Northern Ireland golfer Stephanie Meadow will go into the third round of the LPGA Mediheal Championship in California in a share of third position behind runaway leader Jodi Ewart Shadoff of England, who shot a three-under-par 69 to extend her lead to four strokes.
Meadow got to within two shots of the leader after a run of four birdies in seven holes but two bogeys over her closing six holes saw the 30-year-old drop back to six under as she signed for a two-under 70.
Ewart Shadoff, who shot a 64 on Thursday to take the early lead at The Saticoy Club in Somis, is 11 under, four ahead of South Africa’s Paula Reto.
The 34-year-old leader is still looking for the first win of her LPGA Tour career.
“I feel really good,” Ewart Shadoff said. “Playing really consistent, and I feel really in control of my game. Just staying in my routine and hitting some good shots, rolling in the putts, so everything seems to be going well so far.
Ewart Shadoff started her day with four birdies in the first six holes to vault to 12 under for the tournament. But she slowed down from there, with three bogeys and two birdies the rest of the way.
“Shooting such a low number yesterday, you can’t expect to go out there and do that, shoot another eight, nine under again,” she said. “So I think I just played very similar today to yesterday. Couple putts here and there just didn’t fall. Overall I’m striking the ball well, hitting a lot of fairways, which I think is key out here.”
Reto, who won the Canadian Women’s Open in August, posted a two-under 70 on Friday with five birdies and three bogeys.
“It just boils down to, again, just being able to read those putts,” Reto said. “So if I put some extra time into that on the putting green today I feel like I can give it a run tomorrow and Sunday for sure.”
Tied for third at six under par alongside Meadow are France’s Pauline Roussin (68), Mexico’s Gaby Lopez (70), South Koreans Eun-Hee Ji (68) and Haeji Kang (69) and China’s Xiyu Lin (69) and Ruixin Liu (72).
Notable players to miss the cut line of one over par were defending champion Matilda Castren of Finland, South Korea’s Jeongeun Lee5, Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn.
Séamus Power missed out on the weekend action at the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas after a birdie run was undone when he found water on the par-three 17th at TPC Summerlin.
The Waterford golfer had got within the cut line thanks to back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th and almost pulled off a brilliant par save on the 17th when his third from the drop zone ended 16 inches from the pin. A closing par for a one-under 70 left Power one shot outside the cut.
Chile’s Mito Pereira, seeking his first win in his two years on the PGA Tour, shot an eight-under-par 63 to take the lead in Las Vegas.
Pereira sits at 12 under, giving him a one-shot edge on Robby Shelton, who also shot a 63 on Friday.
Maverick McNealy and two South Koreans, Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim, are tied for third at 10 under. McNealy and Si Woo Kim each carded a 68 on Friday, while Tom Kim shot 67.
Chad Ramey (66), Kevin Streelman (67) and Australia’s Cam Davis (66) share sixth place at nine under. Eight players, including Patrick Cantlay (67) are tied for ninth at eight under.
First-round leader Tom Hoge stumbled to a one-over 72 on Friday and fell into a tie for 17th at seven under. Also at seven under is defending champion Sungjae Im of South Korea, who recorded a one-under 70 on Friday.
Pereira started with four birdies on the first six holes. After a bogey at the par-four seventh hole, he was bogey-free the rest of the way, adding five more birdies.
“I had a really good round overall,” Pereira said. “I hit driver well, irons really good. I think I hit three or four shots inside three feet today. Solid on my putting. My putter was pretty good today. Overall really good and happy how I played.”
Pereira last led at the end of a round following the third round of the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla. He missed out on a playoff when he double-bogeyed the 72nd hole to finish a stroke behind Justin Thomas, the eventual winner, and Will Zalatoris.
Asked if he still thinks about that stumble, Pereira said, “Obviously sometimes. yeah, but it’s just way over there in the past. I’m just trying to get my first win here.”
