LAS VEGAS – Cristie Kerr rolled in five birdie putts and played a bogey-free round Friday on her way to a 5-under-par 67 and a four-shot lead in the Takefjui Classic.

Kerr moved to 8-under 136 through two rounds of the 54-hole tournament at the Las Vegas Country Club. She began the day in a four-way tie for the lead at 3 under.

After the second round, Heather Daly-Donofrio, Seol-An Jeon and Stacy Prammanasudh were tied for second at 140.

Daly-Donofrio had a 68, Jeon a 70 and Prammanasudh, who shared the first-round lead, had a 71.

Mi-Hyun Kim was at 141 after a 70. Danielle Ammaccapane, who is six months pregnant, shot a 70 and was in a group at 142 along with Juli Inkster (68) and Grace Park (70).
Curtis makes mark
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Ben Curtis’ first MCI Heritage could turn out like his last trip to the British Open.

Curtis shot a season-best 5-under-par 66 Friday to take a one-stroke lead over Heath Slocum after two rounds of the MCI Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links.

Curtis is atop the leaderboard for just the second time since raising the claret jug last July.

He is eager to prove he’s not the best major champion never to win on tour.

“I know I’m the Open champion, but at the same time you have to look past it and look to the future, not always rely on the past,” Curtis said. “I want to prove that it was no fluke.”

So far, so good.

Curtis finished at 8-under 134, one better than Slocum, who shot a 67. Ted Purdy had a 67 and was two strokes off the lead, while Darren Clarke (66), Patrick Sheehan (66), John Huston (68), 20-year-old rookie Kevin Na (68) and 50-year-old Jay Haas (69) are three strokes back

Curtis, who won at Royal St. George’s as the 396th ranked player in the world, earned more than $1.4 million last season and was voted the tour’s rookie of the year. But he has struggled to balance perks such as meeting the president and throwing out the first pitch at an Indians game with success on tour.

Curtis arrived at Harbour Town 114th on the money list and having made just one cut in his five previous tournaments, at Bay Hill.

He’s hoping Harbour Town helps him break through again.

“It could be,” Curtis said, smiling. “I’m not going to make any predictions.”

There’s no question Harbour Town’s tight fairways and small greens play to Curtis’ strength of shot-making.

“You’ve got to work the ball. I like to do that,” he said. “I don’t like to stand up and hit it as hard as you can every time and try to hit a hard shot again to the green. For me, it’s more finesse.”

On Friday, a little luck came into play.

Curtis has struggled with his putting. He ranks 169th his season, down from 151st in 2003. He holed out three times Friday, including a 109-year wedge shot for an eagle-2 at No. 1. He also chipped in from 39 yards on the third hole and from 25 feet off the green at No. 15 – both for birdies.

“Three zero putts,” he said. “I haven’t had three zero putts in a month.”

He rarely plays this well on tour. He shot a 64 at the WCG-NEC Invitational and tied Sergio Garcia for the first-round lead last August. But Curtis faded with rounds of 76-72-70 the next three days.

Slocum, who won the Chrysler Classic at Tucson in February for his first tour victory, started a stroke off the lead. On the back nine, he made birdies at the first, second and fifth. Slocum missed a chance to move into a tie for the lead at the ninth hole, his last, but missed a 15-foot putt.

Slocum is ready for a weekend shootout as conditions turn warmer and milder. The wind that blew up to 15 mph the last two days made the course more difficult, Slocum said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the next couple of days somebody does go out and shoots some really good scores,” he said. “That’s what I’m going to do.”

Purdy, whose only career win came last year on the Nationwide Tour, made birdie on the difficult 18th hole to move into third.

Davis Love III, the defending champ and a five-time winner here, made three straight birdies on the back nine to offset three consecutive bogeys on the front. He rallied for a 70 and was eight shots behind.

Ernie Els, who finished second to Phil Mickelson at the Masters, had five birdies and four bogeys and was five strokes off the lead.

Divots: Billy Andrade had the tournament’s best score, a 7-under 64. That followed a first-round 77 and left him 1 under. … Greg Norman’s shot a 41 on the front nine, including a quadruple-bogey 9 on the second hole, and missed his first cut here since 1992. But he had a little fun, too, looking into the lens of a TV camera to track a putt on the 17th green.