Leona Maguire battled back from a nightmare front nine to make the cut at the Women’s PGA Championship, staying within touching distance of 36-hole leader Jeeno Thitikul,
Maguire started her second round on the tenth hole, and four bogey’s in five holes put the Cavan native under pressure and outside the cut line. Entering her back nine at four-over-par, Maguire dup deep at Fields Ranch East, producing a bogey-free back nine and taking advantage of the par fives, finishing with a two-over-par 72.
This is her first cut in five appearances, and the resilient second round leaves her in a tie for 16th place, but eight shots adrift of the leader heading into the weekend.
Thitikul, the No. 2-ranked player in the world, finished a six-hour round Friday late in the day, carding a two-under-par 70 to get to six-under-par, establishing a three-stroke lead over Rio Takeda (71) and Minjee Lee (72), and was four ahead of Lexi Thompson after another steamy day on the Fields Ranch East course at PGA Frisco.
With the feel-like temperatures going over 100 degrees and the ever-present Texas wind, only seven of the 156 players who started the season’s third major were under par through two rounds. There have been no bogey-free rounds this week.
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