Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow will both sit out the final two rounds at Wilshire Country Club where Jessica Korda sets a strong pace in LA.
Fresh off her best LPGA Tour finish of a tied-second result in Hawaii, Maguire’s second round birdie-less 76 would’ve come as a surprise to the Cavan professional. The 26-year old carded three bogeys and a double while needing 36 putts – adding to her 32 putts of the opening day – to miss out on the halfway mark by a shot at three-over. Maguire will now head for a US Open qualifier on Monday before being fully-vaccinated and returning home for a hopeful two week break.
Jordanstown professional Meadow carded a 76 of her own having been three-under par through her first five holes on Thursday. She missed the cut by five strokes at seven-over par.
At the top, Korda kept her foot to the accelerator, adding a bogey-free six-under 65 to her opening 64 to move into a three shot lead at 13-under par. Having hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation, the only surprise for the American was that it wasn’t even lower given the quality of her play.
“Well, it’s going to sound crazy but I actually lipped out a good amount out there today, so it actually could have been lower,” said Korda, who took 28 putts to get home. “But I don’t complain. I know I made a bogey yesterday, but I made up for it with some birdies. Just had a little bit of a harder time with some speed today. Other than that, it’s just another good day.”
Korda’s play was so good that perhaps it affected her playing partners with recent ANA Inspiration winner Patty Tavatanakit and last week’s winner Lydia Ko both missing the halfway cut at four-over par.
“Honestly, I love being paired with Lydia,” said Korda. “I think I played a practice round with Patty last year. It was kind of just nice to get to know her. She’s super nice and has a very long career ahead of her. But I love my pairing. Anytime I get paired with Lydia, we always have such a great time. It was very easy going.”
It might begin to get a whole lot more difficult for Korda on moving day with world number one Jin Young Ko just three strokes behind and in the final group alongside the American. Ko’s South Korean compatriot Sei Young Kim is a shot behind in third at nine-under while Brooke Henderson and Angela Stanford are at minus-eight.
- Full scoring HERE
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