25 September 2004	Saturday	09 Shaban 1425

FARMINGTON, Sept 24: World number one Vijay Singh fired an eight-under-par 64 to take a three-shot lead when the first round was suspended for the day at the $4.2 million Pennsylvania Classic on Thursday.

Sweden's Richard S Johnson, Pat Perez, Cameron Beckman, Ben Curtis and Australian Robert Allenby shared second place on 67 at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort's Mystic Rock course.

South Korean Kevin Na was also five-under after 14 holes when play was halted due to darkness. Jonathan Byrd, Lee Janzen, Tommy Armour III, John Daly, Joey Sindelar and JP Hayes were in the clubhouse on 68. Kris Cox was four-under through 14 holes.

Singh, who took over from Tiger Woods as world number one two weeks ago and promptly went out and won the Canadian Open, played almost flawless golf on Thursday.

After play began nearly 75 minutes late because of fog, Singh hit 13 of 14 fairways, 17 of 18 greens in regulation and totalled 28 putts. Woods pulled out of the event earlier this week, citing fatigue.

FIRST ROUND SCORES

64 Vijay Singh

67 Richard S Johnson, Pat Perez, Cameron Beckman, Ben Curtis, Robert Allenby

68 Jonathan Byrd, Lee Janzen, Tommy Armour III, John Daly, Joey Sindelar, JP Hayes

69 Billy Andrade, Mike Weir, Chris Smith, Zach Johnson, Brent Geiberger, Justin Rose, Robert Gamez, Jeff Brehaut, Kent Jones, Tom Pernice Jr, Woody Austin.

BRITONS LEAD

WOBURN: Sweden's Patrik Sjoland and Henrik Stenson roared up The Heritage leader board on Friday to lift the Scandinavian country out of the golfing doldrums. The pair are just one stroke off the second-round lead held by Britons Graeme McDowell and Phillip Price.

Sjoland, a double tour winner, has not had a victory since the 2000 Irish Open, while Stenson's sole win came in the 2001 Benson and Hedges International.

SECOND ROUND SCORES

135 Graeme McDowell 67 68, Phillip Price 68 67

136 Patrik Sjoland 68 68, Henrik Stenson 69 67

138 Mark Foster 69 69, Barry Lane 71 67, Simon Wakefield70 68

139 Marcus Fraser 70 69, Nick O'Hern 67 72

140 Gordon Brand Jnr 70 70, Jamie Elson 69 71, Klas Eriksson69 71, Martin Erlandsson 70 70, Mattias Nilsson 70 70,Ian Woosnam 71 69, Anders Hansen 72 68, Jose Manuel Lara 67 73. -Agencies