Team Ireland golf star Stephanie Meadow was the first of the Irish golfers to hit the course this morning, beginning her round on one-over-par after an opening 72 yesterday.
Meadow was two-under for her last three holes on Wednesday and reached the back nine today on two-under-par for her round and 1-under total.
A bogey on the par-three 10th was followed by birdies on the 14th, 15th, 16th and 18th holes to secure an impressive second-round score of 66 and leave her tied for 11th at the end of the round.
The much-improved five-under performance sees the two-time Olympian join the chasing pack, with the Northern Irish golfer and her Team Ireland teammate Leona Maguire sitting five strokes off second place and a medal.
“I just kind of managed it a bit better today I think,” said Meadow afterwards. “I still didn’t have my best stuff but I gave myself a little bit more room on left pins and didn’t short side myself so that was really the key and is always part of shooting under par.
Meadow started off the second round on a better note than she did the first, posting two birdies on the front nine to set the tone.
Her strong finish only backed up the impressive start and puts the golfer in a good position for the next round.
“I guess I hope I can start like that tomorrow. There’s a lot of wedges on the last few, they’re easy-ish holes and they moved the tee on 18 up today so all of those things contribute but I finally got comfortable, hit good shots and started to see it a bit better.”
The heat is still a factor, with tournament organisers implementing additional heat mitigation measures including provision of umbrellas on the first tee and roving carts providing ice and cooling towels to players, caddies and officials.
Meadow and Maguire will be in the same group for round three of the Olympic golf tournament and will tee-off at 0:18 am.
