HARRISON (New York), June 10: Vijay Singh ditched his driver in the hope of hitting more fairways and the strategy paid off as he fired a seven-under-par 64 on Friday to share the lead with Briton David Howell midway through the Barclays Classic.

World No. 4 Singh, who has gone nearly 11 months without a victory on the US Tour, registered five birdies and an eagle in a bogey-free round, while Howell rolled in a three-foot birdie at the last to complete a 68 and join Singh at 134.

Leading second round scores:

134 – Vijay Singh (Fiji) 70, 64; David Howell (Britain) 66, 68.

135 – Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden) 67, 68.136 – Billy Andrade (US) 66, 70; Joey Sindelar (US) 68, 68.137 – Brett Quigley (US) 71, 66; Adam Scott (Australia) 65, 72; Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 69, 68; Luke Donald (Britain) 72, 65; Frank Lickliter II (US) 70, 67; Kevin Sutherland (US) 70, 67; Arron Oberholser (US) 68, 69; Ben Crane (US) 71, 66.

BRIER FIGHTS BACK

VIENNA: Austrian Markus Brier, again buoyed by enthusiastic home support, recovered from a double-bogey to lead the Austrian Open for a second day on Friday.

Brier followed up his adventurous opening day with a less spectacular four-under-par 67 to move to 10-under-par 132.

He shares the two-shot lead with Britain's Simon Dyson, one of four players trailing Brier by a stroke overnight, who carded a 66.

Leading second round scores:

132 – Markus Brier (Austria) 65, 67; Simon Dyson (Britain) 66, 66.

134 – Gary Emerson (Britain) 70, 64; Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 67, 67.

135 – David Griffiths (Britain) 69, 66; Soren Hansen (Denmark) 68, 67; David Higgins (Ireland) 67, 68; Steven Jeppesen (Sweden) 68, 67; Colin Montgomerie (Britain) 67, 68.—Reuters