Leona Maguire and Séamus Power move into contention in US ...

Leona Maguire of Ireland hits her tee shot on the fourth hole during the first round of the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship at Palos Verdes Golf Club. Photograph: Kevork Djansezian/Getty

Leona Maguire and Séamus Power moved into contention as their respective tournaments in the United States reached the halfway point.

Maguire clicked into gear in the second round of the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship at Palos Verdes in California to move into contention in her quest for a third career win on the LPGA Tour, after a superbly crafted 65 for 136 left her two shots adrift of midway leader Malia Nam, a rookie playing in only her second tournament.

After taking a two-week break following events in Asia, the Cavan golfer opened with a 71 on Thursday but got her putter working in Friday’s second round with seven birdies and just one bogey in a second round that saw her move up the leaderboard into tied-fourth.

“We used to come here in college, came here maybe three, maybe four times, when I had a little bit of a love-hate relationship with it. I feel like it’s one of those courses that really tests your patience,” said Maguire of renewing her relationship with the course.

Of that patient approach, Maguire added: “It’s something I started working on at the start of year is be more patience and really tests you this course. I feel like here and Evian [in France] are similar with all the slopes. You have to be really intentional with your targets. The greens aren’t very big, so you know when you hit a lot of greens you’re going to have some chances, so it’s just a case of being patience for those chances.”

In the Valspar Championship on the PGA Tour, tour veteran Stewart Cink – whose last of eight wins on the circuit came in the 2021 Heritage and who has focused more on the Champions Tour of late – joined a five-way tie for the midway lead on six-under-par 136.

Power, who has shown great consistency following his return from a hip injury that impacted him last season, shot a second 69 for 137 to be in a share of sixth place just one shot behind the quintet of Cink, Kevin Streelman, Chandler Philips and Brandon Todd.

In the Singapore Classic, Shane Lowry had his best round of the week, a six-under-par 66 which included an eagle at the par 5 13th hole, to move within five shots of the lead of David Micheluzzi.

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Philip Reid is Golf Correspondent of The Irish Times