American Kelli Kuehne built on a good start to take the halfway lead at the LPGA Big Apple Classic.

Kuehne birdied the first three holes of her second round and went on to card a six-under par 65.

She holds a two stroke lead over Chris Johnson with Annika Sorenstam and Hee-Won Han tied for third a further shot behind.

Johnson matched Kuehne's 65 after she birdied the final three holes.

Kuehne, who is 19th on this year's money list, admitted that the good start to a round is rare for her.

"It was awesome, but I haven't started out like that in a really long time," she said.

"Usually my best rounds start with a bogey, when I have to tell myself, `Come on, get going.' But to start with three solid birdies, that got me confident into the day."

Kuehne is coming off consecutive top 10 finishes, including a tie for seventh at the U.S. Open but her only LPGA win came in the 1999 Corning Classic.

Johnson credits some of the success to a new driver she started using last week.

"I'm hitting shorter clubs in than other players and that's always a benefit," she said.

Joint first round leaders Kathryn Marshall and Minny Yeo, who opened with 68s, both struggled in the second round.

Marshall had a 76 and was at 2-over 144, just making the cut by one shot while Yeo had an 80 and missed out.

Leading second-round scores from the Sybase Big Apple Classic (US unless stated)

134: Kelli Kuehne 69 65
136: Chris Johnson 71 65
137: Hee-Won Han 70 67, Annika Sorenstam (Swe) 71 66
138: Gloria Park 71 67, Beth Daniel 73 65, Kim Saiki 71 67, Sherri Steinhauer 69 69
139: Nancy Scranton 71 68, Karrie Webb (Aus) 70 69
140: Natalie Gulbis 71 69, Jennifer Hubbard 72 68, Silvia Cavalleri (Ita) 69 71, Dorothy Delasin 71 69
141: Diana D'Alessio 72 69, Michelle Bell 70 71, Barb Mucha 74 67, Carri Wood 71 70, Lorie Kane (Can) 72 69, Marisa Baena 74 67, Kelly Robbins 71 70, Tina Barrett 71 70, Meg Mallon 70 71, Marianne Morris 74 67
142: Rachel Teske 71 71, Jeong Jang (Kor) 75 67, Candie Kung 70 72, Rosie Jones 75 67, Julie Piers 72 70, Ara Koh 72 70, Cindy Rarick 71 71
143: Vicki Goetze-Ackerman 71 72, Jackie Gallagher-Smith 73 70, Stephanie Keever 70 73, Ashli Bunch 74 69, Beth Bauer 70 73, Jean Zedlitz 71 72, Annette DeLuca 72 71, Michele Redman 71 72, Maria Hjorth (Swe) 75 68