Leona Maguire misses cut at Portland Classic

Leona Maguire has missed the cut at the Portland Classic with a second-round 73 not proving enough to keep her in the field for the weekend.

After a difficult start on Thursday at the Columbia Edgewater Country Club in which the Cavan native carded an opening 75, Maguire improved on Friday's day two of action but it left her four over par for the tournament and four shots outside the cut mark.

The 27-year-old managed consecutie birdies on 15 and 16 but three bogeys - two on the front nine - resulted in a one-over par round.

LEADERBOARD

At the top of the leaderboard, Germany's Esther Henseleit used a string of five straight birdies to shoot an eight-under-par 64 and tie Lilia Vu for the second-round lead.

Vu joined Henseleit at 10-under by shooting a 66. They held a one-shot edge over Carlota Ciganda of Spain (66 Friday), with a group of six players tied for fourth two strokes back.

After starting her round with four birdies on the back nine, Henseleit bogeyed the par-4 first but then sank birdies at holes two to six to shoot up the leaderboard.

After one more bogey at the par-3 eighth, she got back to 10 under with a birdie on her final hole, the par-4 ninth.

"I had many chances but they were not gimmes. I didn't have like a tap-in birdie at all," said Henseleit, who credited her caddie for helping her leave herself straight, uphill putts.

Vu's highlight was at the par-5 seventh, when she bounced back from her lone bogey of the day with an eagle. She also birdied four of her first five holes.

"It feels pretty good to be in contention here," Vu said. "The course is a little tighter. It's not as long, but definitely tight off the tee. I kind of struggled yesterday off the tee. I'm surprised I got away with it and finished 4-under.