KERR SET TO DEFEND LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP CROWN

It won't be easy, but Cristie Kerr seems poised to make another run toward her second consecutive LPGA Championship this week in upstate New York. Kerr, who pulled off a Rory McIlroy-like victory with her record-breaking, 12-stroke triumph last year at Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y., has been stellar this season.

Kerr has five top-five finishes in nine starts, with three straight second-place finishes coming into this week's major. However, she has yet to reach the winner's circle thus far this season.

A victory by Kerr this week would mark just the fifth time in the tournament's history a defending champion would repeat as the winner and first since golf legend Annika Sorenstam captured three crowns between 2003 and 2005 in the tournament's history.