RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Lexi Thompsons play around the greens has held her back at times in her young LPGA Tour career, lagging behind her powerful long game. On Friday in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, her putting touch carried her to the top of the leaderboard in the first major championship of the year. The 19-year-old Thompson, already a three-time winner on the tour, shot a bogey-free 8-under 64 at Mission Hills for a share of the lead with Se Ri Pak. "I worked extremely hard in the off-season on my short game and just trying to get my game a lot more consistent," Thompson said. She had only 25 putts after taking 35 in a first-round 73. "I just had a little bit of speed issues yesterday," Thompson said. "I didnt really commit to my lines and I came up short a lot. I just went out today and picked my line and sped up my tempo a little bit and went up to it and said, Im going to knock it in." After experimenting with a stance close to the ball to get her eyes more over the putting line, shes standing farther away in a more natural position. "Even as a little kid I stood far away from the ball and took the putter inside. I just went right back to that," Thompson said. "I moved farther away and just take one look at the hole and just knock it in. Hopefully." Pak birdied the final hole for a 70 to match Thompson at 7-under 137. The 36-year-old South Korean player won the last of her five major titles in 2006 and has 25 LPGA Tour victories. "Everything has just been really solid," Pak said. "I kept it fairways, greens, always the goal every hole. I had a lot of opportunities, but putting is not as good as yesterday. Still, just really smooth, solid round. Im really happy about the way I finished." Michelle Wie was a stroke back after a 71. "Im really excited," Wie said. "Its fun being near the top of the leaderboard. But try not to look forward too much. Its a long way til Sunday." Thompson birdied eight of the last 13 holes after opening with five pars. "I was just trying to stay in the moment and focus on each shot, not really think about what I was shooting," Thompson said. "I had the same confidence over every shot, just committing to my line and just being confident." She made a 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the par-3 17th -- her eighth hole -- and two-putted for birdie after reaching the par-5 18th in two. Thompson holed a breaking 30-foot birdie putt on the par-4 first, made a 4-footer on the par-4 third and ran in a 20-foot putt on the par-4 fourth after slashing out from under a tree in the left rough. She added an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-4 seventh and closed with a 10-footer on the par-5 ninth after hitting into the greenside bunker in two. "This is my favourite tournament of the year," Thompson said. "Its so beautiful, like really nice weather, and the fans are amazing. Im really comfortable with the golf course. I get to hit a lot of drivers, so I just aim up the right side and hit my little draw." Wie opened with a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-4 10th, and dropped a stroke on the par 13th after driving behind a tree in the right rough. She had a three-putt par on 18 -- missing a 3-footer -- after reaching the water-guarded green in two. "It felt good to start off with a birdie," Wie said. "After that, really just couldnt get anything going. ... But it felt good. Par is a good score out here." On the par-5 second, she made a 25-foot birdie putt after hitting a snap hook off the tee. Instead of going out of bounds, the ball hit a tree and ricocheted into the fairway. "It was a pretty lucky shot," Wie said. "I thought it was for sure OB." First-round leader Shanshan Feng bogeyed the final two holes for a 73 to drop into a tie for fourth with Cristie Kerr at 5 under. Kerr had a 70. Thompson, Pak and Wie played in calm morning conditions, while the breeze picked up as Feng and Kerr finished their afternoon rounds on the overcast day. "The wind kind of picked up, so it was actually tougher playing compared to yesterday," Feng said. "I think I actually did pretty well. I did make two bogeys coming in, but I was still concentrating, and it just happens. Sometimes you make good strokes and they dont fall on this course. Im still positive." Anna Nordqvist, the winner in Thailand in February and Carlsbad last week, was tied for sixth at 4 under after a 69. Stacy Lewis, the 2011 champion, had a 70 to join 16-year-old Lydia Ko and Hall of Famer Karrie Webb at 1 under. Ko and Webb, a two-time winner this year, also shot 70. Defending champion Inbee Park was even par after a 70. DeMario Davis Jersey . The German has taken the pole for three straight races -- winning the first two. 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TreQuan Smith Saints Jersey . - The fiancee of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez is set to ask a judge to throw out allegations that she lied to a grand jury.Actor, police officer and MMA fighter. No one can accuse Sergeant Nick Hein of not living life to the fullest. As the 30-year-old German lightweight himself notes, most of the good stuff -- his role on a hit German TV show and UFC contract -- came in the last 18 months. It really gives me a shiver every time I think about it, he said in a interview. Its a cool time right now. Hein steps into the Octagon for a second time Saturday night when he faces James The Texecutioner Vick on a televised UFC card in Austin, Texas. Former lightweight champion Frankie The Answer Edgar, currently ranked No. 3 among featherweight contenders, faces No. 2 Cub Swanson in the main event at the Frank Erwin Center. Hein (11-1 with one no contest) won his UFC debut in May via unanimous decision over American Drew Dober on a card in Berlin. It was an impressive showing with Hein using his left hook to carve open a cut over Dobers eye and his judo skills to take the American down. He faces a tall task in the unbeaten Vick (6-0), who at six foot three has a seven-inch height advantage on the German. We train for that, Hein said nonchalantly. We have tall Germans too. Hein is a firm believer that things happen for a reason and has plenty of ammo to back it up. He shifted to MMA after his judo career was essentially blocked by having a German world champion in his weight class. He won his role on the popular German sitcom Diese Kaminskis after meeting a scriptwriter in the gym. When it came time to audition last year, he almost missed his opportunity because he neglected to check his voice mail, eventually listening to the message just in time to make it. Perhaps most importantly he met his wife-to-be -- an artist -- in Tokyo while he was training in her native Japan in 2005. I lost her number the first time, he said. I was one and half hours away from Tokyo and Tokyos not the smallest place to find somebody again. He went to the same place one week later and waited. She had the same idea and they found each other. They got married two years later. Hein was 19 when he joined Germanys Federal Police out of school. The force supported amateur sports, allowing Hein to pursue his blossoming judo career. These days Hein patrols the busy train station in downtown Cologne. Its a crazy place, he said with a laugh. After his UFC debut, he recalls making a shoplifting arrest at the station only to see a store employee staring at him. Hein thought he might have food on his face after lunch. Youre the MMA fighter? the employee eventually asked. In a country where mixed martial arts is still struggling to gain acceptance, Hein sees that recognition as a step forward. While its been more than four years since the UFC held its first show in Germany -- UFC 99 in June 2009 in Cologne -- mixed martial arts still has a way to go in Heins home. The sportt is still not allowed on domestic TV so fight fans will have to watch Saturdays card online.dddddddddddd Hein addressed that in May in his post-fight interview in the cage. He took the microphone and, in German, asked the fans if they felt good. Then he asked them to shout U-F-C to show the world that the UFC has a home in Germany. Hein said people may remember that post-fight interaction more than the bout itself. Germany remains split on MMA, he says. The younger generation supports it but the older generation doesnt understand it. And thats usually the generation of your bosses, he said. He started judo at the age of six and went on to win European under-20 and under-23 titles. But his dream of making the Olympics was stymied by the fact that he competed in the same weight class as Ole Bischof, who won gold at the 2008 Games and silver in 2012. He competed better internationally in the time when it counted, said Hein, an Olympic alternate in 2008. Still it was like a setback. I had to accept I couldnt pass him by. He calls what has happened since a fairy-tale. But there were tough times getting there, with Hein calling the end of his judo career a nightmare time. He eventually switched his focus to MMA, a sport that had been in the back of his mind since someone had given him a VHS copy of UFC 1 years before. I thought I could do that too, he recalled. That seed resurfaced in 2009 when a really depressed Hein was at a judo camp in Brazil. He needed a new challenge and decided to find an MMA gym when he went home. The sport captivated him and he started taking more classes, eventually making his pro debut in August 2009. Still a member of the national judo team, he did it in secret. Hein told his coach he had to go to a friends wedding in Italy. He won his fight in Cologne -- moved to a small space after the original venue was cancelled -- and left in the wee hours to take a train to Berlin so he could attend judo training camp the next morning. Nobody knew what happened, he said. Hein won his MMA debut in the first round and said he felt like he had won the heavyweight championship of the world. I was fighting in European (judo) championships, I was fighting in Brazil, in Russia, all over he world, really big competitions, really big organizations. But that (first MMA) fight with 30 people in the room gave me that feeling, he said. Hein took some boxing lessons and learned he had power in his hands. His TV show is about three undertakers who arent the sharpest knives in the drawer. While he has no acting background, Hein said the script grabbed him. I read it and I felt Man, I can do this. Thats me actually. A really dumber version of me. He says he manages to fit everything into the day thanks to staying focused and the support of his wife. But when its time to fight, acting taking a back seat. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '