Vijay Singh shot his second straight five-under-par 65 to move into a one-stroke lead after the second round of the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas. The world number seven and two-time major champion stands on 10-under-par 130 after a tidy round in gusting winds at the Cottonwood Valley Golf Club.
Tim Petrovic took over sole possession of second spot after a four-under 66 at the TPC at Las Colinas in an event being played on two courses. Cottonwood is the shorter of the two venues being used this week but will not be played over the weekend, with the field playing 54 of the event's 72 holes at Las Colinas.
After shooting a one-under 69 at Las Colinas, first-round leader Jeff Sluman is tied for third on 132 with Robert Gamez, Kevin Sutherland and Scott Verplank.
Singh was among the early finishers on Friday afternoon and it appeared likely that his 10-under total would be surpassed. Sluman, for example, began his second round already on eight-under. But as strong winds added to the difficulty of the two courses, few players could match Singh's 65 and only two, Verplank with a 63 and Patrick Sheehan with a 64, could better it.
Defending champion Shigeki Maruyama of Japan recorded a one-under 69 and finished at 141, but that wasn't quite enough for him to make the cut of even-par 140. Maruyama has been troubled for two months with a pinched nerve in his neck.
Spain's Sergio Garcia, the world number 11, was also one stroke away from playing on the weekend. Garcia is making changes to his swing and has yet to crack the top-20 in seven stroke-play events on the US PGA Tour. In two European Tour starts, Garcia has one missed cut and a tie for 19th in the Canarias Open de Espana.
Filed by James Boylan.
