Leona Maguire leads the Irish charge at the halfway point of the KPMG Women’s Irish Open at Carton House, but has plenty of ground to make up on leader Ursula Wikstroem on a day when just two home players secured weekend berths.
The Finnish player posted her second consecutive round of 68 and sits atop of the leaderboard on 10-under par, one clear of Spain’s Luna Sobron Galmes and Italy’s Alessandra Fanali.
England’s Annabel Dimmock is a shot further back after setting a new O’Meara Course record with a round of 66 that contained seven birdies and not a single dropped shot.
Maguire, meanwhile, finds herself six shots adrift after a one-under par round of 72.
Starting on the 10th, the Cavan golfer dropped a shot at the 11th but regained it at the next hole before a run of six straight pars. She opened and closed her second nine with birdies to go along with a bogey on the fifth to leave her on four-under par.
Amateur Anna Abom’s fine tournament continues, a second-round 71 leaving the 18-year-old on three-under par overall and in sight of the upper standings with a large crowd sure to follow her on Saturday.
There was heartbreak though for Irish trio Lauren Walsh, Anna Foster and amateur, and youngest player in the field, Olivia Costello who all missed out on the cut by a single stroke on one-over par.
Costello’s only birdie of the day at the 16th looked like it would book her another two days at the course, but a closing bogey brought her tournament to an early end.
There was similar frustration for Walsh who produced a brilliant second nine to get back into contention, but she wasn’t able to find the required birdie on her last hole.
Starting on the 10th, Walsh gave up three shots in her first nine with a double bogey at the par-five 15th proving particularly costly.
As she turned onto the front nine, she was well outside the cut-line but birdies at the fourth, sixth and eighth brought her into contention, but it wasn’t enough.
Foster opened with a brilliant eagle as she tried to make up for a poor opening round of 76, but a mix of three birdies and three bogeys after that wasn’t enough.
Roisin Scanlon (two-over), Annabel Wilson (three-over), Olivia Mehaffey (three-over), Emma Fleming (four-over) also missed out.
Further down the leaderboard, Aideen Walsh (six-over), Kate Dillon (six-over), Canice Screene (seven-over) and Kate Lanigan (eight-over) also missed out, although the latter responded well to Thursday’s 80 with a second-round 74.
Watch the Women’s Irish Open on Saturday and Sunday from 2pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player. Live coverage also available on Thursday and Friday from 4pm on the RTÉ News Channel and RTÉ Player.