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| April 14, 2002 | Sunday | Muharram 30, 1423 |
Singh moves four clear at soggy Augusta
AUGUSTA (Georgia), April 13: Vijay Singh eagled the par-five 15th and birdied his last two holes for a flawless seven-under-par 65 and a four-shot clubhouse lead in the rain-affected second round of the U.S. Masters on Friday.
The towering Fijian, who opened with a 70, collected five birdies in all for his lowest career score at the Masters to move to nine-under-par 135.
Play was later abandoned for the day with 38 players still out on the course.
Singh, the 2000 champion, was four strokes clear of Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, who followed his opening 69 with a two-under-par 70 at Augusta National, Spaniard Sergio Garcia (71) and Argentina’s Angel Cabrera (71).
But South Africa’s U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, still to complete his round, had ominously moved to six under par after 11 holes — just three off the lead — before play was called off for the day.
Defending champion Tiger Woods and twice winner Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain were also out on the course, both at three under par for the tournament after 10 holes.
Second-round play will resume from 0745 local time (1245 GMT) on Saturday morning and the halfway cut is expected to be made at three-over-par 147.
This is the fourth time only that rain has forced a postponement in play in the 68-year history of the U.S. Masters, the most recent intervention occurring during the second round of the 1983 tournament eventually won by Seve Ballesteros.
Singh’s back nine of 30 on Friday was one short of the Masters record, first set by Mark Calcavecchia in 1992’s fourth round and equalled by fellow American David Toms in the last round of 1998.
“I played really good today but I was kind of worried about the weather starting out,” the 39-year-old Fijian said.
“There was a lot of surface water on the fairways which made it a little bit tougher, and the ball picked up a bit of mud,” said Harrington.
Both Singh and Harrington made significant moves on the back nine as overnight pacesetter Davis Love III slipped backwards with some wayward driving.
Singh collected back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13 to share the lead with the Irishman before he broke clear of a congested leader board with his eagle at the 500-yard 15th.
The Fijian struck a superb seven iron approach to 25 feet and calmly holed the putt to take the outright lead.
Singh, who won the Houston Open two weeks ago, parred the short 16th and then finished his round in style with his back-to-back birdies.
Love, who set the first-round pace with a blemish-free 67, had maintained his lead through 11 holes in the damp morning conditions.
However, erratic drives on 12 and 14 proved costly for the 1997 U.S. PGA champion, who has twice finished runner-up in the Masters.
He dropped shots at both holes and then bogeyed the last to finish with a 75 at two-under-par 142.
At one point, eight players were tied for the lead at four under as the afternoon gave way to bright sunshine and high humidity but Singh broke clear with his birdies at the short 12th and the par-five 13th.
Left-hander Phil Mickelson, looking for his first major title in his 35th professional start, picked up three birdies in his first 10 holes.
He then slipped backwards with dropped shots at 12, 14 and at the last to finish with a 72 at three-under 141.
World number one Woods, who is bidding for a third green jacket at Augusta, began the day three off the pace but was unable to make an early impression as he parred his first six holes.
He birdied the par-four seventh and, after reaching the turn in 35, stayed at three under for the tournament after 10 holes.
Four times Masters winner Arnold Palmer began his last competitive round in the early afternoon on Friday, finding the middle of the fairway with his drive at the first in front of packed galleries.
The 72-year-old golfing legend, who won the Masters green jacket in 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964, carded a disappointing 17-over-par 89 Thursday and said afterwards it was time to make his final farewell from the first of the year’s four major championships.
He dropped six shots going out for a front nine of 42 and bogeyed 10 and 11 to stand at 26 over par after 12 holes.
Second round scores after the completion of the storm-interrupted second round:
135 - Vijay Singh (Fij) 70-65
136 - Retief Goosen (Rsa) 69-67
137 - Ernie Els (Rsa) 70-67
139 - Padraig Harrington (Irl) 69-70, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68-71, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 68-71, Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa) 70-69, Tiger Woods 70-69
141 - Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 70-71, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 74-67, Phil Mickelson 69-72, Chris DiMarco 70-71
142 - Davis Love 67-75, Nick Faldo (Gbr) 75-67, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 70-72
143 - Robert Allenby (Aus) 73-70, Rocco Mediate 75-68, Mike Weir (Can) 72-71, Adam Scott (Aus) 71-72
144 - Stewart Cink 74-70, Darren Clarke (Irl) 70-74, Kirk Triplett 74-70
145 - Billy Mayfair 74-71, Craig Stadler 73-72, Justin Leonard 70-75, Bernhard Langer (Ger) 73-72, Bob Estes 73-72, Scott Verplank 70-75, Jeff Sluman 73-72
146 - Steve Lowery 75-71, Fred Couples 73-73, Tom Pernice 74-72, Nick Price (Zim) 70-76, Brad Faxon 71-75, Mark Brooks 74-72, Jerry Kelly 72-74, Paul McGinley (Irl) 72-74, Colin Montgomerie (Gbr) 75-71
147 - Lee Westwood (Gbr) 75-72, Tom Watson 71-76, David Toms 73-74, John Daly 74-73, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 75-72, Greg Norman (Aus) 71-76, Charles Howell 74-73
Failed to qualify
148 - Joe Durant 74-74, Larry Mize 74-74, Paul Azinger 75-abbatini (Rsa) 73-75, Michael Hoey (Irl) 75-73, David Duval 74-74, Scott McCarron 75-73, Michael Campbell (Nzl) 74-74
149 - Mark O’Meara 78-71, Lee Janzen 74-75, Paul Lawrie (Gbr) 75-74, Mark Calcavecchia 79-70, Toshi Izawa (Jpn) 73-76
150 -Furyk 73-77, Billy Andrade 75-75, Tom Kite 77-73, Toru Taniguchi (Jpn) 80-70, Matt Kuchar 73-77, Bubba Dickerson 79-71
151 - Steve Stricker 75-76, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 76-75, Scott Hoch 76-75
152 - Craig Perks (Nzl) 81-71, Fuzzy Zoeller 75-77 154 - Sandy Lyle (Gbr) 73-81, Tim Jackson 76-78, Robert Hamilton 77-77
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