Vijay Singh leaps up leaderboard
August 11, 2012

Vijay Singh turns 50 in February. He should be preparing for the Champions Tour, not for weekend contention at the PGA Championship.

So much for conventional logic.

Singh will begin Saturday's third round at 4-under-par for the tournament, tied for the lead with Tiger Woods and Carl Pettersson. That's beyond impressive for a guy who had not finished in the top 10 in a major in more than six years, until last month at the British Open (where he tied for ninth).

Singh played so well amid Friday's whipping wind, he actually smiled a few times as he bounced between post-round interviews. His 3-under-par 69 requires some context - not one other player posted a score in the 60s, and only three others (Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ian Poulter) broke par.

It's a longshot, sure, but here's some trivia just in case: Singh, at 49, would become the oldest player ever to win a major championship. Julius Boros was 48 when he won the PGA in 1968.

Mickelson, for one, was not surprised to hear that Singh prospered despite periodic wind gusts of 25 to 30 mph. Kiawah Island's Ocean Course features numerous elevated greens, preventing players from bouncing shots onto the putting surface.

"You have to play it through the air here, and that plays right to Vijay's strength," Mickelson said. "He hits the ball extremely solid and penetrates right through the air - he's done that his whole career. ... Sometimes you might go through hills and valleys, but you don't ever forget how to hit those shots and win."

Singh, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2006, has 34 career PGA Tour wins - but none since September 2008.

Heading home: Among the notable players to miss the cut were Webb Simpson, Sergio Garcia, Davis Love III, Hunter Mahan, Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar and Brandt Snedeker.

Love, the Ryder Cup captain, can't be thrilled about this list - it includes several players likely to land on the U.S. team.

Simpson, playing in his first major since he won the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club, shot even-par 72 after wobbling to a first-round 79. Given the daunting conditions Friday, he acknowledged thinking at one point that it was one of his best rounds of the year.

Scores