Leona Maguire takes a one shot lead into the weekend at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club
It was a cold and wet Friday as players took on the tough test of Baltusrol's Lower course on the second day of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. Only 22 of the 155 players (Austin Ernst retired before her round) were able to shoot under par.
This meant that the cut line moved quite a bit during the day and having been initially predicted to be three-over-par, it moved to five-over-par.
The cut line move enabled Major champions and big names such as Lydia Ko (+5), Anna Nordqvist (+5), Ashleigh Buhai (+4), Lexi Thompson (+4) and Hannah Green (+4) to feature this weekend. Unfortunately the same can't be said for some of the other Major contenders this week, current Chevron Champion Lilia Vu (+6), Jennifer Kupcho (+7), Georgia Hall (+9) and Nelly Korda (+11).
Heading into the weekend, the leaderboard might not look quite as expected, with not one American featuring in the top five and only three in the top 15.
Minjee Lee (-3) fought back from a first round 72 to shoot the joint best round of the day, a four-under-par 67 to be in a tie for fifth. Jin Young Ko (-1) is in a tie for eighth after a 69, whilst Brooke Henderson is also in eighth after a disappointing 74. Three Major winners in the mix with Yuka Saso one shot further back at even-par.
Leona Maguire leads into the weekend
Apart from these Major winners and current leader Leona Maguire, there are names near the top that many wouldn't have considered contenders at the start of the week. Mel Reid (-4), Celine Borge (-4) and first round leader Lee-Anne Pace (-3), are just three of them.
It makes for an interesting two days ahead, where it is hard to predict what will happen. Maguire leads by one shot at five-under-par and has put together two solid rounds of golf with just four bogeys. On Friday, the 28-year-old produced three birdies on her final four holes to get to the top of the leaderboard.
The Irishwoman came into the week straight off a win at the Meijer LPGA Classic and was asked whether she felt she was continuing with the momentum:
"Very different mentality, different mindset. But feel like my game has sort of taken over from last week. I'm very comfortable with how I'm hitting it, picking my targets and committing to those."
However, Maguire is acutely aware that there is still a lot of golf to be played:
"Taking it one day at a time. I think this golf course demands that. I think you can't think more than one shot ahead, let alone a hole or a round ahead. Just really taking it shot by shot and trying to hit as good a shots as I can."
Mel Reid finding form at the right moment
Unfortunately for Solheim Cup fans we won't see a final pairing of Maguire and Reid, with Maguire paired with China's Xiyu Lin (-4) and Reid playing with Borge.
Reid sits in second place and is unlikely to be the Englishwoman that many had in mind heading into this Major week. The 35-year-old is sticking to her game plan:
"Obviously it's good ball-striking. Still a beast of a golf course. Weather kind of held up, which was nice, but don't feel like I've kind of been hitting my "A" game yet. It's only halfway, isn't it, so just try to stick to the game plan the next couple of days and see what happens."
It was a tougher day for overnight leader Pace but she is only two shots back and is happy heading into Saturday:
"I'm pretty much always happy. I'm still in contention in a Major championship. How can I not be happy? Annoyed about my last hole, but happy."
We're sure that Baltusrol has more tricks up its sleeve to keep the players on their toes this weekend. With eight hours of solid coverage starting at 4pm (BST), we'll be tuning in to see whether anyone can tame the beast of Baltusrol.
Follow the KPMG Women's PGA Championship live leaderboard link here.
Inspired by the second women's Major of the season? Why not come and watch the best players in the world at the AIG Women's Open this summer at Walton Heath. Ticket prices start from £20.
