PRINGFIELD, NJ - JUNE 23: Leona Maguire on the 17th hole during the second round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club on Friday, June 23, 2023 in Springfield, New Jersey. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/PGA of America)

Leona Maguire sparkled in the rain to claim the halfway lead in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Baltusrol but insisted it was too soon to start thinking about clinching her first major win.

Brimming with confidence after clinching her second LPGA Tour win in Michigan on Sunday, the world number 12 birdied four of her last six holes in the intermittent New Jersey drizzle and added a three-under 68 to her opening 69 to head the field by a shot on five-under-par.

It was a first Major championship lead for the Co Cavan star (28), who has been tipped for superstardom after a brilliant amateur career.

But she knows she has a long way to go before she can join the likes of her erstwhile short-game coach Pádraig Harrington, or Fred Daly, Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Darren Clarke or Graeme McDowell in the Major-winning club.

"This is uncharted territory for me,” the Solheim Cup star of her first halfway lead in a Major. "Whatever happens this week, I'm sure I'll learn a lot. I'm just taking it one day at a time.

"I think this golf course demands that. I think you can't think more than one shot ahead, let alone a hole or a round ahead. Just really taking it shot by shot and trying to hit as good a shots as I can.

"Yeah, (winning) that seems like a long way away. I think dinner first tonight and then we'll worry about tomorrow in the morning."

Playing to her strengths — capitalising on accurate approach play with a clinical putter — she's missed just two fairways and only two greens in regulation over the first two rounds and leads by the slimmest of margins from her 2021 Solheim Cup partner Mel Reid (67), Norwegian rookie Celine Borge (69) and China's Xiyu Lin (71) on five-under-par.

In an added boost, Jordanstown's Stephanie Meadow is just four shots behind her in a tie for eighth on one-under after also carding a fine 68.

"Yeah, really happy with how I played today," said Maguire, who started on the back nine and followed a bogey at the 15th with a birdie four at the 17th to keep clubhouse leader Lin in her sights.

"Weather was a little bit trickier today, especially on the back nine when that rain came in. I think we were just glad we got finished. We've been pretty blessed with the weather the last two days.

"Similar to yesterday, played really well. Gave myself a lot of chances. Didn't really hole any putts on the front side. But nice to get those three birdies coming in.”

She added: "My approach shots were really good. Gave myself a lot of chances. Didn't quite read the greens well on the front side but stayed patient and kept giving myself some chances, and nice to see a few roll in on the back.”

It was a day for waterproofs at the demanding New Jersey track, but that didn't bother Maguire, who stayed loose by chatting with caddie Dermot Byrne after the withdrawal with a neck injury shortly before the start of the third member of her threesome, Austin Ernst, left her and Japan's Hinako Shibuno with frequent waits.

"I suppose if this weather was at home, nobody would even comment on it," she said. "Yeah, it's second nature. I've grown up in it. Most of the time at home, if you wait for a dry day, you're not going to play golf very often.

"It doesn't bother me. I know half the battle is having a good attitude and accepting it's going to be the same for everybody and you're going to hit good shots that are maybe not going to come off and things like that.

"Maybe just a little bit more patience than usual on days like today.”

Maguire made her move on the front nine, ripping her tee shot to three feet at the 136-yard fourth (her 13th) for the first of two birdie twos.

She was unfortunate to roll off the front of the fifth and fail to get up and down. But she made amends coming down the stretch as she rolled in a right-to-left breaking 20-footer at the sixth, chipped close to birdie the par-five seventh, then stuffed a five-hybrid to seven feet at the 185-yard ninth and rolled in the putt.

"Yeah, hit a really solid five-hybrid in there," she said. "It was nice to give myself a birdie putt up the hill to finish. Played the par-3s really nicely today, which on this golf course you kind of take par on any of the par-3s, so two birdies on the par-3s, pretty happy today.”

After winning the LPGA Meijer Classic and her second LPGA title on 21-under par on Sunday, she's had to change her mindset this week.

"Yeah, very different mentality, different mindset," she said. "But feel like my game has sort of taken over from last week. I'm very comfortable with how I'm hitting it, picking my targets and committing to those.

"I think the big thing today was staying really patient given that we were in a two, jam-packed in a field that wasn't really moving. Did a good job at concentrating and warming up when I needed to. It kind of kept the momentum going.”

It was the Ballyconnell native's seventh successive round in the sixties, but she wasn't about to spill the beans and give away the short-game secrets imparted to her by Pádraig Harrington when she visited his home last summer.

Stephanie Meadow at the 2023 KPMG Women's PGA

"He swore me to secrecy, so I won't be sharing any tips," she beamed. "I think Ireland as a country punches well above our weight when it comes to golf, and it's nice to have the guys looking out for me, Padraig, Paul, Shane. All of the guys have been very good to me, and I'm very appreciative of all of that."

As for Meadow (31), she had to lay up from the rough at the par-five 18th but got up and down from 190 yards for her fourth birdie of the day and a three-under 68 that left her tied eighth on one-under.

"So that was a great finish," she said. "Overall, just a really solid day. Hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens. You know, you just have to play smart around here. And that's what I did.

"There definitely were some sucker pins out there where if you go after them, you get in big trouble. Obviously, we got, I think, the nicer weather this afternoon. We got the worst weather yesterday.

"So it's just one of those golf courses. You have to hit good shots if you don't hit good shots, yeah, big numbers.”

After finishing third on her professional debut in the 2014 US Women's Open at Pinehurst, Meadow knows Majors are marathons, not sprints.

"We all know it's a major, so even par or a couple over is okay," said Meadow, who birdied the short fourth and par-five seventh before following her lone bogey at the par-three ninth with birdies at the 11th and 18th.

"You just go about your business and take it away from the pins and try to make pars rather than our usual, you know, fire and everything. And once you accept that, then you're good to go."