Defending champ Leonard holds lead at Texas Open

SAN ANTONIO -- Justin Leonard won't give up his grip on the Texas Open.

The defending champion shot a 7-under-par 64 Friday to take a three-stroke lead over first-round leader Marco Dawson and Carl Paulson after the second round.

Leonard, a Dallas native who played at the University of Texas, had 10 birdies on a cloudless but breezy day to finish with a 13-under 129 total on the LaCantera Golf Club course.

Paulson shot a 66 and Dawson had a 68. Sweden's Jesper Parnevik (66), Jay Williamson (68) and Tripp Isenhour (65) were another stroke back at 9 under.

Williamson (105th), Paulson (130th) and Isenhour (158th) are among those players fighting to finish in the top 125 on the money list, the cutoff for retaining a tour exemption for 2002.

But Leonard, 39th in winnings at $1.1 million, has only so much sympathy for their situation.

"I'm just doing my job and they're doing their job," he said. "If we butt heads at the end of that, that's great."

Leonard is winless since last year's tournament, with a best this season of a fourth-place tie in Houston Open in April. His goal is to play his way into the Tour Championship with a win.

"I've helped myself over the last two days," he said. "Hopefully, I can continue that over the weekend."

AFLAC Champions

MOBILE, Ala. -- South Korea's Mi Hyun Kim held onto the top spot in the AFLAC Champions, shooting a 1-under 71 to take a one-stroke lead over compatriot Se Ri Pak.

Kim, seeking her fourth LPGA Tour victory in three years, had an 8-under 136 total on Magnolia Grove's Crossings Course. Pak, returning from a five-week break, shot a 67.

Kim three-putted the par-3 17th to drop into a tie with Pak, but rebounded with a birdie on No. 18 after hitting an 8-iron approach 2 feet from the pin.

The elite 40-player field is made up of tournament winners from 1999-01 and active Hall of Famers.

Grace Park, also from South Korea, birdied three of the final four holes for her second straight 69, leaving her two strokes behind at 6 under.

Gold Rush Classic

EL DORADO HILLS, Calif. -- Tom Kite, Allen Doyle and John Schroeder shot 7-under 65s in perfect scoring conditions to share the first-round lead in the Gold Rush Classic.

John Mahaffey, Walter Hall, Don Pooley and Steve Veriato opened with 66s. Defending champion Jim Thorpe was at 68 along with stars Bruce Lietzke, Bruce Fleisher, Gil Morgan and Dana Quigley.

-- From wire reports