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.
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