Day two of the Kroger Queen City Championship in Ohio saw low scoring for all the overnight top three. A pair of matching 66s from overnight leader Jeeno Thitikul and Lydia Ko see them top the pile on -12 and -11 respectively. Meanwhile a seven-under-par [65] from Korea’s Haeran Ryu shot her up the order to sit third, one further back heading into Saturday. Leona Maguire sits six off the lead having survived a back-nine scare on day two.
Maguire was away from the 10th tee for her second day on River’s Bend and her opening nine couldn’t have been more consistent, stitching together nine straight pars to turn where she began, on five under. Two more came on the following two holes before a wobble came in the form of a double on the par-4 third hole. This was followed by another dropped shot at the subsequent hole, the fourth, and it looked as though this would derail her day.
She would show character and resilience however, to bounce straight back immediately with a pair of birdies on the spin on the next two holes to stem the bleed. This got Maguire back on track and she would finish strong with another pair of strokes clawed back on her final two of the day, the eighth and ninth, to go one-under for the day and within striking distance of the lead heading into moving day on six-under.
Overnight leader and Thailand’s latest talent Thitikul was on hand after her round to reflect on her impressive day. “It’s pretty good. I think it’s really kind of a low-scoring course, so a lot of players get low on this course,” she reflected. “The par fives are reachable, can make all the par fives I guess. That’s pretty much the point of this course,” said Thitikul, following her round. When asked about the difficulty of the ninth, she added. “It is (hard) because you have water on the front, and then if you go long, it’s going to be in the rough and downhill lie. But just commit to the shot. I have pitching wedge, so it’s kind of easier than the practice round, which I had like 7- or 8-iron.”
Thitikul is in search of her second victory of the season but will have to fend off the likes of Lydia Ko, looking for her third of the year to add to her Olympic glory. “I obviously came off an amazing three-week stretch in Europe. In ways, I wanted to make sure that I kind of came back to the ground and work on the basics and the things I’ve been working on the past few months,” said Ko after her day’s work. “I feel like I set myself a good plan going into the week, so that’s what I’m going to stick to. I know there is still a lot of golf to be played, so I will focus on me, and I think that’s the biggest thing that I’ve been doing well this past month or so.”
The cut line fell at one-under par with 76 players making the grade and advancing to day three. Moving day will see Maguire hit the course at 13.53 Irish time with Ashleigh Buhai and Ryann O’ Toole all heading out from the first tee while the leading grouping will kick off their third round at 15.32.
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