The 2025 Meijer LPGA Classic is underway at Blythefield Country Club, and the leaderboard is seeing some names we have missed for a while. While Hye Jin Choi is taking the clubhouse lead at 8-under after carding a brilliant 5-under round on Friday, it is Lexi Thompson who has been stealing the spotlight after she climbed up the leaderboard to position herself at the tied 5th spot. But as these players will continue in a head-on battle over the weekend, there are several players, including the defending champion, who struggled to find their form on the course and missed the cut, which went at 1-under par.

Early exit for Lilia Vu

Lilia Vu won the Meijer LPGA Classic last year, after returning from a break following a back injury, when she went against Lexi Thompson and Grace Kim in a playoff. Her phenomenal score of 5-under par, which she shot in the final round, helped her claim victory with a winning score of 16-under par. But Vu couldn’t bring back the same form this time around at Bythefield. She struggled with her form on the first day, making five bogeys and a double bogey on the 16th, and saw a big number of 5-over par for the day.

While she managed to stick to her strong suit, which is putting, she fell back in her long game as she only hit 3 fairways and 7 greens in regulation. The second day saw improvements from Vu on the course, with 4 bogeys and a birdie, but it was not enough for the major champion to make it in time within the cut line. This is Lilia Vu’s third consecutive missed cut of the year after not making it to the weekend at the U.S. Open and the Black Desert Championship.

Leona Maguire struggles with putting

Leona Maguire, too, struggled like Lilia Vu and narrowly missed her fourth consecutive cut after she carded rounds of 72 and 73 at the Meijer LPGA Classic. Maguire, who won this event in 2023 with a staggering 21-under, has been struggling with her performances over the last two years. In 2024 & 2025, she has had only two top ten finishes in 36 starts on the LPGA Tour.

Maguire, who has had 5 professional wins in her career, including on the Symetra Tour and the European Tour, saw her long game play in her favor. She managed to hit 10 greens in regulation and about 75% of the fairways off the tee, but a total of 61 putts over two rounds is what cost her a chance to play into the weekend. She only missed the cut by two shots, and maybe a good day with the putter could have put her in contention for the title.

Danielle Kang’s sloppy back nine

The winner of the 2017 Women’s PGA Championship, Danielle Kang, had her chances to claim the $3 million purse, which was up for grabs at Bythefield. She started her first day with a phenomenal round of 1-under, despite hitting only 60% of the fairways off the tee. It was her putting that managed to save her from carding a sloppy scorecard. But things didn’t turn out the same for her the next day.

While she started her second round with the same momentum as the first, things immediately flipped around for her in the back nine. Two consecutive bogeys and two doubles cost her a chance at the title, as she finished at 3-over par and 11 shots behind the clubhouse leader. The major winner, who is seeking a win since her last at the 2022 Hilton Grand Vacations, will need to spend a lot of time on her accuracy, as she was only able to hit 50% of greens in regulation in the last two days.

Yealimi Noh follows Maguire

Yealimi Noh started the year on a good note with a win at the 2025 Founders Cup early in February. She had 4 top ten finishes in the tournaments that followed, including the last one at the Mizuho Americas Open, finishing tied for 5th. Before the Meijer LPGA Classic, she had only missed one cut in 9 starts, but after Friday, she can add another to the list.

She, too, like Maguire, narrowly missed the cut at 1-over par. While she had a decent start to the tournament, with a score of 1-under on the first day, her start to the second day did not exactly go her way. She started on the wrong foot, with consecutive bogeys on the first three holes, and did try to cover up her early mistakes, ending the day with 2 birdies, but it wasn’t enough. It looked like she couldn’t bring the same form that she had earlier at the 2025 U.S. Open, where she finished tied for 14th, this week.

Ashleigh Buhai’s experience didn’t come in handy

Ashleigh Buhai, who has been on the LPGA since 2014, claimed her first title when she won the AIG Women’s Open in 2022. While her only other win on the LPGA Tour is the 2023 ShopRite LPGA Classic, she has 22 professional wins to her name, including 5 on the LET.

Her 2025 season started on a good note, as she made 7 cuts, including three top-10 finishes. But a missed cut at the Mizuho Americas Open broke her momentum. She missed the cut even at Erin Hills the following week, and now, this week at Bythefield, it will be her third missed cut of the season. While she started round one with an incredible day of just one bogey and three birdies, she fell short severely on the second day, making two double bogeys and three bogeys. She carded a 6-over round on Friday and could not rely on her putting to place her atop the leaderboard.

While these notable players missed the cut and also a chance to claim the title this week at the Meijer LPGA Classic, we can expect to see a nail-biting battle among the rest of the field. Out of 144 players, 60 and ties have made it to the weekend, and there’s only a one-shot difference between the leader and the tied 10th position. Carlota Ciganda and Celine Boutier, both notable names in the women’s circuit, are also tied for first at 8-under alongside Choi. With Lexi Thompson and Minjee Lee not too far behind at 7-under, we can expect things to turn around quickly over the weekend.