PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Brittany Lincicome opened a three-stroke lead Friday in the wind-swept LPGA Championship, the tour's fourth major championship of the season.
The long-hitting Lincicome followed her opening 67 with a 68 to reach 9 under at Monroe Golf Club. She won the 2009 Kraft Nabisco for her lone major title and has five LPGA Tour victories.
Lexi Thompson, tied for the first-round lead with Meena Lee, dropped into a tie for second with defending champion Inbee Park of South Korea. Thompson had a 72, and Park shot 66.
That gave the United States two players at the top as the Americans go for their fourth consecutive major title of the season. Thompson won the Kraft Nabisco to start the run.
Lydia Ko, 17, of New Zealand had a 69 to join Lee, from South Korea, and Jane Park at 5 under. Lee had a 73, and Park shot 69.
Top-ranked Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) sputtered again with a 1-over 73 to finish the two rounds at even par.
It's the first time Americans have won the first three majors since 1999, and they haven't won four since 1992. A fifth major, the Evian Championship in France, was added last year.
Michelle Wie won the U.S. Women's Open, and Mo Martin surged to victory in the final round at the Women's British Open.
Lincicome had an eagle and three birdies to go with one bogey for her second solid day. She averaged 277.5 yards off the tee and needed 26 putts for the second consecutive day.
"It's been incredible. I haven't been here in a while, especially in a major," said Lincicome, who hasn't won on tour since 2011. "I feel like I've been playing really well. It's just not coming together."
Thompson reached 8 under after a birdie at the par-5 14th hole but followed with bogeys at Nos. 8 and 9 to drop into a tie with Lincicome at the turn.
Lincicome, who started the day one shot off the lead, birdied the par-5 12th hole to gain a one-shot advantage while Inbee Park slowly clawed her way back into contention after shooting even par on the first day.
Park had two birdies and an eagle on her first five holes on the back side, and three birdies in the first three holes on the front put her at 6 under.
Thompson's birdie at No. 3 forged a tie with Lincicome and Meena Lee at 7 under, but it was short-lived. Moments later, Lincicome notched the sixth eagle of the day at the par-5 14th hole to put her two shots ahead and then parred out.
Unable to string any sort of run together as she did on the first day, Thompson dropped into a tie for second after a bogey at the par-3 sixth hole, statistically the sixth-most difficult hole on the day.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
Cook, Brown lead
ENDICOTT, N.Y. -- John Cook birdied the final two holes for a 7-under 65 and a share of the first-round lead with Olin Browne on Friday in the Champions Tour's Dick's Sporting Goods Open.
Cook, 56, had eight birdies and a bogey on the En-Joie course. He won the last of his nine titles on the 50-and-older tour last year in the season-opening event in Hawaii.
Cook missed 10 weeks of the season after injuring his back in a February fall at his Florida home. He made an 8-foot putt on the par-3 17th and a 25-footer on par-4 18th.
Browne, 55, birdied five of the last seven holes in a bogey-free round. He won the 2011 U.S. Senior Open for his lone Champions Tour victory.
He made birdie putts from 8 feet on the par-4 11th, 5 feet on the par-5 12th, 15 feet on the par-4 13th, 10 feet on the par-4 16th and 7 feet on the par-3 17th.
Defending champion Bart Bryant was a stroke back along with Steve Lowery and David Frost.
EUROPEAN TOUR
Dredge ahead by 4
AALBORG, Denmark -- Wales' Bradley Dredge topped the Made in Denmark leaderboard Friday, with England's Simon Wakefield in second and Dane Thomas Bjorn, who aims to secure a spot in Europe's Ryder Cup team, tied in third.
Dredge holds a four-shot lead over Wakefield after a 3-under-par 68 second round that saw him birdie four of his last six holes.
"I'm delighted with the way I played," Dredge said. "I am looking forward to the weekend."
Wakefield shot 67, parring the opening five holes before making birdies on the 15th, 16th and 17th. A dropped stroke on 18 ruined that run at the end of the day's play.
Bjorn and Chile's Felipe Aguilar struggled, shooting 73 and 74, respectively.
Bjorn, who has 15 European Tour victories, began being atop the leaderboard with Dredge before a lightning threat halted play for an hour. He had started the second day with three bogeys and finished five shots behind the leader.
WEB.COM TOUR
Pair tied at top
Martin Piller and Roger Sloan were tied at 10-under 132 Friday at the Web.com News Sentinel Open in Knoxville, Tenn.
Piller shot a second-round 67, and Sloan had a 64.
Camilo Benedetti, Hunter Haas and Fabian Gomez were tied for third at 9-under 133.
Matt Fast, who shared the first-round lead with Piller on Thursday, shot a 1-under 70 on Friday and was tied for ninth at 135.
Sports on 08/16/2014