CAVAN’S LEONA MAGUIRE carded an impressive second round of 67 to put her on nine under par in the Lotte Championship in Hawaii and in touch with the top of the leaderboard.
Maguire is just two shots of third in a tie for 10th, behind frontrunner Yuka Saso of the Philippines.
Stephanie Meadow, meanwhile, is seven under par after shooting a round of 70.
Saso fired a second straight 64 to take a two-stoke halfway lead over former world number one Lydia Ko.
The 19-year-old, who is seeking a first US LPGA title after two wins on the Japan LPGA, shared a one-stroke overnight lead with Brittany Altomare.
But she was six adrift when she teed off after New Zealand’s Ko stormed up the leaderboard with a sensational nine-under par 63 that featured nine birdies without a bogey.
Undaunted, Saso was two under through the first two holes at Kapolei Golf Club in Oahu, Hawaii.
After her lone bogey of the day at the fourth she birdied the fifth, then charged with four birdies in a row at the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th to tie Ko atop the leaderboard.
She snaked in a long birdie bomb at the 16th to gain the solo lead, and drained a four-footer at 17 as she built a 36-hole total of 16-under par 128.
It was a further stroke back to a trio of players on 134, headlined by Women’s US Open champion Kim A-lim.
Meanwhile, two-time defending champion Brooke Henderson of Canada, had work to do in her three-peat bid. She was six adrift after a second straight 68.
