Tseng, 21, extends lead; Kerr pursues

SOUTHPORT, England — Yani Tseng certainly is consistent.

The 21-year-old from Taiwan shot her second consecutive 4-under-par 68 Friday, taking a four-shot lead after the second round of the Women’s British Open. Americans Brittany Lincicome and Christie Kerr joined Amy Yang of South Korea in the chase entering the weekend.

“There was no wind this morning and it was very calm, so it was nice out there,” said Tseng, who is trying to win her third major championship. “The course played totally different than what we played the last three days, so it was really nice.”

Rain washed over Royal Birkdale in the afternoon, making things difficult for the late starters - including defending champion Catriona Matthew of Scotland,who missed the cut by seven strokes after making a 10 at the par-4 13th hole.

Her tee shot landed in a bush, and she eventually found the deep rough near the green. After three tries to hack her way out of it, Matthew ended up taking a penalty drop, chipping onto the green and twoputting for her 10 - only to birdie the par-3 next hole.

“After the 10 I just wanted to get in,” said Matthew, whose 10-2 sequence on her scorecard was part of a 9-over 81. She missed the cut at 12 over.

Kerr certainly didn’t have any problems, posting the tournament’s low round with a 5-under 67. She made 10-foot birdie putts on the first two holes, dropped a stroke at the eighth, then picked up four more birdies to join Lincicome and Young at 4 under.

“I was determined to be more relaxed out there,” Kerr said. “I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on myself since getting the No. 1 ranking and I hadn’t really realized that’s what was going on. So I just went out and did my thing today.”

Lincicome had a birdie at the second, then dropped four strokes in a three-hole stretch beginning at the 11th. She also took advantage of an easy finish at Royal Birkdale, though, with a birdie at No. 15, an eagle two holes later and another birdie at 18 for her 1-under 71.

Veteran Julie Inkster shot herself into contention with a 2-under 70 that left her five shots off the lead. Suzann Pettersen of Norway shot a 68 and Sun Young Yoo of South Korea had an even-par 72 to join Inkster in a tie for fifth.

“It was rainy and tediousbut I was very happy with the way I played,” said Inkster, 50, who bogeyed the third hole but recovered with a birdie at the fourth.

She picked up birdies at the 15th and 17th.

“There’s a lot of good names up there but we’re all going to be playing at the same time tomorrow,” Inkster said, “so that’s going to help.”

Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 2-over 74 with a birdie and three bogeys for a 1-over 145. Stacy Prammanasudh (Conway) shot a 2-over 74 with three birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey for a 1-over 145.

Michelle Wie failed to take advantage of an early start time, hitting her first tee shot out of bounds. She ended up shooting a 4-over 76 that left her 10 strokes off the lead.

Fellow American Christina Kim went the other direction with a 4-under 68 that moved her into a tie at 2 under. She’s joined by France’s Anne-Lise Caudal (73), Japan’s MomokoUeda (70), first-round leader Katherine Hull (74), and South Koreans In-Kyung Kim (72), Hee Kyung Seo (69), M.J. Hur (68) and Jiyai Shin (71).

PGA

Overton leads by four

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. - Jeff Overton shot an 8-under-par 62 to take a four-stroke lead midway through the inaugural Greenbrier Classic.

Overton, winless in five years on the PGA Tour, shot the low round of the tournament, using wedges on all but one approach during a bogeyfree round on the Old White course. He was 14 under.

B oo Weekley, f inally healthy after tearing a labrum in his left shoulder a year ago, was 10 under after a 63.

Jimmy Walker (64) and double heart transplant recipient Erik Compton (68) were 9 under. Compton, the firstround co-leader, is playing on a sponsor’s exemption.

Aaron Baddeley (65), BrinyBaird (65), Chris Stroud (63) and Charles Howell III (67) were six strokes back at 5 under.

John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 2-under 68 with four birdies and two bogeys for a 3-under 137. Brenden Pappas (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 3-under 67 with five birdies and two bogeys for a 2-under 138, the cutoff score. Glen Day (Little Rock) shot a par 70 with three birdies and three bogeys for a 1-over 141.

EUROPEAN

Fisher shoots 61

KILLARNEY, Ireland - Ross Fisher will take a threeshot lead into the third round of the Irish Open after shooting a 10-under-par 61.

Fisher had 10 birdies in 12 holes -including six in a row - in a bogey-free round to reach 12-under 130 at the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club.

Francesco Molinari of Italy was second after a 66.

NATIONWIDE

Two share lead

OMAHA, Neb. - Kevin Chappell shot a 7-under-par 64 and Kyle Thompson shot a 6-under 65 for a 14-under 128 and a share of the lead in the Cox Classic.

Scott Gardiner (Farmington) shot a 4-under 67 with six birdies and two bogeys for an 11-under 131. Ron Whittaker (Little Rock) shot a 7-under 64 with eight birdies and a bogey for a 10-under 132. Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) shot a 5-under 66 with six birdies and a bogey for an 8-under 134. Tag Ridings (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 5-under 66 with an eagle, four birdies and a bogey for an 8-under 134.