Ireland’s Leona Maguire sits six shots off the lead after the second round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania.
In tough, windy conditions the Cavan golfer managed to grind out a one under par round of 69 which leaves her in a tie for 24th at two over while South Korea’s Sei Young Kim leads the way on four under.
Maguire birdied the second before giving it straight back at the Par 4 third but settled the ship with a run of pars.
Another bogey at the 10th moved her over par for the day but a brilliant finish with birdies at the 15th and 16th moved her into contention facing into the final two rounds.
Kim, meanwhile, was one over on Thursday after an opening 71 and, starting on the back nine, dropped two shots after three holes.
But her comeback started with a birdie on the 16th before birdieing five of the six last holes of the day to close with a six-under 29 on the front nine and a one shot lead.
Among the chasing pack is American Jennifer Kupcho, who started 40th but her 65 on Friday saw her leap into a tie for second place, alongside Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist, Spain’s Carlota Ciganda and American Danielle Kang.
Five players sit on two under for the tournament in a tie for sixth.
Stephanie Meadow matched Maguire’s second round of 69 – with 17 pars and one birdie – but that was one shot too many for her to make the cut after the damage had been done with an opening round of 78.
Meanwhile, Czech Klara Spilkova was handed a two-stroke penalty on the 15th for slow play turning her par into a double-bogey and led to her missing the cut — at six over — by one shot.
Collated second round scores in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Aronimink Golf Club, United States of America (USA unless stated, par 70):
136 Sei Young Kim (Kor) 71 65
137 Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 69 68, Jennifer Kupcho 72 65, Carlota Ciganda (Spa) 68 69, Danielle Kang 68 69
138 Ashleigh Buhai (Rsa) 70 68, Linnea Strom (Swe) 68 70, Lydia Ko (Nzl) 68 70, Lauren Stephenson 70 68, Kelly Tan (Mal) 67 71
139 Jodi Ewart Shadoff (Eng) 72 67, Brittany Lincicome 67 72, In Gee Chun (Kor) 72 67
140 Jennifer Song 72 68, Gaby Lopez (Mex) 68 72, Moriya Jutanugarn (Tha) 72 68, Inbee Park (Kor) 70 70, Brooke M. Henderson (Can) 71 69
141 Amy Olson 71 70, Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Den) 72 69, Amy Yang (Kor) 69 72, Nasa Hataoka (Jpn) 72 69, Charley Hull (Eng) 70 71
142 Yealimi Noh 74 68, Jeong Eun Lee (Kor) 70 72, Lexi Thompson 70 72, Ally McDonald 71 71, Robynn Ree 71 71, Sung Hyun Park (Kor) 71 71, Cydney Clanton 68 74, Yui Kawamoto (Jpn) 72 70, Jennifer Chang 75 67, Leona Maguire (Irl) 73 69, Bianca Pagdanganan (Phl) 77 65, Mina Harigae 74 68
143 Pornanong Phatlum (Tha) 73 70, Madelene Sagstrom (Swe) 72 71, Eun-Hee Ji (Kor) 71 72
144 Lindy Duncan 72 72, Jasmine Suwannapura (Tha) 70 74, Georgia Hall (Eng) 70 74, Jessica Korda 73 71, Melissa Reid (Eng) 74 70, Alena Sharp (Can) 71 73, Minjee Lee (Aus) 73 71
145 Elizabeth Szokol 71 74, Patty Tavatanakit (Tha) 72 73, Cristie Kerr 71 74, Isi Gabsa (Ger) 70 75, Hee Young Park (Kor) 76 69, Ariya Jutanugarn (Tha) 73 72, Angel Yin 74 71, Celine Boutier (Fra) 74 71, Haeji Kang (Kor) 73 72, Maria Fassi (Mex) 73 72, Perrine Delacour (Fra) 74 71, Hannah Green (Aus) 79 66, Cheyenne Knight 71 74, Pernilla Lindberg (Swe) 69 76, Hinako Shibuno (Jpn) 70 75, Laura Davies (Eng) 75 70
146 Chella Choi (Kor) 75 71, Matilda Castren 69 77, Xi Yu Lin (Chn) 73 73, Austin Ernst 73 73, Jenny Shin 70 76, Mariah Stackhouse 72 74, Angela Stanford 73 73, Haru Nomura (Jpn) 74 72, Anne Van Dam (Ned) 73 73, Sophia Popov (Ger) 73 73, Katherine Kirk (Aus) 73 73, Stacy Lewis 75 71, Alison Lee 75 71, Sarah Schmelzel 70 76
The following players missed the second round cut:
147 Stephanie Meadow (NIrl) 78 69, Caroline Masson (Ger) 73 74, Sandra Gal (Ger) 74 73, Brittany Lang 74 73, Megan Khang 74 73, Haley Moore 75 72, Gerina Piller 71 76, Pajaree Anannarukarn (Tha) 70 77, Caroline Hedwall (Swe) 71 76, Lizette Salas 73 74, Klara Spilkova (Cze) 74 73
148 Su Oh (Aus) 73 75, Caroline Inglis 77 71, Nicole Broch Larsen (Den) 77 71, Maria Torres (Pue) 74 74, Mi Hyang Lee (Kor) 76 72, Jillian Hollis 76 72
149 Esther Lee (Kor) 75 74, Emma Talley 75 74, Esther Henseleit (Ger) 76 73, Stephanie Connelly Eiswerth 78 71, Lindsey Weaver 76 73, Albane Valenzuela (Swi) 75 74, Pei-yun Chien (Chn) 75 74, Yu Liu (Chn) 73 76, Sarah Kemp (Aus) 77 72
150 Christina Kim 73 77, Kristy McPherson 77 73, Jing Yan (Chn) 75 75, Annie Park 72 78, Kristen Gillman 74 76
151 Azahara Munoz (Spa) 74 77, Morgan Pressel 72 79, Ryann O’Toole 76 75, Alison Curdt 75 76, (a) Julia Engstrom (Swe) 75 76, Kendall Dye 77 74, Brittany Altomare 76 75
152 Dana Finkelstein 76 76, Sarah Burnham 76 76, Wichanee Meechai (Tha) 74 78, Jaye Marie Green 72 80
153 Dottie Ardina (Phl) 76 77, Bronte Law (Eng) 75 78, Kim Kaufman 78 75
154 Tiffany Joh 75 79, Sarah-Jane Smith (Aus) 78 76
156 Andrea Lee 78 78, Jordan Lintz 83 73
159 Joanna Coe 79 80, Samantha Morrell 82 77
160 Seul Kir Park 80 80
161 Jennifer Borocz 80 81, Ellen Ceresko 82 79, Gemma Dryburgh (Sco) 81 80
