Maguire and Harrington set for shootouts as Meadow battles for survival
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Leona Maguire dug deep and birdied two of her last four holes to remain in the hunt for her maiden LPGA Tour victory at the Pelican Women's Championship in Florida.
But there was an even more gusty display from Stephanie Meadow, who carded an incredible 18 pars in a row in a second successive 70 to make the cut on the mark as she battles to keep her card.
Meadow is 101st in the Race to CME Globe standings, and while she is unsure what she needs to do, she may need a top 30 finish in Tampa to make the top 100 who keep their cards and avoid a trip to the Q-Series.
“Honestly, like I hit 16 greens I think today, and I hit it really close like all day,” Meadow said. “So I had a bunch of putts that were very, very much in birdie range and didn't make any of them.
“Then I missed two greens and had 10-footers for par and I made both of them. Those were stressful; the rest wasn't.”
With a host of players ranked behind her in the Race to CME Points List now ahead of her on the leaderboard, she knows she has to make birdies.
“It's all over the place,” she said of the permutations. “I feel like when it was money it was easier to figure out. I feel like points are -- it's just hard to know.
“There is a lot of girls here within a chance. There is two more days of golf left; a lot can happen.“
As Meadow battles for her livelihood, her Olympic teammate Maguire will be trying to make history and become the first Irishwoman to win on the LPGA Tour.
Following an eight-under 62 with another low round was always going to be a challenge, but while she holed little, Maguire chiselled out a two-under 68 at Pelican Golf Club near Tampa to go into the weekend tied for third on 10-under par.
The Co Cavan star is just one stroke behind Lexi Thompson and former college rival Jennifer Kupcho, who carded six-under 64s to top the leaderboard on 11-under.
"I felt like I played nice," Maguire said. "I didn't hole putts like I did yesterday; hit some really good approach shots and didn't quite take advantage."
With the top 14 on the leaderboard covered by just four shots, she added: "I think it's going to be probably a shootout at the weekend.
"It's just a case of trying to make as many birdies as you can and keep your foot down; see where it stands at the end of the weekend."
Pádraig Harrington also needs birdies in Dubai if he's to clinch a spot in next week's DP World Tour Championship.
The veteran (50) hasn't played in the season-ending event since 2016, but after following his opening 68 in AVIV Dubai Championship with a five-under 67 to share 17th on nine-under, he's on track to secure the top-seven finish he calculates he needs to make the top 51 in the Race to Dubai who qualify.
With affiliate member Will Zalatoris added to next week’s field, the top 51 in the Race to Dubai will tee it up on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates and 56th ranked Harrington knows he still has work to do on the Fire Course.
“It was an okay round though I struggled there on the last five holes, so it nice to finish with a birdie”, said the three-time Major winner, who lies six shots behind defending champion Antoine Rozner after making seven birdies and two bogeys.
Playing alongside Harrington, the Frenchman added a 64 to his opening 65 to lead by a shot from Denmark’s Joachim B Hansen and Italy’s Francesco Laporta on 15-under par.
“I had three three-putts today but then nine-under, I guess it's still right up there,” the Dubliner said. “What am I, six behind? So hopefully, I need another nine-under over the weekend.
“The thing is you just have to keep the foot down on the birdie pedal as this course is all about making birdies, so if I can shoot a similar nine-under or better over the weekend, I should be okay.
"It would be nice playing on the weekend and not having to think about needing to finish seventh or higher.”
Clandeboye’s Jonathan Caldwell will need to finish at least fifth to make it to the Earth Course next week and while he lied 47th in six-under, eight shots outside the top five, he was thrilled to shoot 67, recovering from what might have been a fatal double-bogey at the 14th with three birdies in his last four holes in an eight birdie round.
"It was a very solid round and very happy though there were one or two poor holes, like three-putting the second and then hitting a terrible tee shot at the 14th that found the water but I recovered with three nice birdies coming in," Caldwell said.
“I’m pleased with my finish because I was right in the cut line after the double.”
Meanwhile, Shane Lowry was in danger of missing back to back cuts for the first time in over a year in the weather-delayed Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open.
Resuming on two-under-par with eight holes of his first round to complete, the Offaly man got to three-under playing the 18th but had to settle for a 69 after a closing double bogey.
Struggling with his irons, he went back out and double-bogeyed the 13th, his fourth, and triple-bogeyed the 17th en route to a three-over 73 that left him a shot outside the projected cut line on two-over.
Seamus Power birdied three of his last five holes as followed a 75 with a 70 to miss the cut on five-over as Martin Trainer carded back to back 65s—putting 16 missed cuts in his last 17 starts behind him—to lead by a shot from Kevin Tway on 10-over.
Graeme McDowell was tied 57th on one-over par, three-over for the day through 12 holes, when play was suspended due to darkness.
Meanwhile, Simon Bryan tied for fifth on five-under with James Sugrue 27th on level par as they secured Category 6 cards at the Alps Tour Qualifying School near Rome.
The qualifying mark for the top 35 and ties fell at one-over with Kerry's Michael Young (three-over) Kilkenny's Luke Donnelly (six-over) earned Category 8 membership.
