Stephanie Meadow had to dig deep to find a closing birdie and secure a weekend tee time at the LPGA’s LOTTE Championship in Hawaii, but it was disappointment for Leona Maguire and Lauren Walsh who both missed the cut and have the weekend off.
The Jordanstown woman, making just her ninth LPGA start of 2026, opened with a two-under-par 70 and followed up with a 71 to end the day on -3. She birdied the first, 10th and 11th, but bogeyed the fourth, 14th and 17th to sit at level-par for the day and one shot below the projected cutline as she stood on the 18th tee.
Four strokes later, she was retrieving her ball from the cup after birdieing the par-5 closing hole to make just her third cut of the season.
Maguire, having battled back to level-par with three late birdies in round one, had a mixed day where she made five birdies and four bogeys, but two of those dropped shots came on 16 and 17, leaving her no chance of weekend action when she was playing the last and though she birdied it, she came up two shots shy.
Walsh had further ground to make up after an opening 74 and though she caught fire in the middle of the round and carded seven birdies in a nine-hole stretch, she’d already made an early bogey and then a double on six and a bogey on seven – her 15th and 16th holes – put an end to her hopes and she finished alongside Maguire at -1.
At the top of the leaderboard, world number two Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand made a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th for a seven-under 65 and a share of the lead at the halfway mark.
Seeking her fourth LPGA Tour victory of the year, the 23-year-old remains bogey-free after 36 holes at Hoakalei Country Club.
“It it was lucky for us enough to not have that much gusts,” Thitikul said after mostly calm afternoon conditions after rain and wind Thursday morning.
Polly Mack of Germany also closed with a birdie on 18 to match Thitikul at 12-under.
Carolina Melgrati of Italy and Ina Yoon of South Korea are a stroke back. Melgrati had a 65, and Yoon shot 67.
Leave a comment