A record thirteen Irish players teed it up in the KPMG Women’s Irish Open but fans looking for something to do while Coldplay have a night off on Saturday will have slim pickings with just Leona Maguire and Anna Abom carrying home hopes into the weekend in Carton House Fairmont.
Maguire lies six shots behind Finnish veteran Ursula Wikstrom on four-under-par after an underwhelming 72 while 18-year-old debutant, Abom, eased into the weekend with a superb 71 for a three-under total.
That was the highlight of Friday morning but the afternoon did serve up some tension with a host of Irish youngsters battling valiantly to make the cut but ultimately in vein.
Elm Park’s Anna Foster eagled the first and birdied 3, 12 and 13 to give herself a chance of making the cut on level-par but her putter dried up as the bogeyed the par-5 15th and missed birdie opportunities on 16, 17 and 18 to miss out by the minimum on her professional debut despite carding a 71.
Oughterard teenager Kate Dillon was going great guns with one birdie and thirteen pars to lie on level-par before a gut wrenching quadruple bogey 9 on her 15th hole put paid to her hopes.
Carton House touring professional Lauren Walsh birdied three of her last seven holes in the morning to give herself hope of making the cut on plus one, but the mark never budged all afternoon while the youngest player in the field, Olivia Costello (Roscommon) aged just 16 bogeyed the last to miss out on weekend action by the minimum.
Turning attentions to the top of the leaderboard, Finland’s Wikstrom is 21 years on the LET but has yet to taste victory in 341 starts despite amassing just over €1 million in career earnings.
The 44-year-old played in her first major in fifteen years at the AIG Women’s Open last week and has a great record in Ireland having lost out here in a playoff in 2022 before finishing 9th last year after a final round of 74.
“Always nice good golf courses. Good atmosphere. We always get big crowds. It’s nice to play in that atmosphere always,” said Wikstrom who has carded back to back rounds of 68 to lie one ahead of Luna Sobron Galmes and two ahead of Englishwoman Annabel Dimmock whose mother is from Cork and shares third place.
“Putter is working and hitting the wedges close by which is what makes things quite easy. Oh well, 21 years on tour and no victories! Yes, I’ve had many chances.
“I’m old enough, I’ve been playing long enough. There were a lot times when it was becoming like a barrier to me, I was probably wanting it too much. In a way, I feel like I’m a little bit over it already.”
Wikstrom had a local caddie Adrian on the bag in Dromoland and the pair got in touch again in February to arrange a date on the O’Meara course this week and it has proved to be another successful partnership so far.
“I have the same caddie who has been two years on my bag from Dromoland so it’s nice to be with him. And today, I think we all played five under. We were all making birdies. It’s nice to play when everybody plays well and makes putts. You sort of feel like, “Oh I’m going make it as well.” You get a good atmosphere out of it.”
Maguire is part of the chasing pack in 21st place and she admitted after her round that she will need a pair of low rounds to stand any chance of lifting a maiden Irish Open title.
The Cavan star took 34 putts in round one and had similar frustrations on Friday before marching straight to the putting green with her coach Shane O’Grady before she could even break for lunch.
“I was just flat today, didn’t quite hit it as nicely as I did yesterday. I drove it well but didn’t quite give myself as many chances as yesterday. Again, I couldn’t really buy a putt. I’m struggling to read the greens a little bit but I will do a bit of work on putting this afternoon and try and make some more over the weekend.
“I definitely think there is a low one out there. I am going to need two low ones I think. I just have to keep giving myself chances over the next two days and see what happens.”
Dimmock meanwhile, is another form horse when it comes to Ireland having finished 4th and 5th in her previous two outings here and she will prove a popular follow on Saturday once the bulk of the crowd have seen Maguire to the finish.