Sara Byrne made solid progress to sit just outside the top 20 at the Aramco Korea Championship at the midway point.
A second-round 69 saw the Irish golfer move to three-under par, six shots adrift of the halfway leader, Japan’s Miyu Yamashita, with Round 1 standard-bearer Patricie Mackova plummeting after a 74.
The 2025 Open champion leads on nine under par, two strokes clear of Sweden’s Louise Rydqvist and South Korea’s Park Sung-hyun.
Yamashita had started the day at five under par and she added another four birdies in a blemish-free second round.
“I like this course, today was a no bogey round,” the leader said afterwards.
“My tee shots and second shots were good. My shots were very nice today compared to yesterday. I really enjoy to play with big galleries and there are so many Korean fans, I really enjoy playing in front of lots of fans.
“I’m still a little bit tired from the travel from Hawaii, but I’m okay. There’s good food here. I like Korean food. I’m really happy to play this event and the rest of the days I want to enjoy the tournament.”
Byrne, starting at the 10th hole, made a slow start with a run of four pars before falling to over-over par with a bogey at the fifth, but birdies at the 15th and 17th saw her recover with a further three birdies – and a bogey at the second – carded coming in.
Anna Foster is a shot further behind on two under par after a productive day.
Foster hit a hot streak on the back nine with three consecutive birdies from the 11th to 13th holes, but a dropped shot at her penultimate hole saw her fall outside the top 30.
There was disappointment for Lauren Walsh who fell away and missed the cut after Thursday’s bright start.
Walsh had been best placed of the Irish quartet heading into the second round but a card containing five bogeys and just a sole birdie saw her drop to two over par, one shot outside the cutline.
Aine Donegan’s tournament also came to an end but she bounced back from Thursday’s difficult round with a brave 72.
The Clare golfer sat eight over par after her first day on course, and although she was never in contention to make the cut, she’ll have been pleased to bounce back with a level-par round.