Leona Maguire misses cut at Meijer LPGA Classic as quartet crowd summit
Leona Maguire missed the cut at the Meijer LPGA Classic as a second-round 73 ensured that she will sit out the weekend in Michigan.
The Cavan native had been hovering just outside the cut mark after opening with a 72 on Thursday but she was unable to improve on that through Friday to finish one over for the tournament in a tie for 87th at the halfway mark and, crucially, outside the one-under cut-off point.
It is her fourth consecutive missed cut as she seeks form ahead of next week's major at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship as well as the KPMG Women's Irish Open at Carton House on the first week of July.
Meanwhile, Spain's Carlota Ciganda and South Korea's Hye-Jin Choi each had five-under-par rounds on Friday to forge a four-way tie atop the leaderboard.
They are tied with France's Celine Boutier, who carded a four-under 68 for the second straight day, and Australia's Karis Davidson (70) at eight under.
Ciganda, who missed the cut at last week's US Women's Open, shook off a slow start with three pars and a bogey to score three birdies over her next five holes before going on a heater with three straight birdies over her back nine and an additional birdie two holes later.
"I hit it pretty close and made a couple good putts that gave me confidence," Ciganda said. "Yeah, I felt pretty good out there."
She finished her day with par-bogey-par to complete an up-and-down day that was very much more up than down.
"I always feel comfortable in this golf course. I enjoy coming here and I seem to do well here."
Choi, by comparison, was the picture of consistency, suffering a single bogey on the par-3 11th. Beyond that, she was at or under par on every hole, netting birdies on holes one, four, six, eight, 16 and 18.
Despite 23 top 10 finishes, Choi, 25, is still seeking her first career win.
"Today the goal for my round was to be bogey-free, and I tried to be very calm during the round, so it was a good round today," Choi said.
The much-accomplished Boutier (six LPGA wins), finished well out of the running in a tie for 53rd at this event a season ago. But she's been rock-solid this go around, carding seven birdies with three bogeys to hit 68 two days running.
"For the past few weeks my game has been pretty solid," Boutier said. "I just feel like it's coming together kind of slowly, so hopefully a few good results here and there will help me build some momentum."
Davidson, 26, shares the lead on the strength of a sizzling opening round that featured six birdies and no bogeys. Seeking her first career win as well, she had three birdies and a bogey on Friday.
"I think this is the first time I've been tied for first in an LPGA event after two rounds, so, yeah, I'm just really excited that I wasn't fighting for the cut," Davidson said.
"It was a bit of a different feeling out there."
A staggering 20 golfers are within three strokes of the leaders. Six golfers are a single stroke back: Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen (68), Lexi Thompson (69), Amanda Doherty (69), England's Bronte Law (69), Australia's Minjee Lee (70) and Paraguay's Sofia Garcia (71).
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
11 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Lexi Thompson among six at summit for Meijer LPGA Classic finale
Six players, including Lexi Thompson, are tied at the top of the leaderboard after three rounds of the Meijer LPGA Classic in Belmont, Michigan. Thompson carded a four-under 68, as did co-leaders Nanna Koerstz Madsen of Denmark and Paraguay's Sofia Garcia. Sweden's Madelene Sagstrom tied for the best round of the day on Saturday, carding a five-under 67, while South Korea's Hye-Jin Choi and Spain's Carlota Ciganda each posted a three-under 69 to create the six-player logjam. "Of course it was a close call last year, but it's fair game tomorrow," said Thompson, who lost to Lilia Vu in a playoff at the Blythefield CC layout in 2024. "Everybody is going to come out swinging. Good weather tomorrow, so I know birdies will have to be made and I'll have to go pin-seeking. I will hope for the best, go out there and embrace the opportunity, and really love on the fans." Thompson, who has not won on tour since 2019, recorded seven birdies and three bogeys and finished with birdies on 16 and 18. Sagstrom dazzled the crowd, producing eagles on the fourth and sixth holes, sandwiched around a birdie on the fifth. The 2025 LPGA Match Play winner, who holed out from the fairway on the sixth, got to 12 under with a birdie at 14, but bogeyed the par-4 16th hole to drop to 11 under. Sagstrom will be paired with Thompson and Koerstz Madsen in the final threesome of the day on Sunday. Australia's Karis Davidson is two strokes behind at nine under, while four players - including Megan Khang - are tied at eight under. Wei-Ling Hsu of Chinese Taipei tied Sagstrom for the low round of the day and is tied for 12th at 7-under par. enduring a fourth missed cut in a row on tour following Friday's second round.
RTÉ News
a day ago
- RTÉ News
Leona Maguire misses cut at Meijer LPGA Classic as quartet crowd summit
Leona Maguire missed the cut at the Meijer LPGA Classic as a second-round 73 ensured that she will sit out the weekend in Michigan. The Cavan native had been hovering just outside the cut mark after opening with a 72 on Thursday but she was unable to improve on that through Friday to finish one over for the tournament in a tie for 87th at the halfway mark and, crucially, outside the one-under cut-off point. It is her fourth consecutive missed cut as she seeks form ahead of next week's major at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship as well as the KPMG Women's Irish Open at Carton House on the first week of July. Meanwhile, Spain's Carlota Ciganda and South Korea's Hye-Jin Choi each had five-under-par rounds on Friday to forge a four-way tie atop the leaderboard. They are tied with France's Celine Boutier, who carded a four-under 68 for the second straight day, and Australia's Karis Davidson (70) at eight under. Ciganda, who missed the cut at last week's US Women's Open, shook off a slow start with three pars and a bogey to score three birdies over her next five holes before going on a heater with three straight birdies over her back nine and an additional birdie two holes later. "I hit it pretty close and made a couple good putts that gave me confidence," Ciganda said. "Yeah, I felt pretty good out there." She finished her day with par-bogey-par to complete an up-and-down day that was very much more up than down. "I always feel comfortable in this golf course. I enjoy coming here and I seem to do well here." Choi, by comparison, was the picture of consistency, suffering a single bogey on the par-3 11th. Beyond that, she was at or under par on every hole, netting birdies on holes one, four, six, eight, 16 and 18. Despite 23 top 10 finishes, Choi, 25, is still seeking her first career win. "Today the goal for my round was to be bogey-free, and I tried to be very calm during the round, so it was a good round today," Choi said. The much-accomplished Boutier (six LPGA wins), finished well out of the running in a tie for 53rd at this event a season ago. But she's been rock-solid this go around, carding seven birdies with three bogeys to hit 68 two days running. "For the past few weeks my game has been pretty solid," Boutier said. "I just feel like it's coming together kind of slowly, so hopefully a few good results here and there will help me build some momentum." Davidson, 26, shares the lead on the strength of a sizzling opening round that featured six birdies and no bogeys. Seeking her first career win as well, she had three birdies and a bogey on Friday. "I think this is the first time I've been tied for first in an LPGA event after two rounds, so, yeah, I'm just really excited that I wasn't fighting for the cut," Davidson said. "It was a bit of a different feeling out there." A staggering 20 golfers are within three strokes of the leaders. Six golfers are a single stroke back: Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen (68), Lexi Thompson (69), Amanda Doherty (69), England's Bronte Law (69), Australia's Minjee Lee (70) and Paraguay's Sofia Garcia (71).
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- RTÉ News
Leona Maguire hovering just outside cut mark at Meijer LPGA Classic
Leona Maguire is just outside the cut mark after her opening round at the Meijer LPGA Classic in Michigan. The Cavan native carded a level par 72 on Thursday to sit in a tie for 83rd, eight shots down on leader Mi Hyang Lee of South Korea, whose 64 gives her a one-stroke lead over Australia's Grace Kim. Twenty-three golfers are within four strokes of Lee on the par-72 layout at Blythefield Country Club. Maguire's opening round featured bogeys on one and nine with the nadir being a double bogey on 17 which dropped her from one under down to one over, although she recovered to birdie the 18th - her fourth gain of the day after birdies on seven, ten and 13. She will tee off her second round from the 10th hole at 5.59pm this evening. Meanwhile, after parring the first four holes during her morning round, Lee needed only 11 strokes to birdie holes five to eight. After turning in 32, she eagled the par-5 10th hole, reaching the green in two and sinking a tough 24-footer. "I didn't expect I can hit the green there for my second shot," Lee said. "But it was a great line and good hit with the three-wood and I made the green. It was almost 24 feet, like right-to left-eagle putt. I didn't expect to make it." She birdied 14 and 17 in a bogey-free 64 and played the four par-5 holes in four under. Lee missed the cut in last weekend's US Open and the 32-year old Seoul native's best finish was a tie for sixth at the Ford Championships in late March. "I missed only two fairways," Lee said. "I think that's a lot of help to hit the greens a lot, too." Kim also eagled the 10th and played holes seven to 14 in six under. Paraguay's Sofia Garcia, Australia's Karis Davidson and Japan's Akie Iwai were two strokes back at six under. Six players, including Andrea Lee, the lone American in the top 11, carded five-under 67s. "It was a solid round overall," said Lee, a Los Angeles native. "I really wasn't expecting anything coming into today because I had a pretty bad cold last week and I'm still getting over it. Just played really solid golf, hit some good shots, made decent amount of putts." Defending champion Lilia Vu struggled with a five-over 77.
