Irish duo Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow have made solid starts at the LPGA Tour Meijer Classic at Blythefield Country Club.Cavan's Maguire opened with a 69 to sit on three under par with Antrim’s Meadow a further stroke back after the first round.That means that they are well within reach of the six-under lead, shared by a quintet of players - Ayaka Furue of Japan, USA trio Cheyenne Knight, Lindsey Weaver-Wright and Jennifer Kupcho and Sweden’s Frida Kinhult.Starting on the 10th, Maguire started par-bogey, but a run of three straight birdies between the 12th and 14th had her out in 36.Her closing nine were dominated by pars, eight in all, but another birdie at the par-three fifth left her just outside the top 20.Meadow’s front nine – starting on the 10th – mirrored Maguire’s front with eight pars and one birdie, coming at the par-four 12th.
FULL LEADERBOARD She moved back to level par after a bogey at the second, but birdies at the fourth and eighth left Meadow in good shape heading into round two.At the top, defending champion Kupcho, Knight and Kinhult had bogey-free days in Michigan.
Kupcho had three birdies on the front nine and three on the back, the latter three all coming at par-five holes."I think (the course) kind of sets up really well for my game," Kupcho said. "Five par-fives, I like par-fives at all golf courses, so certainly helps."Kupcho is making her first start since the Mizuho Americas Open two weeks ago, when she lost in a playoff to Rose Zhang in Zhang's LPGA debut.The Meijer LPGA Classic was one of three wins for Kupcho last year, including a major [the Chevron Championship].