Danielle Kang of The United States and her caddie shelter from the rain under an umbrella during Day Two of the HSBC Women's World Championship at Sentosa Golf Club on March 03, 2023 in Singapore. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Leona Maguire shot a second successive 70 in the rain-delayed $1.8 million HSBC Women's World Championship to remain six shots off the lead in Singapore.

But the Co Cavan star now has more work to do to challenge the leaders after falling from tied 14th to 21st at Sentosa Golf Club's Tanjong Course, where Danielle Kang overcame a four-hour rain delay and carded a bogey-free, nine-under 63 to snatch the halfway lead on 10-under par.

Scores

"I actually don't mind weather delays that much because I feel I just have time to chill; I feel less rushed," said Kang, who leads by one stroke from Allisen Corpuz (65), South Korea's Hyo Joo Kim (67) and overnight leader Elizabeth Szokol (71) in the race for a $270,000 payday.

"But my caddie was really helpful in the rain. I told him he had magic towels. I don't know what was happening, but the grip was fully soaked when it went in the bag, and every time he handed me the club, it was completely dry. So it was pretty incredible."

World number 11 Maguire got off to an excellent start and birdied the first, fifth, sixth and eighth to move to six under.

But she would bogey the ninth and 10th, then follow a birdie four at the 16th with a closing bogey five to finish on four-under.

Kang hit all 14 fairways and missed just two greens as she made ninth birdies, going to the turn in five-under 31 before picking up four shots on the back nine - three in a row from the 12th, followed by another at the 16th.

"I stayed really patient," Kang added. "I tried to stay focused on the shot that I was hitting, more so than where I was standing with the score.

"I was just trying to really stay in the present and focus on what was in front of me, whether it was walking through the mud or whether it was sitting there, waiting for the weather delay. I wasn't really trying to get ahead of myself, and I think I did a really good job."

AIG Women's Open champion Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa, Sweden's Linn Grant and former world number one Nelly Korda are tied for fifth, just two shots off the pace on eight-under.

Japanese trio Nasa Hataoka, Ayaka Furue and Yuka Saso rounded out the top 10 on seven-under alongside Georgia Hall and South Korea's Jin Young Ko.

LEADERBOARD R1 R2 TOTAL
1 Danielle Kang 71 63 -10
T2 Allisen Corpuz 70 65 -9
T2 Hyo Joo Kim 68 67 -9
T2 Elizabeth Szokol 64 71 -9
T5 Ashleigh Buhai 69 67 -8
T5 Linn Grant 69 67 -8
T5 Nelly Korda 68 68 -8
T21 Leona Maguire 70 70 -4

Allisen Corpuz on watching her friend Lillia Vu win last week at the Honda LPGA Thailand:

“I'm obviously so happy for Lili. I've known her for such a long time, really going all the way back to being like nine, ten years old, competing together. It was just really special to be there on 18 and watch her get the win and just watch her put up such a great final round. I think she's just such a great example of hard work really paying off.

And, yeah, just hoping to learn from her example and just kind of keep following in her footsteps.”

Hyo Joo Kim on feeling comfortable at Sentosa:

“So I had confidence having won at this course once, but I'm always focused on making myself better. So I'm looking forward to challenging myself the next two days to get a better performance than what I have so far already.”

Elizabeth Szokol on how she handled herself on a difficult day

“Yeah, so it was a really long day. So just happy with how I battled today. I didn't have my best stuff, but it was a long day. Just happy to finish the day and still have a round under par.

Nelly Korda on the beauty of golf:

“Just know that everyone is going through the same situation. It is what it is. That's the beauty of golf. I feel like you endure different types of weather. And you just kind of repeat to yourself that you love golf and you love what you're doing. These long days are hard, and a lot of people don't really -- viewers don't really know like about our days like these. You know, I think I was with my caddie for over 12 hours today, and many people don't really see that side of our life. But it is what it is, and Mother Nature is what it is, and sometimes you kind of get stuck in the storms.”

Linn Grant on her goals for the season:

“To make the Solheim Cup team, to become top five in the world. And then win a major. I'll add that, to win a major.”