Wie takes aim at first

Christina Kim’s second-round 68 at the LPGA State Farm Classic in Springfield, Ill., looked ordinary compared to her opening 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 yesterday was, by comparison, a fight. She bogeyed the par-5 sixth hole and saved par on her opening hole only after finding the green with her second shot from behind a line of trees well off the fairway. “It was quite a struggle, I thought,” the pigtailed Kim said. “I shot a 9 under (Thursday) and it’s always hard to follow that.” Right behind her is the 18-year-old Wie, playing easily her best golf of the year while shooting a 65 that pulled her to 12 under for the tournament. Wie, who has never won an LPGA tournament, is playing... [read full story]