Three atop Leaderboard in Navistar LPGA Classic

Cristie Kerr maintained the lead throughout most of Friday's second round at the Navistar LPGA Classic. But then Na Yeon Choi and Mika Miyazato got hot and rose up to tie the American star atop the leaderboard in the event on The Senator course at Capitol Hill in Prattville, Ala.

Kerr, the first-round leader, fired a 5-under 67, while Choi posted an 8-under 64 and Miyazato an even better 63. The trio stands at 12-under 132 on the 6,607-yard course.

Kerr was obviously pleased with her round. "I played well. I think I played better yesterday, but I did some other things better today . . . I drove the ball better today, you know, but I hit my irons better yesterday. Still made six birdies. You know, I putted well. Chipped in. I'm doing a lot of stuff well." (See below for her full post-round interview.)

Alone in fourth at 133 is Brittany Lincicome after a 67, while Amy Yang (66) is another stroke back and Eun-Hee Ji (67), Vicky Hurst (68) and Katherine Hull are tied for sixth at 135.

Morgan Pressel, who opened with a 66 and was a shot back of Kerr Thursday evening, carded a 1-over 73 and fell back into a tie for 29th at 139.

Playing with Kerr, Lincicome managed, for the most part, to keep up with the co-leader despite being in a "different" frame of mind. "Solid round again, same as yesterday," the 25-year-old said. "Just kind of felt - it feels different. Feel like I was in a bad mood yesterday. Not sure why. There was no reason to be in a bad mood. Weather was perfect. Golf course is great. I'm playing golf.

"Just was in a funky mood again today. Just kind of felt like I wanted to stay in my own little bubble and everyone just needed to stay away from me and I was doing my own thing. It was working, so I stuck with it, obviously.

"But, yeah, you're right, Cristie was just - if she made a birdie and I made a - I mean, it was next hole we went back and forth, back and forth. I wonder what we shot today two-person, ball? I mean, every hole she birdied I did it and vice versa. But it was nice having somebody playing well in the same group so we could chase each other all day."

After her round, Kerr met with reporters for the following interview session.

MODERATOR: Cristie, another good day out there. Tell us about it.

CRISTIE KERR: I played well. I think I played better yesterday, but I did some other things better today. It was kind of weird. I drove the ball better today, you know, but I hit my irons better yesterday. Still made six birdies. You know, I putted well. Chipped in. I'm doing a lot of stuff well. (Laughter.)

MODERATOR: Any of them stand out? I guess the chip, tell us about that.

CRISTIE KERR: Yeah, I hit -- let's see, I started on the back and birdied 15, 16, 17, and 18. You know, made about a 10-footer on 15; about a 10-footer on 16; 17 was about an 8-footer; and 18 was pretty much tap-in, like maybe a foot; then I made birdie on 4, another short putt. Like Brittany said, we were both, when we making birdies, hitting it fairly close. And then unfortunately I three-putted the par-5, 5th. It was above the hole and got a little too frisky with the putt and it went by and didn't make it. So next hole I had an opportunity on 6 for birdie and just didn't hit the putt quite hard enough. Made kind of the worst swing I've had in two days on 7. It wasn't an easy up-and-down and I holed it. So that was great. Kind of got the momentum going and had a chance on 8 and 9. They just didn't fall, but it's only the halfway point in the tournament.

Q. (No microphone.)

CRISTIE KERR: On 7, the pin was front and I was a good, eight, nine yards past it. I kind of picked the wrong club and made a bad swing. I was kind of short-sided on top of that, so I hit a beautiful, high, soft shot off a sidehill left to right lie. Kind of hit the green like a butterfly with sore feet and kind of just rolled at the hole and went in it.

Q. What kind of score do you think it will take to win this tournament with the conditions as mild as they are now.

CRISTIE KERR: Pretty low. Obviously I've and Brittany has played well the last couple days. You know, you just have to shoot in the 60s every day for sure. Depends on the pins tomorrow and the conditions. But, you know, if the conditions are benign with no wind, definitely four or five under a day for the next two days.

Q. Does it help to have Brittany playing as well as she's playing and ya'll go back and forth? Does that help you any when you're out there playing?

CRISTIE KERR: I mean, it's fun to watch. I don't really pay attention that much to anybody's game. I try and focus on my own game. It is fun when you're kind of making birdies back and forth. You know, it's good for the fans; good for the fans to see birdies.

Q. I'll pose the same question to you. I talked to Brittany about Birdies for Charity here. A lot of people are profiting off your good play as far as charity work is concerned. Does that ever cross your mind when you're out on the course?

CRISTIE KERR: Yeah, it absolutely does, and especially considering I have a charity that's based on donating per birdie. I donate $50 per birdie, and obviously if you've made an eagle it doubles. We have events and, you know, we just recently in an event about two weeks ago raised over half a million dollars for people showing up and celebrities. So it's on my mind all the time. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002, and we now have a bricks and mortar center in New Jersey. So it's always on my mind.

Q. It's Birdies For Breast Cancer?

CRISTIE KERR: Birdies for Breast Cancer, and the center that we've just opened is the Cristie Kerr Women's Health Center at Liberty Medical Center in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Q. Just real quick, talk about your interest in wine.

CRISTIE KERR: Yes, my very good friend Suzanne Pride-Bryan, co-owner of Pride Mountain Vineyards in Napa Valley, would say -- she would call me a vintner. I'm not a winemaker because I didn't go to college for that obviously. But there's wonderful woman winemaker at Pride Mountain named Sally Johnson. Suzanne Pride is a breast cancer survivor. Through knowing them for a while and going out to the Napa Valley, just I posed a question to her: Would you be interested in making a wine with us for charity, for breast cancer? So that's what we've done. It's called Curvature. You can go to www.curvaturewines.com and you can buy it nationally through our partner, www.winelibrary.com. 100% of our profits go to breast cancer, To Birdies For Breast Cancer and the charities we support.

We've supported the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Susan G. Komen, Mayo Clinic, and now this women's health center in New Jersey. It's all for a good cause. If you're going to drink some wine, you might as well be raising money for charity. And the wine is super high end Napa Valley cab.

The transcript for the above interview is courtesy of ASAP Sports.

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