Leona Maguire finishes in style to move into Open contention

Leona Maguire played her way into contention at the AIG Women's Open at Muirfield, posting an impressive second round 69 to move up the leaderboard.

The Cavan native shot two under at the renowned Scottish links and now sits inside the top 15, having teed off among the early starters on Friday.

It wasn’t all plain sailing, however, for the former amateur world number one as Maguire found herself one over par on the fourth hole having started the second round on level par following Thursday’s 71.

Maguire bounced right back with an eagle on the fifth hole to get under par and while two further bogeys followed on 11 and 13, the Slieve Russell golfer ended in style, playing the last five holes in three under par.

The Olympian will be out among the late starters on Saturday, however, Rio and Tokyo team-mate Stephanie Meadow will miss out on the weekend action having played the two rounds in six over par.

Starting the day on five over par following a disappointing first round 76, Meadow made a front nine charge to get to three over at the turn, however, the round fell apart on the 13th and 14th holes as the Jordanstown native dropped three shots to leave her with an uphill battle on the way home.

Birdie on 17 offer Meadow a glimmer or hope, however, while birdie was the minimum she made bogey to move further away from the cut line.

South African Ashleigh Buhai is the current leader on six under par mid-way through her second round, while Celine Boutier and Minjee Lee share the clubhouse lead on four under.