Other Events | Michelle Wie puts pressure on front-runner Christina Kim

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Christina Kim's second-round 68 at the LPGA State Farm Classic looked ordinary compared with her opening-round 63, but it included a birdie putt on her last hole that gave her a one-stroke lead over the charging Michelle Wie and three others.

Kim was the first-day leader, but said Friday was, by comparison, a fight.

"It was quite a struggle, I thought," said Kim, who was at 13-under 131 for 36 holes. "I shot a 9 under [Thursday], and it's always hard to follow that."

The 18-year-old Wie, who hasn't won an LPGA Tour event, shot a 65 and was tied with Sherri Turner, Ji Young Oh and Yani Tseng, who had 66s at Panther Creek Country Club.

Wie, playing part time this year after enrolling at Stanford, said, "I've had two solid rounds, but I'm still a shot behind. I need to go lower over the weekend. There's a lot of birdie opportunities out there today that I missed. So tomorrow and Sunday, I just need to get the rest."

Kim, 24, finished second last year at the State Farm to Sherri Steinhauer, losing on Steinhauer's birdie putt on her last hole.

Jimin Kang (70), a graduate of King's High School in Shoreline, was tied for 21st place at 7 under. Wendy Ward (66), who lives near Edwall, outside Spokane, was tied for 38th at 5 under.

Paige Mackenzie (67), a former Washington Huskies standout from Yakima, was tied for 61st at 3 under.

Johnson, Flanagan share lead in U.S. Bank

MILWAUKEE — First-round leader Richard S. Johnson shot a 3-under 67 and Nick Flanagan had a 63 to share the second-round lead at 10 under at the U.S. Bank Championship, a PGA Tour tournament.

Kent Jones (65) and Gavin Coles (62) were tied for third at 9 under.

Kirk Triplett (70-71 — 141), a graduate of Pullman High School, missed the cut by three strokes. Jeff Gove of Seattle withdrew after a first-round 72 for personal reasons, according to the Tour's Web site.

Notes

• Dana Quigley shot a tournament-record, 10-under 62 and leads after the first round of the 3M Championship, a tournament on the 50-and-older Champions Tour in Blaine, Minn.

Gene Jones was second at 64.

• John Chin, 21, of Temecula, Calif., and Jack Newman, 20, of Des Moines, Iowa, advanced to today's 36-hole final of the U.S. Amateur Public Links in Aurora, Colo.