The look on Meghan MacLaren’s face said everything you needed to know.
The Englishwoman, so long a favourite on Australian shores having enjoyed the bulk of her success on these shores, has been in the professional purgatory for almost four years.
But today, as the only previous winner of the Australian Women’s Classic in the field, the 31-year-old rediscovered the old magic and roared back to the pointy end of the LET field in a place she essentially considers her second home.
MacLaren carded five birdies and no bogeys – and but for a birdie try on the 18th shaving the cup, would have shared the halfway lead at Magenta Shores.
As it is, her 67 left her at nine under, one adrift of Aussie Kelsey Bennett and with a once customary berth in the final group come Saturday in a tournament in New South Wales.
And although MacLaren – revered globally for her eloquence – conveyed her thoughts with typical verbal agility, her slightly glassy eyes said even more.
“I think it’s funny because we’re standing here now and 15 yards down here, two years ago, I sat there after the first round and just cried my eyes out because I just felt so lost,” MacLaren reflected with typical honesty about a span that dropped her world ranking more than 450 slots from her career-high.
“I was struggling so badly. I shouldn’t have been out here that year. And it’s been a long, long road since then.
“But I feel like since just before Q school (in December)… I realised that golf-wise I’m kind of back where I feel like I can be.
“I trust in my game again, and it was just the case of mentally then going out and believing that I can do it and trusting my ability.”
And then the raw emotion and competitive power of the dual Women’s New South Wales Open poured out.
“I feel like I wasted so much golf over the last couple of years (since winning this event in Bonville in 2022), and now I’m out here, and I don’t want to waste a single day.
“There were still some really low points last year. I played really, really well in Ireland last year, and that was one of the first times it was like, `OK, I can play good golf. I am still a good golfer.
“But mentally, I had to take a pretty big step. I’m not out here to just be average. I don’t want that. I’ve never wanted that.
“And that was what really hurt me whenever I was struggling.
“So this is kind of what I feel like I’m capable of, and I want to just keep pushing on.”
Now, with parents and other friends from England on site this weekend, MacLaren has a genuine shot at winning a fourth professional title in regional New South Wales, which would be a genuinely amazing feat for a visitor to these shores.
“This place is very special to me,” she said before only partially joking about Australian coffee being the reason.
“I’ve said ever since I first came out here, the people are amazing. I don’t know. I feel like they’ve just taken me as one of their own.
“I don’t know why, but I feel really comfortable here, even though it’s so far away. I think it’s got a lot of the culture that I like. And like I said, the coffee – you can’t knock it.
“To be honest, it just means a lot to be playing good golf again and to do it somewhere that I’m so happy, it does feel fitting.”
LIVE: Magenta Shores Golf & Country Club
Saturday 7 – Sunday 8 March 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM
