Leona Maguire battles misbehaving putter to stay in contention in Ohio

Once again, Leona Maguire played her way into contention: a solid, well-constructed second round 70 to add to her opening 66 for a midway total of six-under-par 136 to move remain inside the top-10 and well poised to contend over the weekend in the Dana Open presented by Marathon at Highland Meadows in Sylvania, Ohio.

In pursuit of a second LPGA Tour win of the season, and returning to action with batteries recharged after a two-week break, but with momentum of a fourth-placed finish in the AIG Women’s Open and a 10th in the ISPS Handa World Invitational, the 27-year-old Cavan golfer stuck to her task in compiling a round of one bogey and two birdies to lie two strokes off clubhouse leader Ruoning Yin of China.

Maguire’s lone bogey came at the opening hole where her approach found a greenside bunker but she managed to right that wrong with a birdie on the par-four fourth hole and added another on the par-three 13th in a round where she gave herself numerous chances but had to live with a cold putter.

In a round where her driving was exemplary, finding 13 of 14 fairways, and with good iron play too, hitting 15 of 18 greens-in-regulation, Maguire laboured with the putter in hand and ran up 32 putts.

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“It was a bit of a slow day, I gave myself lots of chances but didn’t putt as well as I did yesterday. I just need to putt better on the weekend,” she said, adding: “It would’ve been very easy to get frustrated today and sort of lose patience. I hung in well, tried to give myself a couple of chances to finish on 17 and 18. Yeah, I mean, under par is still under par ... overall, I mean, I’m in a good place and try and go lower over the weekend.”

Unfortunately for Stephanie Meadow, a terrible start to her round – with three bogeys in her opening four holes – was her undoing as she signed for a 72 to add to her opening 71 for a three-over-par 143.

Yin, a graduate of the Epson Tour and looking for her breakthrough win on the LPGA Tour, has been troubled by a wrist injury for much of the year: “In the beginning of this year I just felt so stressed and a lot of pressure to play on the LPGA Tour. When I hit bad [swings], I just wanted to press more, more, more, and I think that’s what caused my injury. Right now, I just play less and I hit the ball less. I think it’s kind of get back to my old game.”

In the Made in HimmerLand tournament on the DP World Tour at Farso in Denmark, English veteran Ross McGowan – seeking a third career win on the European Tour – added a 65 to his opening round 62 for a midway total of 15-under-par 127 to carry a one-stroke lead into the weekend, with compatriot Richard Mansell and Italian Francesco Laporta his chief pursuers.

Jonathan Caldwell ended a run of seven straight missed cuts in signing for a 71 for 136 (in tied-41st) while Greystones man Paul Dunne battled gamely to claim his only birdie at his penultimate hole, the eighth, to sign for a 71 for 140 to make the cut on the mark in tied-61st.

In the B-NL Open on the Challenge Tour, Frenchman Jeong weon Ko added a 67 to his opening 65 to claim the halfway lead on 12-under-par 132. Tom McKibbin (69 for 137, in tied-29th), Conor Purcell (68 for 137, also in tied-29th) and John Murphy (72 for 138, in tied-42nd) all survived the cut.