Alex, Maguire break away from LPGA field

Marina Alex and Ireland's Leona Maguire have separated themselves from the rest of the pack to share the second-round lead at the LPGA Drive On Championship.

Maguire carded a bogey-free, seven-under-par 65, tying for the low round of the day, to jump to 13 under.

Later in the afternoon, Alex birdied her final two holes to polish off a six-under 66 and join Maguire.

"I was kind of losing a little steam, but happy to finish birdie-birdie," Alex said. "I kind of feel like I blacked out a little bit out there towards the end because I was so tired and I was like, 'All right, we're almost done.'"

Alex also shared the lead after the first round at Crown Colony Golf & Country Club. She sank seven birdies Friday and made just one bogey.

Maguire and Alex are four shots better than Brittany Altomare (67), Stacy Lewis (67) and Sweden's Linnea Johansson (69), who are tied for third at nine under.

Lexi Thompson (67), South Korea's Jeongeun Lee6 (69) and Thailand's Patty Tavatanakit (70) are at eight under in a tie for sixth.

Alex is hunting for her second LPGA Tour title after her lone victory at the 2018 Cambia Portland Classic. She said she's working on internalising some swing changes she made after the end of last season.

"That's going to be my focus," Alex said. "I'm probably going to want to revert to some old tendencies and all that ... it's good. It'll keep me disciplined through my routine, which is really important, and I think that will be helpful to just kind of not worry about the result."

Maguire is looking to break through for her first win after the former No.1-ranked amateur in the world had five top-10s, including two second-place finishes, in 2021.

"I'm a year older, I guess," Maguire said when asked about her