Leona Maguire misses first major cut for four years
Leona Maguire missed her first cut in a women’s major for four years in the Chevron Championship in Texas.
The Co Cavan star (29) added a four-over 76 to her opening 72 at The Club at Carlton Woods to miss out on the weekend action by two strokes.
It was Maguire’s first failure to make the weekend in a women’s major since the 2020 AIG Women’s Open at Royal Troon.
The world number 23 made six bogeys and two birdies, hitting just six fairways and greens in regulation.
The reverse comes less than a fortnight after she lost to world number one Nelly Korda in the T-Mobile Match Play and leaves Stephanie Meadow as Irish golf’s lone hopeful in Texas.
The Jordanstown talent made two birdies and two bogeys in a level par 72 to share 30th on one-under.
“A so-so day,” Meadow said. “I didn’t hit my driver that well today so honestly pretty happy with the score and how I just tried to scrounge out not my A game and still be into the weekend and somewhere around the top of the leaderboard.
“I still hit my irons really well. So I'm going to try and go figure out what's going on with the driver right now and talk to coach and just go for it this weekend.”
She’s seven shots behind LPGA Tour rookie Jin Hee Im and 21-year-old Thai star Atthaya Thitikul after both shot rounds of 69 and 67 to lead by a shot from Korda, who shot 69, on eight-under.
Korda is coming off her third-straight LPGA Tour victory and fourth in consecutive starts on Tour.
With a win this week, she will tie Annika Sorenstam’s and Nancy Lopez’s record for most wins in consecutive starts on the LPGA Tour.
“I'm just at the halfway point right now,” Korda said. “The amount of golf that I've played, I still have that to go.
“There is still a lot of golf left and anything can happen. Just going to stick to my process and ‘vibe with it,’ is what my coach says.”
On the PGA Tour, Masters champion Scottie Scheffler kept alive his chances of recording his fourth win in his last five starts at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head.
The world number one shot a six-under 65 at Harbour Town to move up to tenth place on eight-under at halfway.
He’s just three shots behind co-leaders Tom Hoge, Sepp Straka, Collin Morikawa and JT Poston, who lead by one stroke from Masters runner-up Ludvig Aberg, Patrick Rodgers and Mackenzie Hughes on 11-under.
Loving the tactical challenge of Harbour Town, Scheffler said: “There's some holes where distance can be an advantage, and there's plenty of holes where you've got to place the ball and move it around the trees.
“I'm a big fan of trees on golf courses, so getting to play a place like this where there's a lot of trees is nice, especially when you're not hitting it in the trees. That's always a good thing.”
Seamus Power shot 70 and Rory McIlroy a three-under 68 to share 12th on seven under.
Shane Lowry is tied 57th on level par in the 68-man field after a second-round 72.
