Round two of the LPGA Kroger Queen City Championship saw Antrim’s Stephanie Meadow end her week early as the 33-year-old failed to make the one-under-par cutline.
Meadow, who was making only her third start of the LPGA season due to an injury, strung together two steady rounds but it was not enough.
A one-over round one followed by an even-par round two, Meadow couldn’t make the most of the scoring chances around the wet and soggy TPC River’s Bend.
Staring on the 10th hole, a bogey wasn’t an ideal start for Meadow, but she quickly reversed that with a birdie on the 11th.
Meadow managed to earn four more birdies as she headed towards the clubhouse, but it was inconsistencies off the tee and in approach that saw the 33-year-old add more bogeys than she would have liked, making four in total.
Meadow managed 9/14 fairways hit, whilst also hitting 10/18 greens in regulation.
The top of the leaderboard sees seven golfers, all within three strokes of each other as Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen continues to lead the field after another textbook round, posting a four-under-par round two to take 21-year-old to 13-under after 36-holes.
“I just want me to play like this,” Wannasaen said. “I do not think about the score. I just want to hit driver like this, hit irons like this. I just want to enjoy golf again.”
Wannasaen holed out for eagle on a par-4 for the second straight day, this time on the 13th, her fourth hole of the day. She did it on the tenth hole in the first round.
Sharing T2 are world no.1 Jeeno Thitikul, England’s Charley Hull and Germany’s Olivia Cowan at 11-under.
22-year-old Thitikul posted a bogey-free eight-under-par round two, including six birdies on the back nine where the five-time LPGA winner made four in a row.
“Pretty much I think trying to make putts for sure here,” Thitikul said. “I mean, the green is not easy. It’s so sloped. And then you need to judge the putt really perfectly to roll it in the hole.”
Hull eagled the par-5 11th and birdied the final two holes for a seven-under 65. The English player is coming off a runner-up finish in Houston as part of the Aramco series on the Ladies European Tour.
“I’m just firing at the pin pretty much,” Hull said. “I like going at the pins. I find it boring otherwise.”
Cowan matched Hull with a bogey-free 65, as Maja Stark, Sei Young Kim and Gigi Stoll sit just behind on 10-under.
Second-ranked Nelly Korda is amongst it at nine-under after a 68. She’s winless this season.
“You just have to really stay aggressive,” Korda said. “The greens are pretty soft so you can, but hitting fairways, hitting greens is the key to eventually having a putt.”
Round three is set to begin at 6:00pm Irish time.
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