Maguire and Meadow fight back to make cut in Boca Raton
Lydia Ko of New Zealand looks on from the 17th tee during the second round of the 2022 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio Golf Club on January 28, 2022 in Boca Raton, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow produced sub-par rounds to make the cut in the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio.
Maguire birdied the 16th (her seventh) but then had to work hard to make the weekend after running up a double-bogey five at the par-three 17th.
The Solheim Cup star birdied the first and second, then picked up another shot at the par-five eighth to card a 70 that left her tied 38th on one-under.
She was10 shots behind halfway leaders Lydia Ko (70) and Danielle Kang (68), who lead by four strokes on 11-under par from England's Jodi Ewart Shadoff (69) and Japan's Yuka Saso (70).
Meadow opened with a 75 but fired four birdies in a three-under 69 to share 49th on level par.
She made an early bogey at the 14th but birdied the 15th and 16th before picking up further shots at the second and seventh.
Fresh off her sixth LPGA Tour win, Kang's 68 saw her catch overnight leader Ko at halfway.
"I'm just proud of the process. It's not just about repeating the same thing I did last week. It's being able to keep the consistency up," Kang said after closing with back-to-back birdies.
"I really wanted to get to double digits [under par]. That was my goal today, so I was happy to do that."
Ko recorded four birdies in a 70 and admitted it was a struggle at times.
"More of a grind than yesterday," she said. "I don't think I played as solid compared to yesterday (63), and I don't think I could have played much better than the first round.
"When you get off to a hot start, I think you do put a little bit of pressure [on yourself]. Even though you're a couple under par, you don't feel like it was as good because you keep comparing. But I tried not to do that and be committed over each shot, play the best golf I could today."