The Hindu : Sport / Golf : Vijay Singh hangs on

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 07, 2007
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Sport - Golf

Vijay Singh hangs on

KAPALUA (Hawaii): Vijay Singh had one bad swing on Friday, but it wasn't enough for him to lose the lead in the rain, whipping wind and eventual sunshine at the Mercedes-Benz golf championship.

Singh pulled his tee shot in the native grasses on the par-5 18th hole, hit a remarkable recovery and escaped with a par, giving him his second straight 4-under 69 and a one-shot lead over Trevor Immelman and Will MacKenzie in the PGA Tour opener.

MacKenzie made his lone bogey on the 17th after being put on the clock and rushing a putt, and he had a chance to tie Singh until missing a 10-foot birdie on the final hole, settling for a 70.

Immelman, the rookie of the year in 2006, birdied two of his last three holes for a 68.

Delay

The start of the second round was delayed 1 hour, 20 minutes because of a light rain that began overnight and didn't stop until an hour after the round began. The trade wind picked up strength to 35 mph gusts as it tried to shoo the clouds away. Singh thought it was nearly unplayable as he made the turn in a tie for the lead, but he picked up a few more birdies and reached 8-under 138.

But he had few complaints about his position. He has finished a combined four shots behind three-time defending champion Stuart Appleby the last three years, and has not finished out of the top 10 since the winners-only tournament moved here in 1999.

Appleby shot 72 and was seven shots behind. Davis Love III (71), Chris Couch (70) and J. B. Holmes (68) were at 5-under 141, with Adam Scott (69) another shot behind.

Holmes was surprised to be in contention. He learned 20 minutes before his tee time that he would be playing alone because Arron Oberholser withdrew because of a back injury. Holmes made a sloppy bogey on the opening hole and showed no signs of doing anything grand until a chip from deep grass in the collar of a bunker on the ninth for a tap-in birdie. — AP

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