Maguire eight back as Jeeno extends lead at Women's PGA Championship

IRELAND'S LEONA MAGUIRE is eight shots off the lead held by Jeeno Thitikul at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship in Texas.
Maguire dropped back with a second-round 74 after an encouraging start on Thursday.
The Cavan golfer sits in a share for 16th, two-over for the tournament in testing conditions at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco north of Dallas.
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Maguire would have hoped to hit the ground running on Friday, but five bogeys in her opening seven holes saw her start slowly. Starting on the back nine, she dropped shots on the 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th and 16th. That sequence was broken with a birdie on hole 15, while others followed on the third and the ninth as she recovered well.
Making the cut will have been Maguire's first target this weekend, however, having missed four in a row and slid to 87 in the world rankings.
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Thitikul closed with back-to-back birdies in a two-under par 70 to stretch her lead to three strokes as sweltering heat and high winds again tested golfers.
Jeeno, the world number two from Thailand, started the day with a one-shot lead over Australia's Minjee Lee. Like Maguire, she teed off on the 10th hole and after a bogey at 12 was back in control with birdies at the 15th and third.
She gave a stroke back at the par-three fourth, where she missed the green, but rolled in a 12-foot birdie at the eighth and a four-footer at the ninth to finish 36 holes on six-under 138.
'The wind and the rough,' the 22-year-old said of the toughest challenges on a day when only 14 players broke par.
The 22-year-old, who has won already this year on both the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour, is chasing her first major title.
She was three strokes clear of Australian Minjee Lee and Japan's Rio Takeda.
Only seven players finished the day under par for the tournament.
US veteran Lexi Thompson was alone in fourth after a 70 for two-under 142 with South Korean Lee So-mi, Japan's Chisato Iwai and American Auston Kim sharing fifth on one-under 143.
World number one Nelly Korda carded a two-over 74, finally mustering two birdies in her last three holes to finish the day eight strokes off the lead.
Maguire begins her third round at 3.50pm Irish time, paired with Bailey Tardy.
– © AFP 2025

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