Anne Chen and Cholcheva Wongras stand atop the leaderboard at 15-under 129 through 36 holes at the Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic, with Samantha Wagner and first-round leader Caitlin Peirce lurking a shot back at 14-under and Megha Ganne rounding out the top five at 13-under after the low round of the day.

Chen, the 2025 Epson Tour Championship winner playing a partial Epson Tour schedule as a conditional LPGA member, backed up her opening 65 with a bogey-free-until-18 round of 64, making five birdies on the front nine alone before a closing bogey.

Wongras, who set the tour’s 72-hole scoring record in a win at May’s Reliance Matrix Championship, matched her with a 65 built on five back-nine birdies.

Wagner, seeking her second career Epson Tour win after breaking through at last year’s FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship, played bogey-free for a second straight day and leaned on her history at Wildhorse Golf Course, a venue where she’s had success before.

“I really love this golf course. I’ve played pretty well on it, so I’ve definitely leaned on just being comfortable here,” Wagner said. “I also just feel like you take what the course gives you — if you’re on a different hole off the tee, it’s not going to kill you. You can make it work if you’re not in a good spot, and leaning on that, knowing you’re going to have an opportunity to make it back, is pretty important.”

She credited a mid-week swing tweak with her coach for sharpening her ball-striking: “Actually had a meltdown in the off-week. Me and my coach made some slight swing changes that the next day I thought maybe we should have waited till the offseason, but by the time I got here I felt way good about it.” Off the course, Wagner said she’s leaning into a lighter mindset late in the season, having gotten to see family between events: “I got to see my nephew on Monday out here, so I was really excited about that… just trying to take a nice relaxed vibe and not stress myself too much.”

Asked what a win would mean at this stage of the year, she added, “I mean, everything… it would be a really good thing, I’d be really happy about it, but I’m also gonna keep my mind on just sticking to my routine and let whatever happens, happen.”

Peirce, who set the pace with an opening 63, cooled slightly with a 67 that still included an eagle on the par-5 11th, keeping her squarely in contention.

Ganne, playing in her rookie professional season out of Stanford, carded the low round of the day at 9-under 63 — by her own account the lowest round of her young pro career — despite tricky, unpredictable wind that picked up on the back nine. “I didn’t know the wind was gonna get bad because I didn’t check the weather, but it was a little bit of a surprise,” Ganne said. “Club choices just got pretty tricky because you’re clubbing down on tee boxes and hitting irons that were 30 yards less than usual and just rolling them up to the green. So just getting crafty and relying on some creativity.”

Ganne, who turned pro this summer after winning the 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur and the 2026 Inkster Award at Stanford, said her improved results of late trace to simply getting comfortable with life on tour: “I think a lot of it has just been getting accustomed to new routines and scheduling and what I like to do throughout the week and finding a groove. I’d like to say I feel a little more settled in in my last three events or so, and it’s nice to see the scores also come through with that.” She’s also enjoyed the change of scenery in Pendleton in her first trip to the Pacific Northwest: “I think this scenery is very different than what I’m used to, so that’s been pretty cool, and just spending time with some friends out here.”

The cut fell at 5-under par, with the top 60 and ties advancing to the weekend. Final-round tee times begin at 7:15 a.m. local time Sunday morning.