Singh takes lead into weekend

Vijay Singh is back to getting attention for his play on the golf course instead of his comments about Annika Sorenstam.

With his second straight 5-under 65 Friday, Singh took the second-round lead at the Byron Nelson Championship. He leads by one stroke over Tim Petrovic, who had a hole-in-one in his round of 66.

Singh created a stir after his runner-up finish last week in North Carolina by saying Sorenstam had no business playing in next week's Colonial and that he hoped she missed the cut. Before the Nelson, Singh said he was sorry if his comments came across as a personal attack and tried to put a different spin on his words.

Since then, he has focused on playing.

"I'm very focused. I came here to win the golf tournament," Singh said Friday. "It's Byron's tournament, and I am just looking forward to playing. My mind is totally on this golf game, and that's it."

Scott Verplank had Friday's low-round, a bogey-free 63 on the par-70, 6,846-yard Cottonwood Valley course. He is tied at 132 with first-round leader Jeff Sluman, who followed his opening 63 at Cottonwood with a 69 that included two backside bogeys on the tougher 7,022-yard TPC Four Seasons at Las Colinas.

Robert Gamez (66 at Cottonwood) and Kevin Sutherland (68 at TPC) were also at 8-under 132.

Windy conditions, with sustained winds of 20 mph much of the day and gusts of 30 mph or more, made for fewer low scores after 88 subpar rounds Thursday. Only 42 the 155 golfers broke par Friday.

"When it is blowing as hard as it was today and gusting like it was, it's pretty difficult. I don't hit that well every single day," said Verplank, who had only two birdie putts of more than 7 feet.

There were 80 players who made the cut at even-par 140. It is the third time in four years that at least 80 players made the weekend, when all rounds are played on the TPC layout.

Singh started his back nine at Cottonwood with his second bogey, hitting a wedge over the green at the 432-yard 10th. He then made four straight birdies, none of the putts longer than 8 feet, and had another one with a 3-foot putt on the 539-yard 16th.

"I was very patient out there. I knew the score isn't going to go that low like it did yesterday, so I just had to be around the leaders," Singh said. "I am surprised that I'm leading where I finished."

Since missing his only cut at The Players Championship, Singh has finished no lower than 11th his last four tournaments. He tied for sixth at the Masters and was second at the Wachovia Championship last week, and is fifth on the money list with $1.9 million.

Petrovic's hole-in-one came on the TPC's 181-yard 5th hole. He hit a 7-iron downwind straight into the cup, putting him 4-under for the day.

His only subpar hole after that was at the 452-yard 10th when he made a 20-foot birdie. He gave that stroke back at the 196-yard 17th when he missed the green and then a 12-foot putt after his pitch shot.

In between, he missed several birdie chances, including a makable 12-footer at 15 after recovering from a poor drive with a 3-wood from 240 yards that he said was "probably the best shot I hit all day, even better than the hole-in-one swing." After the putt slid by the edge of the cup, he flipped his putter in the air in frustration.

Petrovic, 36, turned pro in 1988 after leaving the University of Hartford, but didn't make the PGA Tour until last year when he won $797,206 while making 15 of 31 cuts to finish 86th on the money list.

He's already made more than that this season ($799,283) in the eight of 13 tournaments he made the weekend before the Nelson, which has one of the largest purses on the PGA Tour at $5.6 million.

Not bad for a guy who delivered pizzas and newspapers, and sold car phones to get by before finally earning his PGA Tour card through the Nationwide Tour in 2001.

"It's a story. I paid my dues and played everywhere just trying to keep the dream alive, so to speak," Petrovic said. "I guess it was just meant to be."

Divots: Billy Andrade, a shot off the lead after his opening 64, missed the cut after a 77. He was 7-over on the back nine at TPC, including two double-bogeys and four bogeys. ... Of nine former champions in the field, only Nick Price, Phil Mickelson and Robert Damron made the cut. Defending champ Shigeki Maruyama was 1-over 141.

Email this page to a friend | Return to top of page