LEONA MAGUIRE CARDED a two-under-par second round of 68 on Friday to find herself six shots off the lead at the halfway mark of her Drive On Championship defence in Arizona.

It was a round of two halves for the Cavan woman, whose birdies on the third, sixth, seventh and eighth saw her post 32 at the turn. An inauspicious start to the back nine, however, saw her double bogey 11 and drop a further shot at 12, leaving her well off the pace at three under overall.

Maguire birdied 13 and rallied further down the stretch, however, closing out with two more birdies to sit six shots back from joint leaders Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand, Maddie Szeryk of Canada, and South Korea’s Jenny Shin.

Northern Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow had an even more mixed day than Maguire and is two shots further back than the defending champion.

The Jordanstown woman registered an even-par round to remain at four under for the tournament, shooting four birdies and four bogeys on her way to a second-round 72.