Home star Lauren Coughlin fired a round of 69 (-3) to lead by five shots heading into the weekend after a windy day at the Aramco Championship.
Solheim Cup winner Coughlin began the day as co-leader alongside Japanese duo Miyu Yamashita and Nasa Hataoka in Las Vegas.
However, as players faltered in the windy conditions at Shadow Creek, the American held strong to post the joint-best round of the day and sit atop the leaderboard on eight-under-par.
“I made a couple of good pars to start. I made two really good par saves on two and three and then had a really good up-and-down on four for birdie to get the day going,” said Coughlin.
“I missed one on six, but then from there I started to play really good. The wind was swirling at time and a lot of crosswinds. The greens firmed up as they do in the afternoon especially with the wind. It was a really solid round. I had a lot of fun out there and looking forward to the weekend.”
Coughlin rolled in a monster putt on the eighth for her third birdie of the day before making another three on her back nine.
The American was the runner-up at the LPGA Match Play here in 2025 and she believes that helped her battle the difficult conditions in round two.
“Two years ago, when we played stroke play here and it blew similar to this was probably the best prep than even the match play, just because I knew what it would be like,” Coughlin continued.
“In my mind already, I had an idea. I watched the scores a little bit this morning and could tell it’s playing really difficult. This is my fourth time playing this course, so I think I know it super well. I’ve played it a bunch, especially given how many times you can play it in match play. I think this helped a lot.”
Ireland’s Leona Maguire and Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim are in a share of second place on three-under-par at the halfway stage.
It’s been steady play for LET winner Maguire after producing rounds of 70-71 over the first two days of action.
The 31-year-old made birdies on four and seven, as well as bogeys on eight and 10, she made another birdie on 11 before a further dropped shot on 15 but she finished with a birdie at the last to end the day in T2.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” said Maguire. “Obviously, a lot windier today and different wind than we have got all week as well, which made some holes play quite a bit longer. We knew we were going to get the firmer end of the greens this afternoon, so it was just a case of staying extremely patient.
“We played here a few years ago when it was stroke play into match play and the conditions were worse. The rough was worse, wind was worse. Today maybe it was bad, but it didn’t feel as bad, so I think that helped as well. I was just trying to pick really good targets and executing as well as you can.
“The more you play this golf course you know the banks and certain things. It’s extremely tough either way. Sometimes you’re better off not knowing what some of the holes do. We were joking on the course there was a couple pins today that we’ve never seen. We’ve seen about 20 pins on this golf course and today we saw a few we have never seen before.
“It’s a fantastic golf course. It’s one of the best courses we play all year. I think you could have a major championship here in the morning and no one would think twice about it. It’s one of my favourites of the year. I always enjoy coming here. I was disappointed when the match play wasn’t coming back and excited when I heard this was coming.”
Three players are in a share of fourth place with American Nelly Korda, Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Japan’s Miyu Yamashita all on two-under-par.
One shot further back are four players with Japan’s Akie Iwai, Canada’s Anna Huang and American duo Angel Yin and Jing Yan on one-under.
New Zealand’s Amelia Garvey joined leader Coughlin in posting the joint best round of the day with a 69 (-3) which took her from 111th to T31.
The cut fell at +7 with 73 players making it through to the final two days of action around Shadow Creek. Round three will begin at 7.20 am (local time) with the leaders teeing off at 1.20 pm (local time) in Las Vegas.
Keep up with all the action at the Aramco Championship on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram and X and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #AramcoChampionship.
