Bernardo Heights LPGA Tournament : Bradley Leads Moore, Rinker by 2 Shots

Pat Bradley made her move for a second consecutive LPGA tour victory Friday, shooting a four-under-par 68 to take a two-stroke lead over Mindy Moore and Laurie Rinker after two rounds of the $200,000 Kyocera Inamori golf tournament.

A victory at Bernardo Heights Country Club Sunday would be the second in a row for Bradley, who won the Dinah Shore tournament last weekend.

“I feel really good,” she said. “I’m basically up because of last week. We’ll just take it a day at a time.”

Bradley, who started the round three strokes back, had three birdies on her first nine holes and an eagle on her back nine en route to a total of 137.

She shrugged off a bogey on the par-3 No. 3 (her 12th hole of the day) with a 20-foot chip shot for an eagle on the par-5 No. 4.

The eagle was critical at that point because gloomy weather had settled over San Diego County by mid-afternoon, kicking up the wind and dropping the temperatures into the low 60s.

On the previous hole, Bradley plopped a 7-iron shot into a sand trap and had to settle for a bogey 4.

Rinker shot a 70 for her 139 total. She was five under par after just four holes, then bogeyed three of the next four. An 18-foot birdie putt on the par-5 No. 2 helped put her back in the chase.

“Maybe I got a little anxious today because I started so well,” Rinker said.

Moore, who was six under par and held a three-shot lead after Thursday’s round, bogeyed twice on the first nine and made up only one of them with a birdie 3 on No. 14. She shot a 73 for a 139 total.

Penny Hammel and Patty Sheehan were both at 140.

Defending champion Beth Daniel withdrew because of a back injury. Muffin Spencer-Devlin called it quits after the first round because of an unspecified injury.