Leona Maguire falls out of reckoning after tough day in Florida

Leona Maguire slumped to a disappointing four-over par 76 to languish near the foot of the field at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Florida.

LEADERBOARD

Sitting on one-under par overnight after a solid opening round, Maguire made an uneven start on Friday, with three birdies cancelled out by a bogey and a double-bogey 6 over the opening six holes.

However, four bogeys in seven holes between the ninth and 15th saw her fall back to one-over par, tied-52nd in a 60-strong field.

Maguire, who had finished runner-up at the tournament in 2022 when the winning purse was a then-record $2m, sits 11 strokes adrift of leader Angel Yin heading into the weekend.

Angel Yin carries a two-shot lead into the weekend after posting a 3-under-par 69.

Yin opened with a 65 Thursday and now sits comfortably at 10 under par, with South Korea natives Hye-Jin Choi and Narin An tied for second at 8 under. An, the first-round leader, settled for an even-par 72 while Choi shot her second straight 68.

"I think I have a really loud crowd that's always cheering me on," Yin said. "Even if I feel down they're going to pick me up. That's always very good. Grateful for that. And then that I'm playing good too. Even though I'm not hitting it the best I want to, I was hitting it better three weeks ago. But ifI can play well like this and if I hit it any a little bit better it's going to be better."

Yin's six birdies Friday counteracted three bogeys, and she's one of only four golfers in the field to shoot sub-70 rounds on both days so far.