Ladies European Tour: Leona Maguire, Georgia Hall chasing as Ursula Wikstrom leads KPMG Women’s Irish Open

Ursula Wikstrom holds a one-shot lead at the halfway stage of the KPMG Women’s Irish Open, with Solheim Cup stars Leona Maguire and Georgia Hall heading into the weekend six strokes back.

Wikstrom fired a second successive 68 at Carton House to move to 10 under, mixing seven birdies with two bogeys on the par-73 layout to edge ahead of Luna Sobron Galmes and Alessandra Fanali.

The Finn – beginning on the back nine – cancelled out an opening-hole bogey with back-to-back birdies from the 12th, then responded to a dropped shot at the par-three 14th with three birdies in a four-hole stretch from the 18th.

Wikstrom took advantage of the par-five sixth and birdied her penultimate hole of the day to sit top of the leaderboard, bolstering her hopes of avenging the play-off defeat in this event in 2022.

“I didn’t really have a good start,” said Wikstrom who is in search of her maiden LET title in her 21st season on Tour. “I’ve been 21 years on Tour and I have had many chances to win. It is quite nice to be in that position again, it’s been a while.

“It hasn’t been the season so far where I have been in contention that much so it’s always a nice extra feeling to get in that place for a weekend. There are still two more days, but it’s nice to be in this position.”

Spain’s Sobron carded five birdies and one bogey in a second-round 69, with Fanali matching the total to also sit on nine under, while England’s Annabel Dimmock and Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini are in a share of fourth and two strokes back.

“It was really fun,” Dimmock said. “It was actually stress-free, which normally I don’t play stress-free golf. I have been struggling the last couple of weeks and I think it was coming from me hitting it too hard

“Me and my coach, we’ve tried to slow my swing right down and I actually played better probably yesterday, but I couldn’t get the ball in the hole. Today, I sunk a couple of nice ones which got me going and I just played solid and rolled a couple of putts in. It was an easy day.”

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Four players are in a share for sixth place with France’s Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley and Swedish duo Moa Folke and Corinne Viden all on seven under, with England’s Lily May Humphreys part of the group a further shot adrift.

Maguire carded three birdies and two bogeys in a second-round, leaving her tied-21st, with Hall also on four under after a bogey-free 69 on Friday.

Watch the KPMG Women’s Irish Open and the LPGA Tour’s FM Championship live this week on Sky Sports, along with the Curtis Cup, ahead of the Solheim Cup taking place from September 13-15 live on Sky Sports Golf.

Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.