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Amateur Gabriela Ruffels is the leading Australian after the second round of the US Women's Open, while Minjee Lee, Hannah Green and Su Oh also made the cut.

Gabriela Ruffels was chuffed after hanging tough to remain in the mix at the US Women's Open in Houston, Texas.

Ruffels finished round two the way she started, the leading Australian following a fighting one-over par 72 on the challenging Jackrabbit layout at the Champions Country Club.

The 20-year-old rallied from a two-over front-nine with two birdies down the stretch to be one over for the tournament.

While she's eight shots adrift of Japan's runaway leader Hinako Shibuno, Ruffels is only five behind second-placed Swede Linn Grant on a congested leaderboard.

Fellow Australians Su Oh (70), Minjee Lee (71) and Hannah Green (73) also made the halfway cut - all right on the number at three-over - but Sarah Jane Smith (70) and Katherine Kirk (74) failed to earn weekend tee times at the year's final major.

But it's Ruffels with the best chance of reeling in Shibuno, the 2019 British Open champion who drained four birdies in a bogey-free round to seize control.

"Jackrabbit was definitely a test today. Wind wasn't as much, but it was super tight off the tee and if you missed it a little, you were in trouble," Ruffels said.

"The greens were super, super small and the pins were in pretty tough positions. So I was pretty happy with the way I played."

Ruffels is among six amateurs in the top 30 entering the final two rounds.

"Shows that women's amateur golf is in pretty good form right now," she said.

"I've known that since I started college. I've been playing against the top amateurs in college and have been super impressed and impressed with the way they have been able to kind of put it against the best women in the world.

"So I'm actually not surprised at that."

The 66 players who survived the cut all return to Cypress Creek for the final two rounds.

"Do the same thing I did the first day. I played pretty good," Ruffels said of her game plan.

"They're big greens, so pinpointing where you want hit them, where you don't want to miss, and yeah, just keep going."

The other three Australians are 10 shots off the pace and with much ground to make up.

Lee, though, was relieved to have made the cut after needing a birdie on her last hole of the day to do so.

Green also battled hard after dropping three shots in four holes at one point during her round.

Smith missed the cut by just one shot, an impressive one-under round not enough to make up for her opening 76.