DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., April 10, 2010 – After 36 holes at the $100,000 Daytona Beach Invitational, first-round leader Miriam Nagl has some company at the top of the leaderboard with nine players hovering within three shots.

Nagl (71) of Berlin, Germany was joined today by Jessica Shepley of Oakville, Ontario, who carded a two-under round of 70 to move into a share of the lead at 136 (-8) on the Champions Course at LPGA International.

The two players hold a slim one-stroke lead over Christine Song (67) of Fullerton, Calif., and Kristie Smith (71) of Perth, Australia, tied at 7-under 137.

Two shots back is the trio of Tiffany Joh (70) of San Diego, Erica Moston (70) of Belmont, Calif., and amateur Jessica Korda (70) of Bradenton, Fla.

“Tomorrow, I have to play really good to win,” said Nagl, a two-time tournament winner on the Duramed FUTURES Tour who earned her LPGA Tour card in 2002 by finishing in the top three on the LPGA developmental tour’s money list. “I think it will take a really low score.”

Nagl got off to a rocky start in today’s second round with trouble on two tee shots that resulted in two bogeys on the front nine. But the former LPGA Tour member turned it around on the back with birdies on holes 10 and 11, and then capped off her finish with a tap-in birdie on the 18^th.

“It felt really good to get it back together on the back nine,” said Nagl. “I was struggling with my ball striking and then it got windy. I just told myself that I had another nine holes, so let’s see what we can do.”

Playing in Nagl’s group today, Shepley knew what she had to do and hung close to the lead, eventually moving into a four-way tie for the lead at seven under with Nagl, Smith and Song, who jumped from a tie for 21^st into a tie for third today with her performance of six birdies and one bogey. The Canadian bogeyed the second hole when she failed to save par from a bunker and had four birdie chances on the front nine within eight to 12 feet, but nothing dropped until she drained a 25 footer for birdie on the 10^th, followed by another birdie from 18 feet on No. 12.

“I stayed patient and I told myself to be more aggressive with my putting on the back nine,” said Shepley, winner of the 2009 Canadian PGA Women’s Championship, who is still seeking her first win on the developmental tour.

Playing in the last group of the day, Shepley and Nagl busted out of the four-way tie when each birdied the 18^th hole to move into the co-lead at 8-under 136.

“I’m exactly where I want to be,” added Shepley, who won the CPGA tournament last year after going into the final round with the lead. “But I know there will be players going out early and firing at everything tomorrow. I also know that my patience needs to be on point.”

Still seeking her first professional win, Song required more patience on her back nine after making birdies on four of her first five holes today, adding her fifth birdie from 15 feet on No. 9. For seven holes, the teenager’s putts were close, but not falling. She was finally able to squeak out one more birdie from tap-in range on the 17^th hole for a dramatic climb up the leaderboard.

“I feel that if I play like this tomorrow, I have a chance to win,” said Song, 18, who finished No. 8 on the 2010 Duramed FUTURES Tour money list to earn 2010 LPGA membership. “I haven’t had a win since I was 14 and playing on the AJGA [American Junior Golf Association], so I’m ready.”

Most of the day’s biggest moves came in the afternoon, but one player made a charge in the morning rounds. Playing in her first full season on the Duramed FUTURES Tour, Kendall Dye of Edmond, Okla., toured the Champions Course today with a 5-under 67 to jump from a tie for 58^th into a tie for eighth at 5-under 139. Her bogey-free round included three birdies and a chip-in for eagle from 14 yards on the 18^th hole.

“My goal today was to start out strong and to finish strong,” said Dye, a former University of Oklahoma collegian who hit 11 greens in regulation in today’s second round and used only 24 putts. “It’s always nice when you can trust your putter.”

Smith wasn’t as lucky with her putter today, hitting 16 greens and needing 32 putts. But always a fierce competitor, she wasted no time moving to the top of the leaderboard. Her 12-foot birdie on the second hole gave her a one-shot lead over Nagl, which she increased to a two-shot cushion with a six-foot birdie on No. 4. When the Aussie drained a 25-footer for birdie on No. 7, she moved to nine under with a three-shot lead over Nagl.

But just when Smith was cruising along, she ran into trouble on the par-four 11^th hole. Her tee shot sailed into a right fairway bunker and then she found a right greenside bunker where her ball plugged into the sand. Smith advanced the bunker shot, flubbed her bump-and-run shot and missed her eight-foot par putt. She took par on her final seven holes.

“Obviously, it was disappointing to take a double-bogey there, but I had a two-shot lead at that stage and I still felt I could continue to make a move,” said Smith, who won her first professional title in Australia earlier this year. “It was a pretty average day with one bad hole, but it was nice to walk away under par.”

Joh birdied the 18^th hole to move to within two shots of the lead, but called today’s effort “kind of scrappy,” saying she felt as if she had visited every fairway bunker on the 6,389-yard Champions Course.

The two-time former U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Champion did, in fact, show her mettle numerous times during the round. On the par-four eighth hole, she escaped from yet another fairway bunker, and then holed out a 44-yard pitch shot for birdie. And on No. 11, she snap-hooked her drive, and then “hooked a 4-iron to eight feet” for birdie. Maybe it wasn’t pretty, but Joh made it work.

“Anything can happen tomorrow,” said Joh, a former four-time All-American at UCLA who was the medalist at the 90-hole Duramed FUTURES Tour Qualifying Tournament last fall. “A lot of the par-five holes are reachable in two. Somebody could shoot a 60.”

Depending on what the wind does in Sunday’s final round here in the home of NASCAR, determines a lot. But maybe Smith summed it up the best.

“It will definitely be a race for the finish line,” said the Aussie.

Seventy-two players made the 36-hole cut at 145 (+1), which ties the Tour’s record set in 2002 and 2006 in Lima, Ohio.

A total of 47 players are under par with 60 players finishing at even-par 144 or better.

Presented by the Daytona Beach Sports Council, Sunday's final round will begin at 8 a.m., off the first and tenth tees. The leaders will tee off at 9:50 a.m.

For scores and more information, visit duramedfuturestour.com.

Weather: Sunny with temperatures in the low 80s with wind between 9-15 mph, turning cloudy in the afternoon with temperatures dipping into the mid-70s.

This Week Daytona, Next Week Jakarta For Kiwi

Tour rookie Cathryn Bristow of Auckland, New Zealand made her professional debut on the Duramed FUTURES Tour this week in Daytona Beach, Fla., but on Monday, the Kiwi will begin her 30-hour trip from Orlando, Fla., to Houston, to Los Angeles, and then from Singapore to Jakarta, Indonesia. Her lengthy itinerary will culminate in her participation in a charity golf tournament benefiting Habitat For Humanity.

Bristow’s coach works in Jakarta and one of her sponsors is located there, which is why she will participate in Wednesday’s event at Cengkareng Golf Club. Located on the Jakarta Airport property, the course has hosted the Indonesian Open and will host Indonesia’s Habitat For Humanity charity event.

“Basically, I’ll stand on a par-3 hole and when all the amateurs come around, it will be a ‘beat-the-pro’ kind of thing,” said Bristow, 25, a three-time collegiate winner while at the University of Oregon, who also is an LPGA rookie this year.”

Bristow will only be in Jakarta for a week, and will not be participating in Habitat For Humanity home construction projects, but building a house is something she hopes to someday do.

“I’ll go and help build a house another time,” she said. “This time, I’m just flying over there to hit golf balls for a good cause.”

Carter Fearlessly Wading Into Rookie Season

Rookie Dori Carter of Valdosta, Ga., got some good-natured ribbing at the end of her round after duck-hooking her 3-wood into a hazard on the fourth hole in today’s second round. Sure, Carter knew she was going to Daytona Beach to play golf this week, but she didn’t quite plan to visit the water and the sand in one hole quite like she did today.

When Carter found her ball in a “little swamp-type thing,” she discovered that the ball was halfway in the water and halfway out. After consulting a rules official about her options, she removed her shoes and socks, put on her full rainsuit and waded into the water up to her ankles.

“I’m from Georgia, so snakes don’t scare me much,” said Carter, who played collegiately at the University of Mississippi. “What bothered me was how cold that water was.”

Carter was able to get her club on the ball and successfully splash it out of the hazard, but the ball found a bunker en route to the hole. The rookie hit her bunker shot short of the green and went on to make a double-bogey on the par-four hole.

“I wish I could say that I made a great par from there, but I’d probably have the same score if I’d taken a drop,” she said. “Still, I got it out of that water. I tried.”

Duramed FUTURES Tour Player Caddies For Teacher On Champions Tour

Second-year Duramed FUTURES Tour member Benedikte (“Boo”) Grotvedt of Nesbru, Norway recently got a different kind of lesson from her swing coach. Based on Orlando, Fla., Grotvedt works with Gene Jones, Jr., who plays on the Champions Tour. Jones asked the young pro to caddie for him at the Allianz Championship in late February, where he finished 4^th to pick up a paycheck for $102,000.

So what did Grotvedt learn by watching veteran pros compete on the Champions Tour?

“I like to watch the way they carry themselves during the tournament and the way they think and manage the golf course in competition,” said Grotvedt, a former three-time Norwegian Team Champion. “I also like the way they just go with the flow and don’t get upset over bad shots or bad holes.”

Grotvedt caddied for Jones in two events and also had an up-close view of former Masters champions Larry Mize and Mark O’Meara, who were paired with Jones during a recent tournament in California. The PGA stars have encouraged the Norwegian and frequently inquire about her season.

“They all know I play on the Duramed FUTURES Tour and they’re always helping me out,” she said.

Jones and his father, swing coach Gene Jones, Sr., has taught Grotvedt for seven years. The young pro said she was thrilled to caddie in a Champions Tour event to not only watch her teacher compete, but to offer him some help. On the Champions Tour, the players walk and the caddies drive a cart with the bag. Grotvedt was behind the golf cart wheel for Jones.

“He’s my teacher, but he’s also a really good friend and we work great together,” she said. “I owe him so much for helping me with my game.”

Contact: Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour at 386 214-9726 and at lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.