Kiawah Island, SC (Sports Network) - Vijay Singh has not won on tour since
2008.
He was the second-most dominant player in the 2000s, second of course to Tiger
Woods.
In that 2008 season, Singh won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, then took the
first two FedExCup Playoffs events. He won the aforementioned Cup, but his
career fell a bit.
In 2009, Singh had three top 10s. He had one less in 2010 and improved some
last year with five.
This season hasn't been anything to write home about, so far.
His first top 10 came at the Byron Nelson Championship in May. Singh opened
the Greenbrier Classic with a 63, then shot a 74 and ultimately tied for 33rd
place.
But Singh has been on a roll of late.
He tied for ninth at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, then tied for seventh the
following week at the Canadian Open.
"I've just been telling myself I'm swinging the club really well, but nothing
is going," Singh said. "All of a sudden it clicked, and it clicked at the
British, played well at Greenbrier, didn't finish it off. I've been playing
well for a while, it's just the last two weeks was great, and so far it's been
unbelievable."
What made Singh's Friday 69 all the more unbelievable was the conditions. In
30 mph wind gusts and some rain, Singh posted the best round of the morning.
"If you had a golf course like this and you asked me to go and play golf in
windy conditions, I'd say no, I'm not going to play," he admitted. "But it is
a major, and we have to go out there and just struggle and manage yourself the
best you can, I guess."
Singh will be 50 in February. In the past, he's hinted he wasn't really
interested in the Champions Tour and with over $66 million in career earnings,
he isn't in need of the easy paychecks the elder circuit provides.
Singh wants to be competitive. His work ethic is still as strong as anyone in
professional golf. His ball-striking is still spectacular, so, if the wind
blows on the weekend, Singh could find himself in the hunt for a third
Wanamaker Trophy.
RYDER CUP STORYLINES
The eight automatic spots for the American Ryder Cup team will be finalized
after the PGA Championship.
Tiger Woods, Jason Dufner, Bubba Watson, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, Zach
Johnson, Matt Kuchar and Phil Mickelson are the top eight, in the order as
they appear.
Simpson and Kuchar missed the cut this week. Kuchar, in the seventh spot,
could be in jeopardy, but with the only Americans who are not already on the
team contending being Pat Perez and Blake Adams, Kuchar's spot appears to be
safe.
U.S. captain Davis Love III will have four picks to make, most likely from a
group of Steve Stricker, Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan, Jim Furyk, Dustin
Johnson and Brandt Snedeker. Fowler, Mahan and Snedeker have the weekend off.
Love has time. He will make his picks in three weeks.
The European team has taken shape as well.
World No. 1 Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Graeme McDowell, Lee
Westwood, Paul Lawrie, Francesco Molinari and Martin Kaymer appear safe. The
final two spots belong to Peter Hanson and Nicolas Colsaerts.
Hanson is in the mix at even-par, but Colsaerts missed the cut at Kiawah.
Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano make sense as
possible picks when captain Jose Maria Olazabal chooses on Aug. 27.
One player who Olazabal seemed to indicate would not be on the team was
Padraig Harrington. The three-time major winner and European Ryder Cupper on
every team since 1999 is down to 63rd in the world rankings and 19th on the
European World Points list.
It would be easy to dismiss Harrington as a pick, like Olazabal did on Tuesday
when the captain said Harrington would have "to do really extraordinary well"
at the PGA to be considered.
But, Harrington has top-10 finishes this year at both the Masters and U.S.
Open. He is 2-over this week and that's considerably better than Garcia, who
missed the cut, and has zero top 10s in majors in 2012.
Garcia is 10th on the World Points list and 12th on the European Points list.
(The European team is selected by the top five in world points, then the next
five, not otherwise eligible, in the European points list.)
Garcia is certainly in better shape than Harrington, but Harrington has played
better in majors and better of late.
Either way, Harrington is fine with Olazabal acknowledging how hard it will be
for the Irishman to be at Medinah.
"There certainly isn't very much room for a pick for me," Harrington said on
Friday. "You're looking at obviously Ian Poulter is going to get one and, you
know, there's one left. Obviously I'm not in the reckoning as it stands. So I
have to do something exceptional.
"At least it's clear."
* Joost Luiten was unable to complete his round due to darkness. He will be
back Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. ET to finish round two, then the cut will
be made and third-round tee times will be out.
* The stroke average, once Luiten finishes, will be around 78, which will be
the highest single-round stroke average in PGA Championship history.
* Due to slow play, the afternoon wave that teed off on No. 1 Friday was
delayed 20 minutes.
* There was some rainfall on Friday, but the forecasted thunderstorms never
materialized.
* Scott Verplank withdrew with a hip injury, Kevin Na pulled out Friday
because of a shoulder problem and Sean O'Hair also withdrew.
* The 36-hole cut will come at 6-over par with Lee Westwood, U.S. Open
champion Webb Simpson, Sergio Garcia, Matt Kuchar, Hunter Mahan and Rickie
Fowler all missing the cut.
* The hardest hole on Friday was the par-4 10th, which played to an average of
4.61. The most difficult hole of the week has been the par-4 13th, which has
played to an average of 4.42.
* The easiest hole on Friday was the par-5 second, which played to an average
of 4.85. The least difficult hole of the week has been the par-5 16th, which
has played to an average of 4.48.
The Sports Network