Maybe this will be the week that Lori Kane's name finally occupies the top spot on the leader board.

Kane, who is currently third on the 1999 LPGA money list, has finished second eight times, but has yet to win a tournament.

Kane shot a 5-under-par 67 today for an 8-under total of 136 to share the second-round lead of the areaWEB.COM Challenge with Sherri Steinhauer. Steinhauer shot a 68.

On Saturday, they'll have a chance to renew a friendly rivalry that reached its peak three weeks ago in the JAL Big Apple Classic when the two were paired all four days and then played five extra holes before Steinhauer won.

"That was something," Steinhauer said. "Lori's been wonderful about the 77 holes. She brings it up and laughs about it. Probably, it will be like, 'Here we go again.'"

Kane, A Canadian who hails from of Prince Edward Island, had a chance to play in front of friends and family.

"This is the closest we come to home this year, so it was a good chance to get everyone together," Kane said.

Kane, who had seven birdies against two bogeys, has been compared to David Duval of the PGA Tour, who had seven second-place finishes in 84 events before finally winning. After he finally won, Duval went on to win 11 times in 34 events.

"Any time you're compared to David Duval, it isn't bad," Kane said. "Great things happened to him once he got that first win."

Steinhauer, playing in the afternoon, appeared ready to take the tournament lead when she birdied four of the first eight holes from long range.

However, after getting to 8-under, Steinhauer settled for pars the rest of the way, needing to get up-and-down to save par on 13 and 18.

"I was just trying to hit fairways and greens and let things happen from there," Steinhauer said. "Those were pretty good putts on the front nine. You feel pretty good when you make a couple like that.

"I didn't change my game plan on the second nine, but I wasn't as successful as I was on the front nine. The front nine is really a scoring nine anyway."

One shot behind the leaders at 137 were Mardi Lunn, who shot a 71, and Rachel Hetherington, who matched the tournament record with a 66.

"The wind was swirling out there and there were times it was difficult to judge your shot," Hetherington said. "I had to take two weeks off with a strained back muscle, so this is a good chance for me to get back."

At 138 were Dottie Pepper (71), Michelle Redman (68), Jan Stephenson (70) and Laurie Rinker-Graham (68).

AP