Olympian Leona Maguire witnessed Rory McIlroy play a shot in person for the first time on a golf course during the Olympic tournament.

“It was very impressive to watch,” said Maguire, who begins her quest for Olympic glory when she tees off at the Kasumigaseki Country C lub tomorrow night (11.30 Irish time ).

Maguire and Stephanie Meadow arrived in the Japanese capital last weekend and got an opportunity to link up with McIlroy and Shane Lowry. “It’s nice to get their take on things, watching them get a feel for the golf course.”

The Cavan golfer is looking forward to the challenge. “My game is in nice shape, it was nice to finish off Evian with a good round and good momentum, it was my best finish in a M ajor so yeah, I’m sort of trending in the right direction.

“And it’s a very different golf course this week, I’ve never been to Asia before so different grasses and all that. So, I’m trying to learn this new golf course as best as we can.”

Maguire got a great send- off from her native Cavan before travelling to Japan. “It was really cool, actually, there were lots of people with signs up and even I was talking to d ad earlier today and he said there’s a lot of tricolours up in gardens and bunting and all the rest.

“So it’s great to have the support of all my community and all around Cavan, I think all the Irish athletes have got that support from home and I suppose there’s no crowds this week. But that’s the great thing about social media, you can see a lot of what’s going on at home and all the support, so it’s great to see.”

She believes the experience of competing in Rio five years ago will proved invaluable. “I think in Rio I was just in awe of everything, and just happy to be there.

“Obviously I was just an amateur golfer and just halfway through college, so it’s a bit of a different feel this week and I have nearly a full year of LPGA under my belt so hopefully that will hold me in good stead.”