Scranton maintains lead

Nancy Scranton used another dazzling iron display to take a two-stroke lead over Australian star Karrie Webb in the AFLAC Champions in Mobile, Alabama.

Nancy Scranton used another dazzling iron display to take a two-stroke lead over Australian star Karrie Webb in the AFLAC Champions in Mobile, Alabama.

Scranton shot a 3-under-par 69 for a 10-under 134 total on Magnolia Grove's Crossings Course on Friday. Webb, a six-time winner this year, charged up the leaderboard with a 67, highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 16th hole.

"When I play well, my irons are the strength of my game," Scranton said. "I've felt real comfortable with my irons the last couple of days."

Webb, who needs a top-10 finish to clinch the LPGA Player of the Year award, has already wrapped up the LPGA money title and needs to win one of her final two tournaments to have a chance to become the first woman to win dlrs 2 million in a season.

"It all depends on the weather, but if we get two more days like the first two, this could be a shootout," said Webb.

Beth Daniel, Pat Hurst, Michele Redman and Barb Mucha were at 7 under, and Dottie Pepper and Sherri Steinhauer are 6 under. Pepper birdied four of the last six holes for a 67.

Scranton started the day with a one-stroke lead and promptly birdied the first hole, hitting a 6-iron within 8 feet of the pin for the first of her five birdies. Her other birdie putts came from 4 feet on No. 6, 8 feet on No. 8, 5 feet on No. 7 and - her longest one in two days - an 18-foot shot at the 15th.

"I keep saying it, but the key out here is being on the right level of the green, and so far I've been able to do that," Scranton said. "It's nice to have the lead, but I'd like a bigger one."

Particularly with Webb chasing her.

Webb slipped down the leaderboard with bogeys on Nos. 14 and 15, but she bounced right back with an eagle and a birdie at 16 and 17 to jump into second place.

"I was actually pretty happy to make a bogey at No. 15," Webb said. "Even though I made two bogeys in a row I knew I still had three chances left and 16 was a birdie hole. I put a great swing on a 5-wood on 16 and made eagle and that was a big swing of momentum."

Webb's strong 5-wood shot ended up 6 feet from the pin, setting up that eagle. On the par-3 17th, she hit a 7-iron 4 feet from flag to get to 8 under.

Scores after the second round of the $50,000 AFLAC Champions, played on the 6,231-yard, par-72 The Crossings course:

Nancy Scranton 65-69-134 Karrie Webb 69-67-136 Pat Hurst 70-67-137 Michele Redman 69-68-137 Beth Daniel 68-69-137 Barb Mucha 66-71-137 Dottie Pepper 71-67-138 Sherri Steinhauer 68-70-138 Alison Nicholas 71-68-139 Mi Hyun Kim 69-70-139 Rosie Jones 67-72-139 Kelli Kuehne 67-72-139 Laura Davies 73-67-140 Pearl Sinn 71-69-140 Se Ri Pak 70-70-140 Wendy Ward 69-71-140 Laurel Kean 67-73-140 Rachel Hetherington 75-66-141 Brandie Burton 70-71-141 Tammie Green 69-72-141 Janice Moodie 70-72-142 Sophie Gustafson 70-72-142 Donna Andrews 70-73-143 Pat Bradley 72-72-144 Danielle Ammaccapane 72-72-144 Jackie Gallagher-Smith 72-72-144 Helen Alfredsson 71-73-144 Betsy King 69-76-145 Akiko Fukushima 75-71-146 Kelly Robbins 74-72-146 Mardi Lunn 72-74-146 Lorie Kane 74-73-147 Meg Mallon 73-74-147 Catrin Nilsmark 73-74-147 Maria Hjorth 74-74-148 Hiromi Kobayashi 75-74-149 Charlotta Sorenstam 71-79-150 Amy Fruhwirth 77-74-151 Dale Eggeling 76-75-151 Nancy Lopez 74-77-151 Liselotte Neumann 82-75-157 JoAnne Carner 79-78-157 Dorothy Delasin 72-Disqualified Grace Park 77-Withdrew