Walsh and Stephanie Meadow are also competing.US Ryder Cup Captain Jim Furyk hits a sliotar at half-time during Sunday's Munster Senior Hurling Championship match between Limerick and Tipperary at the Gaelic Grounds, Limerick. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho Furyk starts the charm offensive early“I’m a Limerick fan now!”Jim Furyk isn’t one for hanging around. The US Ryder Cup captain revealed to Sporting Limerick he had watched hurling games on GAA+ to get acquainted with the sport ahead of attending the high-scoring Limerick-Tipperary match at the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday. “They call it the fastest field sport in the world, but to see it live you really get an appreciation for it,” said Furyk, who was kitted out in a Limerick jersey with the Adare Manor logo. “I’m just amazed the distance that they score from, folks hanging on them, trying to hook them, throwing a ball up, wheeling around, turning and boom . . . I’m impressed – great athletes.” Furyk visited the Limerick dressingroom afterwards, where he told the players he would be “a fan for life”.No doubt his early charm offensive went down well with Limerick fans ahead of next year’s Ryder Cup at Adare Manor.Word of Mouth“At this golf course, you’ve just got to pedal to the metal the whole time and I did that.” – Wyndham Clark after closing with a 60 for a total of 30-under-par 254 to win the CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in Dallas.By the Numbers: 8There are eight Irish players in the field for this week’s Challenge de Espana in Huelva: Dermot McElroy, Cormac Sharvin, JR Galbraith, Mark Power, Liam Nolan, Max Kennedy, Rónán Mullarney and James Sugrue. On this day: May 26, 1996Steve Stricker’s breakthrough win on the PGA Tour came in style. The American – who would go on to have 12 career victories on the circuit – won the Kemper Open with impressive scoring of 69-68-65-68 for a total of 14-under-par 270, three strokes clear of a quartet of pursuers.The win at TPC Avenel in Maryland added to a string of first-time winners that year, which had already seen Tim Herron, Paul Goydos, Scott McCarron and Paul Stankowski secure maiden victories.Stricker held off final-day charges from Scott Hoch, Mark O’Meara, Grant Waite and Brad Faxon to become the fifth first-time winner of the season, with his wife Nicki acting as caddie: “At times I felt like we were running down the fairway. I just wanted to get this thing done and know the outcome. I just had to keep holding back what I was thinking.”There was a slight scare for the player and caddie on the 11th hole, where it looked as if he had pulled his tee shot into the hazard. “As we got up there, we saw it was sitting on the edge. We got that up and down [for par], so that was a key momentum-builder for us,” admitted Stricker, who collected a pay-day of $270,000 for the win, more than he had made in a dozen tournaments prior.Social SwingMax Rottluff will be stepping in for Tyrrell Hatton this week in Korea. Hatton will return to action next week in Spain, with the Legion XIII social platform announcing he is missing this week’s LIV Golf tour stop. A Sunday 60 (and final-nine 28) @Wyndham_Clark goes low with his #ProV1 to win the @cjbyronnelson by three shots #1ballingolf – the folk at Titleist are happy with their player’s work.At just 16, Connor Graham became the youngest player to compete in the Walker Cup. Come and watch the next generation of golfers later this year in Lahinch, tickets on sale now – The R&A bigging the next generation of talent for the match between GB&I and the USA on September 5th-6th. Tickets on sale at www.randa.org/championships/walker-cup.Know the RulesQ: In stroke play, a player has interference to their stance from an immovable obstruction. They determine their nearest point of complete relief using a five-iron (as that is the club they would have used had the immovable obstruction not been there) and drop the ball within one club-length of that point, no nearer the hole. The ball settles down in the rough, so the player changes club and plays the ball out on to the fairway with a sand wedge. What is the ruling?A: There is no penalty. Such a situation is covered under Clarification: Nearest Point of Complete Relief/4: the ball is dropped, it is back in play. The player must then decide what type of stroke they will make. This stroke, which includes the choice of club, may be different from the one that would have been made from the ball’s original spot had the condition not been there.In the Bag: Wyndham Clark (CJ Cup Byron Nelson) Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (10.5 degrees)3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees)Irons: Titleist T200 (4, 5) T100 (6-9)Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (44, 50, 54 and 60 degrees)Putter: Ping Scottsdale TEC Ally Blue Onset