Cavan’s Leona Maguire finds herself in T67 on even-par after 36-holes at the BMW Ladies Championship as the 30-year-old struggled on day two around Pine Beach Golf Links, posting a two-over-par 74.
Maguire began her day on the back nine with four pars before her first slip up came at the par-4 14th and she another bogey on the scorable par-5 17th.
Taking the turn at two-over, another par-5 bogey on the second hole dropped her further back before her first and only birdie came on the par-4 fifth before the two-time LPGA winner closed out her second round with four pars.
Maguire’s approach play let her down as she hit only nine out of 18 greens on Friday and will need a strong performance over the weekend as she currently sits eight strokes outside the top-20 and is projected to slip to 54th in the rankings with only four regular LPGA events remaining before the CME Globe Championship which is limited to the top 60 players.
The leaders are showing that low rounds are certainly on the cards as South Korea’s Sei Young Kim holds a one stroke lead at 16-under heading into round three.
Beginning her day with a bogey on the par-4 fourth, the 32-year-old regrouped instantly to close out the front nine with three birdies in a row. Kim continued her form on the back nine, making four birdies to post a six-under-par 66.
Occupying solo second at 15-under, USA’s Brooke Matthews posted a bogey free eight-under to see the 27-year-old right in contention for the weekend. Starting her round with back-to-back birdies, Matthews continued to push up the leaderboard but her best work came on the 17th and 18th holes, going birdie birdie. Matthews is in search of her first career LPGA Tour victory.
“I didn’t feel very comfortable coming into this week, playing China last week, didn’t really have my best stuff,” Matthews said.
“Even Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, I was feeling a little eh, but it made me go out there and play it shot-by-shot, lower expectations, and I feel like I managed it really well. Just stayed in the moment. I ended up making some putts and racking up some good scores,” added the former University of Arkansas Razorback.
“Been working hard all year. I think we can see the finish line at this point,” Matthews said. “So, I’m happy to get a couple of good rounds. I don’t know what’s going to happen this weekend, but we’ll do our best. It’s all we can control.”
Sharing third place is Japan’s Rio Takeda and South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim who both sit at 13-under. Japan’s Nasa Hataoka holds solo fifth place at 12-under.
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