Lauren Walsh looked destined to join Leona Maguire on a plane home from Michigan when she failed to birdie the par-5 eight hole – her 17th – on day two of the Meijer LPGA Classic at Blythefield Country Club on the outskirts of Grand Rapids, but the Kildare native had other ideas and birdied the last to squeeze her way to the right side of the cutmark.
Coming in on the back of a third-place finish – and the biggest paycheque of her career to date – on her penultimate start, and a respectable midfield finish in the paired event on the LPGA last, it was important for Walsh to keep her foot down and try to secure her LPGA playing rights for 2027 with time to spare.
She opened with a one-over 73 in cold and blustery midwest conditions, and though she started with two birdies in her first four holes in round two, two bogeys left her back at one-over for the tournament playing her ninth hole in similar conditions once again.
She birdied the par-5 18th to limit the damage in round one, and went one better in round two, pouring in an eagle to breathe fresh life into her challenge.
On the way home, she traded a birdie on four with a bogey on five, followed by three pars which took her to the par-4 ninth tee with the situation painstakingly clear. Birdie and play the weekend, par or worse and go home, and thankfully she managed to secure the latter which lifted her into a share of 49th place at -2 and she’s just four shots outside the top 10.
Leona Maguire started the day one ahead of Walsh, but she could only manage one birdie in round two which, combined with two bogeys, left her three shots shy of the cutmark.
Jing Yan shot a six-under 66 to give the American sole possession of the second-round lead.
Yan had a bogey-free afternoon round to get to 10-under as she goes in search of her maiden win on the LPGA Tour.
“I feel like I struck it pretty well the last two rounds,” Yan said. “And I putted well, so that kind of adds up to birdies.”
Lottie Woad of England and Cassie Porter of Australia are a stroke back. Woad shot 66, and Porter had a 68.
“Definitely challenging,” Woad said. “Wasn’t as windy as yesterday, but definitely still there. So I think the pins were maybe a little more tricky so just had to play smart to a few of them.”
First-round leader Yan Liu of China was 8 under with Minji Kang of South Korea. Liu had a 70, and Kang shot 68.
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