Leona Maguire saw a five-stroke improvement on day two of the LPGA’s Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur and she climbed 27 places on the leaderboard to T39.
Starting day two on the back nine, she failed to take advantage of the par-5 opener, but rolled in birdies on 12, 14 and 18 to make the turn at -3 for the day and -2 overall.
Two more birdies back-to-back on four and five got her to -4 for the tournament, but her hopes of signing off on a bogey-free round ended on the final hurdle and she ended up signing for a four-under 68 and a -3 overall tally.
She’s a long way back, but she’ll be taking the positives and will look at the final two rounds as opportunities to continue to claw her way up the leaderboard.
Maguire’s Solheim Cup teammate Maja Stark has come through to take the 36-hole lead after shooting matching 66s on days one and two. The Swede made three early birdies before dropping a shot on eight. She hit the front thanks to a four-birdie blitz at the start of the back nine, and then closed out with five straight pars and she takes a one-stroke lead into the weekend from American Marina Alex and Korea’s Narin An.
“It went very well,” was Stark’s assessment after her round. “I think I was pretty solid off the tee. Had a lot of short irons. Then it was — I’ve been struggling a bit with my putting this whole year, but I feel like I really had an easier time seeing the lines here than I usually do.”
As one of the international players who spends most of her time playing in the United States, she’s enjoying the Asian swing which precedes the climax of the LPGA season.
“It’s really nice to get to leave the U.S. for a little bit,” she sadid. “I enjoy the European Swing as well, and it’s nice to see more different cultures and the countries are so beautiful here.
“I’ve been enjoying it a lot.”
World number four Ruoning Yin is tied for fourth at -10 after back-to-back 67s and could be the biggest danger to Stark having recently captured her first win since the 2023 Women’s PGA Championship when she cruised to victory in her native Shanghai.
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