KAPOLEI, OAHU, Hawaii Alison Nicholas admits her second round start at the Sunrise Hawaiian Ladies Open had her a bit concerned. Michelle McGann didn't tear it up early either.

But both finished today where they want to be heading into the final round of the 54-hole tournament. They are at 8-under-par 136 with a two-stroke lead over their closest pursuers, Mardi Lunn and Cindy McCurdy.

Michelle Redman and Vickie Odegard were at 139 with former HLO winner Meg Mallon among a group of five at 140.

"I didn't start off very well,'' Nicholas said after bogeying two of her first five holes.

But it was another story after that. She put together six birdies over the next seven holes -- three of them from 15 feet and another from 12 feet -- and added birdies at the 379-yard 15th and 354-yard closing hole to give her a 66 and vault her into a share of the lead.

"I tried to hang in there,'' she said. "I started making some putts and gained some confidence as I went along.''

McGann, trying to recover the touch that resulted in seven LPGA titles in three years, also had to rally for her 69.

She got off to an up-and-down start with a pair of birdies and two bogeys over the first four holes. She then added three birdies on her second nine, finishing with a tap-in on the 425-yard seventh.

"I didn't have good momentum early on,'' she said.

But playing with partners in contention helped.

"You gain momentum off players when they're playing well,'' McGann said of Odegard and Pat Hurst, who finished at 140 (69-71). "We joked about it early on. Both are good players and we had a lot of birdies in our group both days.''

After her shaky start, McGann recovered on the closing nine holes with three birdies, the last a tap-in at the par-5 7th.

If anything, it appeared Odegard was in control of the round. Starting at 4-under, she picked up three strokes on her first nine. But then she flew the green and wound up with a double bogey.

Lunn double-bogeyed her second hole -- the course's 354-yard 11th -- and then had to scramble to finish with a 72 for the round, putting her in a tie for third with McCurdy, who had a 70.

"I hit a really bad shot,'' Lunn said of her second shot on the par-4 hole. "I just blocked the 5-iron and hit it straight into the water. Then, I chipped up to two feet and, of course, missed the putt.

"I played pretty solid except for that one shot. I hit a lot of greens again today, but I just didn't make the putts that I made yesterday. I had one bad shot and didn't make any putts.''