BETHESDA, Md. — Vijay Singh began desirous about what he would possibly do together with his weekend after bogeying the primary three holes Friday on the Senior PGA Championship.
“Your thoughts simply goes haywire,” he mentioned. “However I’ve performed lengthy sufficient to know that there is quite a lot of golf on the market.”
Then, he confirmed it.
After lacking the Masters and PGA Championship this spring due to an undisclosed harm, Singh seemed completely wholesome the remainder of the second spherical with seven birdies to surge to the highest of the leaderboard at Congressional Nation Membership. Taking pictures a 4-under 68, the previous top-ranked participant was tied for the lead with Y.E. Yang (68) and Cameron Percy (71) at 6 underneath midway via the PGA Tour Champions main.
“I have been driving the ball good,” Singh mentioned. “Simply hung in there and began making a few birdies right here and there, picked up the photographs, and the again 9 I performed stable golf.”
The 62-year-old from Fiji is aiming for his first profession victory on the course within the Maryland suburbs simply outdoors of Washington, which he has performed a handful of instances, together with the 1997 U.S. Open. He tied for 77th then and missed the reduce in his final occasion at Congressional, Tiger Woods‘ event in 2014.
“I’ve all the time beloved enjoying right here,” Singh mentioned, noting that a lot has modified from his earlier tries. “It’s very a unique golf course, completely new golf course. The greens are very difficult, to say the least.”
Singh, who spent 32 weeks atop the world rating roughly 20 years in the past and was recognized for his rigorous apply habits, has reduce that a part of his routine in half.
“As soon as I get on the vary and hit, it was once I might go on the market and hit 5, six good photographs and I might say, ‘OK, let’s have a look at if I can do 20 of those ones,'” Singh mentioned. “However now if I hit two or three good photographs, I say, ‘I’ve had sufficient, that is it.'”
Yang birdied 4 of his final 5 holes Friday.
With circumstances altering all through his spherical, Percy stored on the lookout for the massive American flag to see how windy it was at any given second and credited rising up in Melbourne, Australia, for understanding learn how to deal with it.
“I believe the wind positively helps me,” Percy mentioned. “You get down within the tree strains and you may’t really feel the wind, and then you definately stroll 200 yards and it is blowing like loopy.”
Padraig Harrington headlined a crowded group two strokes again at 4 underneath. Stuart Cink, Justin Leonard, defending champion Richard Bland and others had been 3 underneath.
Ernie Els adopted a gap 69 with a 75 to drop to even par. He gained the 1997 U.S. Open at Congressional.
