Cavan’s Leona Maguire posted her second level-par round of the Buick LPGA Shanghai tournament to see the 30-year-old head into the third round in T58.
Struggling on the greens as she did in round one, Maguire began her second round on the back nine in far from ideal fashion with a double bogey on the par-4 10th hole.
Maguire settled in after the early scare and bounced back quickly with back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th holes to get back to even-par.
A bogey followed on the par-4 15th as Maguire entered her final nine holes at one-over. A quick start to the front saw two birdies on the first and second holes, but Maguire succumbed to the par-5 ninth with a bogey for the second time this week to post a second round 72.
Japan’s Minami Katsu had no issues on the sun-burnt greens as the 27-year-old made 12 birdies and a bogey to post a course record round of 11-under to soar to the top of the leaderboard and lead by two strokes at 13-under.
“It was a pretty flawless round – couple luckies I think but really good round overall,” Katsu said. “My career-best was 10 under, so new (personal) record today.”
Katsu holed a long putt on the 18th to finish but said she wasn’t thinking about any records as she showed her class around the Qizhong Garden Golf Club.
“Honestly I’m very happy with the record that I made today,” she said. “Obviously we still have two more days to play, so probably no celebration. I’ll try to keep it simple.”
South Korea’s Ina Yoon occupies solo second as the 22-year-old posted a four-under round two to sit at 11-under, one shot ahead of T3 placed Lindy Duncan and Jenny Bae.
Overnight leader Arpichaya Yubol posted a 71 and is in a tie for fifth at nine-under with Somi Lee and Jeeno Thitikul.
Last week, Youmin Hwang extended the incredible streak on the LPGA of having different winners at each of the 25 official tournaments this year. If Katsu continues her dominance around Minhang District this streak will continue as Katsu had an unofficial shared LPGA Tour win with Sarah Schmelzel at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
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