Furyk & Singh lead with record scores

Jim Furyk jumped all over an early Friday tee time in the U.S. Open, shooting a 4-under-par 66 and moving smartly up the leaderboard to become the clubhouse leader.

By the time the afternoon portion of the second round had been completed, Furyk had become the forgotten man, even though he'll go to sleep tonight tied for the lead in the Open.

Vijay Singh, who turned into golf's resident villain a few weeks ago with his comments about Annika Sorenstam's participation in the Colonial Invitational, ripped up Olympia Fields Country Club with a U.S. Open record-tying 63.

And for the first time since those comments, Singh spoke to the media.

"I'm very focused on what I'm doing," Singh said when asked about how he's been able to play so well in the face of the whirlwind of controversy. "I don't read too much newspapers and don't let things like that bother me."

It's a good thing, since he changed his caddy prior to the start of the Open and he and his caddie had a run in with an obnoxious fan on the 14th hole Friday.

As had been the case throughout the day, a fan sitting at the side of the green yelled something to the effect that "Annika would have made that shot" when Singh's 8-iron into the green stopped six feet from the hole.

Dave Rennick, Singh's caddy, told the guy to shut up and then Singh said something to him. When the guy responded, "Why don't you come over here and say that?" Singh started moving toward that side of the green.

"The guy was making a fool of himself, and Vijay called him on it," playing partner Rocco Mediate said. "He walked over toward that side of the green, and the guy backed right down. And then he knocked the putt in. He handles all of this stuff perfectly, much better than I would have. I probably would have gone into the stands after him and gotten my butt kicked. But I'd have been there. These guys were just idiots today."

When Singh was asked the incident, he gave a reply that could have been predicted.

"Well, I hit a good tee shot on 14, hit an 8-iron, made the putt and went to the next hole," Singh said. "I didn't know there was anything."

And when he was asked about waving goodbye to the fan with his putter, he said, "I was waving to my caddie."

Singh put together nines of 34-29 for his 63. He got things going with a chip-in for eagle on No. 1 and a short birdie putt on No. 2.

"I think ball-striking wise, this is the best I've played for a while," he said. "I hit a lot of drivers off the tees and hit a lot of fairways. And my iron shots were all good and I made a lot of putts, so you can't go wrong with that."

It was the third time Singh went low in a major. He had a 63 in the PGA in 1993 and a 64 in the Open at Southern Hills two years ago.

He finished the day with seven birdies and an eagle. The round could have really been special had he not bogeyed two of the easiest holes on the course, the third and sixth.

"It was awesome. It was good to see him do that," Mediate said. "He's a good guy, and honestly, I've never seen anything like that. It didn't even look like he was trying. I wanted to see him birdie 17 and 18. It was awesome, even though I was kind of in left field, it was great to watch. It was a simple little 7-under 63."

Singh's round was historic in a number of ways. It helped him not only tie Furyk at 133 for two rounds, the lowest two-round score ever in an Open, but it was the lowest second-round score ever, one better than Tommy Jacobs' 64 at Congressional CC in 1964. And it was only the fifth round of 63 ever shot in Open competition.

Western Pennsylvanian golf fans will remember one of those rounds, the final-round 63 shot by Johnny Miller at Oakmont Country Club to win the 1973 U.S. Open.

Furyk was long gone by the time Singh had singed Olympia Fields, but he had to rest comfortably last night thanks to the best position he's ever had in an Open after two rounds.

"I played a really solid round, probably my best round to date in the U.S. Open," he said. "I had control of the golf ball. I put it in play a hit a lot of greens. I want to continue to do that, and of course, I'd always love to knock in a couple more putts, so that would be great."

Furyk cruised through Olympia Fields with no bogeys and four birdies and led a parade of players into the last two rounds with under-par scores.

Twenty-six players are under par through two rounds, and 13 more are at even par through two rounds. Three-over par made the cut, making it the lowest cut total in U.S. Open history. The previous total was 145, ironically set at Medinah Country Club, which is located on the other side of Chicago from Olympia Fields.

"I would feel it hard to use the word easy (concerning the course)," Furyk said. "Maybe less difficult would be good for the U.S. Open. I'm not trying to upset anyone this evening. I would say Bethpage last year was a very difficult golf course to start, and it was a difficult setup, the hardest I've ever seen setup-wise."

Singh and Furyk hold a two-shot lead over Jonathan Byrd and Stephen Leaney and a three-shot lead over some guys who will get their attention, including Justin Leonard, Nick Price and Tiger Woods.

"I just wanted something in the red today," Woods said after shooting 66. "That's all you have to do, just keep yourself in the red and keep moving up. It's always tougher to move up on the weekend. If you're up there near the lead, it's tough."

Woods wasn't about to put the "easy" tag on Olympia Fields.

"I think this tournament has been fairer than we've seen in the past with the setup," he said. "It's not as severe. A lot of it is just because it's softer. If this golf course was baked out, you wouldn't see these scores. You probably wouldn't see the guys at the top of the board you're seeing because with the softer conditions, basically anyone can get up there on that board."