It’s been a season of one step forward, two steps back for Leona Maguire who endured a frustrating second round at the Buick LPGA Shanghai.
Maguire was right in contention after an opening 66 and admitted that she had struggled to string four tournament rounds together for most of the season and that was the case again here.
A level-par 72 has dropped her thirteen places to T17 and six shots off the lead as she remains on six-under-par.
The Cavan star has been working hard on her putting to try and arrest an underwhelming season and after 27 putts on day one, she took 34 blows on Friday.
Maguire completed a frustrating front nine with a birdie on the par-3 2nd and a bogey on the par-5 9th.
She bogeyed the par-4 12th and could only par the par-5 13th before back to back birdies on 14 and 15 gave hope of a grandstand finish. But she was unable to birdie the par-5 17th and she suffered a blow with a closing bogey.
Sei Young Kim leads the way on twelve-under after a second round of 70 with Mao Saigo and Lucy Li just one shot off the pace in a share of second place.
This is the way Maguire’s season has gone for the most part. Making her third LPGA start since the disappointment of the Solheim Cup, Thursday was her best opening round of the season.
But despite winning on the Ladies European Tour earlier this year it has been a largely disappointing year, missing three of five cuts in major championships and slipping to 39th in the Rolex World Rankings – her lowest ranking since the end of 2021.
Maguire is in need of a good weekend to consolidate her place inside the top-60 on the Race to CME Globe Rankings.
As the season nears a conclusion she is ranked 49th in the order of merit standings with the top-60 contesting the Tour Championship.
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