Ireland are on track for their best ever performance in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship after moving up to third at halfway in Mexico.

To the surprise of nobody, the Republic of Korea posted a second-round 137 with a 68 from Min Ji Park and a 69 from Hye Jin Choi for a 36-hole total of 275 to overtake first-round leader Switzerland and open up a seven-stroke advantage

The Koreans are seeking their fourth victory in the event having first claimed the Espirito Santo Trophy in 1996. 

But Ireland are not out of the running yet after world amateur No 1 Leona Maguire added a two under 70 at  Iberostar Playa Paraiso to her opening 72 and Olivia Mehaffey shot a 71 with Annabel Wilson’s 79 not needed.

Up four places from tied seventh overnight, Maguire believes Ireland still have time to make a big move despite being 12 strokes behind Korea on one under.

“The goal today was to try to be under par as a team,” said Leona, who is tied for sixth in the individual standings, just three shots behind leader Choi. 

“I had a lot of chances out there that just edged the hole so going into the last two days I will be trying to hole a few more of them and anything can happen really.

“Two good under par rounds from two of us is all it really needs to jump us up there. We will just be trying to keep giving ourselves chances and hopefully a few more will drop in the next two days.”

Ireland's best performance in the event is a share of 11th place by Danielle McVeigh and the Maguire twins, Lisa and Leona, at Olivos Golf Club and Buenos Aires Golf Club in Argentina in 2010.

2016 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship

Mayakoba El Camaleon Golf Club (M) Par 72, 6,295-yard/5,752m
Iberostar Playa Paraiso Golf Club (I) Par 72, 6,167-yard/5,637m

Team scores / Individual scores

1.Republic of Korea (KOR) - 138 I-137 M -- 275 (-13)

  Hye jin Choi 70-69--139

  Min ji Park 74-68--142

  Hyun kyung Park 68-75--143

2.Switzerland (SUI) - 137 M-145 I -- 282 (-6)

  Kim Metraux 69-72--141

  Morgane Metraux 68-73--141

  Azelia Meichtry 73-80--153

3.Ireland (IRL) - 146 M-141 I -- 287 (-1)

  Leona Maguire 72-70--142

  Olivia Mehaffey 74-71--145

  Annabel Wilson 80-79--159

T4.Denmark (DEN) - 151 M-137 I -- 288 (Even)

  Puk Lyng Thomsen 73-67--140

  Malene Kroelboell Hansen 80-70--150

  Marie Lund-Hansen 78-73--151

T4.Thailand (THA) - 145 I-143 M -- 288 (Even)

  Pajaree Anannarukarn 74-69--143

  Kanyalak Preedasuttijit 71-75--146

  Manuschaya Zeemakorn 74-74--148

6.People's Republic of China (CHN) - 143 M-147 I -- 290 (+2)

  Wenbo Liu 71-75--146

  Yifan Ji 72-74--146

  Shan Pan 79-73--152

T7.Austria (AUT) - 146 M-145 I -- 291 (+3)

  Leonie Bettel 73-73--146

  Emma Spitz 75-72--147

  Ines Fendt 73-76--149

T7.United States of America (USA) - 146 M-145 I -- 291 (+3)

  Katelyn Dambaugh 72-72--144

  Mariel Galdiano 74-73--147

  Andrea Lee 74-73--147

9.Mexico (MEX) - 144 M-148 I -- 292 (+4)

  Isabella Fierro 71-73--144

  Maria Fassi 73-76--149

  Ana Paula Valdes 80-75--155

10.Canada (CAN) - 149 M-144 I -- 293 (+5)

  Naomi Ko 75-66--141

  Madeline Szeryk 74-78--152

  Josee Doyon 78-80--158

T11.Australia (AUS) - 147 M-147 I -- 294 (+6)

  Hannah Green 74-73--147

  Robyn Choi 73-75--148

  Karis Davidson 75-74--149

T11.New Zealand (NZL) - 147 I-147 M -- 294 (+6)

  Wenyung Keh 72-73--145

  Chantelle Cassidy 75-74--149

  Julianne Alvarez 77-75--152

T11.Paraguay (PAR) - 148 I-146 M -- 294 (+6)

  Sofia Garcia 74-72--146

  Maria Fernanda Escauriza 74-74--148

  Milagros Chaves 79-74--153

T11.Spain (ESP) - 151 M-143 I -- 294 (+6)

  Maria Parra 75-70--145

  Harang Lee 76-73--149

  Luna Sobron 78-73--151

T15.Japan (JPN) - 142 M-153 I -- 295 (+7)

  Nasa Hataoka 71-76--147

  Hina Arakaki 71-78--149

  Yumi Matsubara 74-77--151

T15.Sweden (SWE) - 148 M-147 I -- 295 (+7)

  Linnea Strom 74-73--147

  Emma Henrikson 74-74--148

  Frida Gustafsson Spang 80-79--159

17.England (ENG) - 147 M-150 I -- 297 (+9)

  Meghan MacLaren 73-73--146

  Alice Hewson 74-78--152

  Gemma Clews 78-77--155

T18.Czech Republic (CZE) - 148 I-150 M -- 298 (+10)

  Karolina Vlckova 74-73--147

  Katerina Vlasinova 74-81--155

  Kristyna Frydlova 82-77--159

T18.Italy (ITA) - 147 M-151 I -- 298 (+10)

  Bianca Fabrizio 71-75--146

  Carlotta Ricolfi 76-76--152

  Laura Lonardi 77-79--156

T18.Taipei, Chinese (TPE) - 146 M-152 I -- 298 (+10)

  Ya-Chun Chang 75-75--150

  Jo-Hua Hung 71-80--151

  Ching-Tzu Chen 78-77--155

21.Norway (NOR) - 147 I-152 M -- 299 (+11)

  Renate Hjelle Grimstad 70-75--145

  Stina Resen 77-77--154

  Marthe Wold 84-78--162

T22.Ecuador (ECU) - 147 M-153 I -- 300 (+12)

  Daniela Darquea 71-72--143

  Anika Veintemilla 76-81--157

  Coralia Arias 82-90--172

T22.India (IND) - 154 M-146 I -- 300 (+12)

  Gaurika Bishnoi 75-75--150

  Tvesa Malik 82-71--153

  Diksha Dagar 79-78--157

T24.Belgium (BEL) - 153 I-149 M -- 302 (+14)

  Leslie Cloots 76-70--146

  Clarisse Louis 77-79--156

  Diane Baillieux 78-84--162

T24.Brazil (BRA) - 149 I-153 M -- 302 (+14)

  Luiza Altmann 73-76--149

  Lauren Grinberg 78-77--155

  Clara Teixeira 76-83--159

T24.Colombia (COL) - 151 M-151 I -- 302 (+14)

  Silvia Garces 72-72--144

  Cynthia Diaz 79-79--158

  Laura Sojo 81-82--163

T24.Hong Kong, China (HKG) - 148 M-154 I -- 302 (+14)

  Tiffany Chan 71-80--151

  Mimi Ho 78-74--152

  Michelle Cheung 77-80--157

T24.Puerto Rico (PUR) - 147 M-155 I -- 302 (+14)

  Maria F. Torres 70-78--148

  Valeria Sofia Pacheco 77-77--154

  Yudika Ann Rodriguez 82-79--161

T29.Finland (FIN) - 150 I-153 M -- 303 (+15)

  Emily Pentilla 76-74--150

  Matilda Castren 74-80--154

  Daniella Barrett 77-79--156

T29.Germany (GER) - 150 I-153 M -- 303 (+15)

  Esther Henseleit 76-76--152

  Sophie Hausmann 74-78--152

  Antonia Eberhard 77-77--154

T29.South Africa (RSA) - 148 M-155 I -- 303 (+15)

  Ivanna Samu 74-77--151

  Cara Gorlei 74-78--152

  Kaleigh Telfer 79-82--161

T32.France (FRA) - 152 M-152 I -- 304 (+16)

  Agathe Laisne 76-76--152

  Mathilda Cappeliez 76-76--152

  Pauline Roussin-Bouchard 85-82--167

T32.Netherlands (NED) - 149 M-155 I -- 304 (+16)

  Dewi Weber 73-77--150

  Zhen Bontan 77-78--155

  Roos Haarman 76-85--161

34.Scotland (SCO) - 156 I-149 M -- 305 (+17)

  Jessica Meek 76-75--151

  Rachael Taylor 80-74--154

  Connie Jaffrey 81-81--162

35.Peru (PER) - 152 M-154 I -- 306 (+18)

  Lucia Gutierrez 76-77--153

  Maria Salinas Valle 76-79--155

  Micaela Farah 79-77--156

T36.Argentina (ARG) - 159 M-148 I -- 307 (+19)

  Ela Anacona 78-73--151

  Magdalena Simmermacher 83-75--158

  Agustina Zeballos 81-83--164

T36.Russian Federation (RUS) - 159 I-148 M -- 307 (+19)

  Sofia Anokhina 78-73--151

  Sofya Morozova 81-75--156

  Vera Markevich 84-80--164

38.Slovakia (SVK) - 157 M-151 I -- 308 (+20)

  Natalia Heckova 80-74--154

  Lea Klimentova 79-77--156

  Laila Hrindova 78-81--159

39.Guatemala (GUA) - 159 I-150 M -- 309 (+21)

  Lucia Polo 80-73--153

  Valeria Mendizabal 79-79--158

  Pilar Echeverra 85-77--162

T40.Turkey (TUR) - 156 I-154 M -- 310 (+22)

  Selin Timur 76-75--151

  Tugce Erden 80-79--159

  Sena Ersoy 82-82--164

T40.Venezuela (VEN) - 157 I-153 M -- 310 (+22)

  Valentina Gilly 79-76--155

  Stephanie Gellini 78-77--155

  Nicole Ferre 80-82--162

42.Wales (WAL) - 157 I-155 M -- 312 (+24)

  Chloe Williams 78-79--157

  Katherine O'Connor 83-76--159

  Megan Lockett 79-86--165

43.Chile (CHI) - 159 I-154 M -- 313 (+25)

  Maria Jose Hurtado 75-79--154

  Isidora Nilsson 84-75--159

  Natalia Villavicencio 88-83--171

44.Poland (POL) - 158 I-156 M -- 314 (+26)

  Nastasia Kossacky 80-76--156

  Dorota Zalewska 78-80--158

  Dominika Gradecka 85-86--171

45.Slovenia (SLO) - 157 M-162 I -- 319 (+31)

  Katja Pogacar 78-78--156

  Ana Belac 79-85--164

  Nastja Banovec 85-84--169

46.Morocco (MAR) - 159 I-161 M -- 320 (+32)

  Ines Laklalech 79-76--155

  Lina Belmati 80-85--165

  Houria El Abbadi 81-89--170

47.Iceland (ISL) - 156 I-165 M -- 321 (+33)

  Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir 79-76--155

  Berglind Bjornsdottir 77-89--166

  Signy Arnorsdottir 79-90--169

48.Uruguay (URU) - 162 I-161 M -- 323 (+35)

  Sofia Garcia Austt 80-80--160

  Priscilla Schmid 82-81--163

  Manuela Barros 82-88--170

49.Bolivia (BOL) - 165 I-167 M -- 332 (+44)

  Daniela Siles 83-81--164

  Michelle Ledermann 82-86--168

50.Latvia (LAT) - 165 I-175 M -- 340 (+52)

  Anna Diana Svanka 78-83--161

  Laila Forstmane 87-92--179

T51.Bulgaria (BUL) - 174 I-172 M -- 346 (+58)

  Sofia Seldemirova 85-80--165

  Ivana Simeonova 89-96--185

  Stefani Skokanska 95-92--187

T51.Guam (GUM) - 172 I-174 M -- 346 (+58)

  Rachael Peterson 83-85--168

  Kristin Oberiano 89-89--178

  Rose Tarpley 92-90--182

53.Ukraine (UKR) - 173 I-178 M -- 351 (+63)

  Elvira Rastvortseva 85-85--170

  Anna Avdieieva 88-93--181

  Daria Horokhovska 99-103--202

54.Costa Rica (CRC) - 183 I-178 M -- 361 (+73)

  Ximena Montealegre 92-89--181

  Daniela Baudrit 91-92--183

  Pamela Calderon 95-89--184

55.Tunisia (TUN) - 185 I-181 M -- 366 (+78)

  Kenza Ladhari 84-84--168

  Hadia Mansouri 101-97--198

  Nour Ben Cherif 115-109--22