Leona Maguire demonstrated her fortitude in firing a second-round 70 – overcoming a double-bogey five on the 17th with four birdies – to ensure she made the cut in her seasonal debut on the LPGA at the Gainbridge tournament at Boca Rio Golf Club in Florida.
Danielle Kang and Lydia Ko shared the 36-holes lead on 133, 11 under, but Maguire recovered from an opening round 73 to add a 70 for 143 to make the cut into the weekend on one under.
Stephanie Meadow also progressed with a well- crafted 69 to go with her opening 75 for 144 to also make the cut on level par.
American Kang fired five birdies during a four-under 68 to move into a tie for the 36-hole lead with New Zealand’s Ko.
Ko held the first-round lead on the strength of a 63, but she slowed down on Friday with a 70, matching Kang at 11 under. They lead Jodi Ewart Shadoff of England (69) and Yuka Saso of Japan (70) by four shots.
Kang won last week’s event, the Tournament of Champions, and continued her run of good form by pairing birdies on the eighth and ninth and the 13th and 14th.
Kang and Ko, who are good friends, will play in the final threesome with Shadoff on Saturday.
“She’s like my little sister, and I think everybody knows that,” Kang said of Ko. “She had a phenomenal round yesterday, shot nine under, and I just saw that she was at 11, so I just kind of wanted to get to double digits today.
“I was starting off at seven and this golf course is tough. You know, three under is a good score, four under is a good score, so just wanted to post going to score today.”
Ko had an up-and-down round, following a birdie at the third with a bogey at the seventh and another birdie at the ninth with a bogey at the 11th. Birdies at the 14th and 17th allowed her to wrap up on a positive note.
“More of a grind than yesterday,” Ko said. “When you get off to a hot start I think you do put a little bit of pressure on. Even though you’re a couple under par you don’t feel like it was as good because you keep comparing. But I tried to not do that and be committed over each shot and play the best golf I can today.”
In colder conditions, the course played much tougher during the second round. Switzerland's Morgane Metraux had the round of the day, a six-under 66 with eight birdies and two bogeys. There was only one 67, a bogey-free card from France's Celine Boutier.
Metraux is tied for fifth with Japan's Nasa Hataoka (71), India's Aditi Ashok (72) and Englishwomen Bronte Law (70) and Charley Hull (71) at six under. Boutier is part of a large tie for 10th at five under that includes Major champions Brooke Henderson of Canada (71) and Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand (68).
Leaderboard
USA unless stated, par 72
133 Lydia Ko (Nzl) 63 70, Danielle Kang 65 68
137 Yuka Saso (Jpn) 67 70, Jodi Ewart (Eng) 68 69
138 Nasa Hataoka (Jpn) 67 71, Charley Hull (Eng) 67 71, Aditi Ashok (Ind) 66 72, Bronte Law (Eng) 68 70, Morgane Metraux (Swi) 72 66
139 Paphangkorn Tavatanakit (Tha) 71 68, Brooke Henderson (Can) 68 71, Celine Boutier (Fra) 72 67, Su-Hyun Oh (Aus) 69 70, Marina Alex 68 71, Maude-Aimee Leblanc (Can) 67 72, Hye-Jin Choi (Kor) 67 72
140 Nelly Korda 68 72, Alexis Thompson 70 70, Jessica Korda 72 68, Jeon-Geun Lee (Kor) 67 73, Ind-Gee Chun (Kor) 68 72, Georgia Hall (Eng) 70 70, Ryann O'Toole 70 70, Stacy Lewis 68 72, Carlota Ciganda (Esp) 68 72
141 Ally Ewing 68 73, Gaby Lopez (Mex) 68 73, A-Lim Kim (Kor) 70 71, Perrine Delacour (Fra) 69 72, Nam-Rin Ant (Kor) 71 70, Ayaka Furue (Jpn) 69 72
142 Pajaree Anannarukarn (Tha) 70 72, Amy Yang (Kor) 68 74, Madelene Sagstroem (Swe) 70 72, Sophia Schubert 70 72, Amanda Doherty 68 74, Dewi Weber (Ned) 71 71
143 Karrie Webb (Aus) 71 72, Leona Maguire (Irl) 73 70, Jennifer Kupcho 68 75, Melissa Reid (Eng) 71 72, Lilia Vut 70 73, Pornanong Phatlum (Tha) 72 71, Dana Finkelstein 68 75, Pauline Bouchard (Fra) 73 70, Atthaya Thitikul (Tha) 72 71, Linnea Johansson (Swe) 72 71, Yae-Eun Hong (Kor) 70 73
144 Megan Khang 70 74, Amy Olson 69 75, Xiyu Lin (Chn) 72 72, Thidapa Suwannapura (Tha) 71 73, Wichanee Meechai (Tha) 72 72, Emma Talley 76 68, Sarah Schmelzel 71 73, Albane Valenzuela (Swi) 71 73, Hee-Young Park (Kor) 72 72, Rachel Rohanna 70 74, Gerina Piller 67 77, Muni He (Chn) 70 74, Stephanie Meadow (N Irl) 75 69, Kelly Tan (Mal) 75 69, Lauren Stephenson 70 74
145 Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 71 74, Jenny Shin (Kor) 72 73, Jeong-Eun Lee (Kor) 70 75, Cydney Clanton 74 71, Lindsey Weaver 74 71, Jaye Marie Green 70 75, Brittany Lincicome 72 73, Brittany Lang 72 73, Allison Emrey 72 73, Christina Kim 70 75, Laura Restrepo (Pan) 71 74
Missed cut
146 Ind-Bee Park (Kor) 71 75, Moriya Jutanugarn (Tha) 73 73, Matilda Castren (Fin) 72 74, Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Den) 74 72, Esther Henseleit (Ger) 74 72, Elizabeth Szokol 72 74, Brittany Altomare 73 73, Sophia Popov (Ger) 69 77, Fatima Fernandez (Esp) 74 72, Janie Jackson 74 72
147 Ariya Jutanugarn (Tha) 75 72, Caroline Masson (Ger) 72 75, Angela Stanford 71 76, Mi-Rim Lee (Kor) 74 73, Cheyenne Knight 70 77, Ruixin Liu (Chn) 74 73, Ana Belac (Slo) 76 71, Luna Sobron (Esp) 77 70
148 Mina Harigae 78 70, Ashleigh Buhai (Rsa) 74 74, Casey Danielson 73 75, Paula Reto (Rsa) 74 74, Peiyun Chien (Tai) 71 77, Bianca Pagdanganan (Phi) 72 76, Katherine Perry 71 77
149 Yu Liu (Chn) 73 76, Alison Lee 76 73, Cristie Kerr 74 75, Maria Fassi (Mex) 75 74, Marissa Steen 74 75, Lauren Coughlin 71 78
150 Austin Ernst 75 75, Yealimi Noh 78 72, Giulia Molinaro (Ita) 73 77
151 Jennifer Song 74 77, Annie Park 76 75
152 Jennifer Coleman 74 78, Pernilla Lindberg (Swe) 74 78, Katherine Kirk (Aus) 76 76
154 Taylor Collins 77 77, Hae-Ji Kang (Kor) 74 80, Beatriz Recari (Esp) 78 76
157 Nishtha Madan (Ind) 77 80, Angel Yin 78 79
158 Nam-Yeon Choi (Kor) 79 79
