North of the border, Singh is on the rise
Vijay Singh patiently worked his way up the leaderboard, leaving playing partner Mike Weir behind again in the Canadian Open.
The 2004 winner in a playoff with Weir, Singh shot a 6-under-par 65 yesterday in Markham, Ontario, to finish the second round a stroke behind leaders Steve Allan and John Mallinger.
"The golf course isn't very difficult, but the pin placements are," said Singh, making his 10th appearance in the event. "The pin placements are very much on little slopes and you've got to be on the correct side of the pin. A lot of times you're 6, 8 feet away, but you have to read it so well and make a perfect putt to make it."
Weir nearly missed the cut for the second straight year and 11th time in 16 starts in the national championship. The Canadian followed his opening 71 with a 70 to qualify for weekend play by a stroke at 1 under.
"It was a struggle all the way around," the 2003 Masters champion said.
Allan added a 68 to his opening 64 to match Mallinger (66) at 10-under 132 on Angus Glen's North Course. Tripp Isenhour (68) joined Singh at 9 under.
Allan birdied the par-3 17th, hitting his tee shot within inches on the 206-yard hole, and saved par on the par-4 18th with a 10-foot putt. Mallinger had five birdies in his bogey-free round.
Singh made a 40-foot putt from just off the green on the par-3 14th to reach 8 under, and briefly tied Allan for the lead with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 15th.
Champions -- Tom Watson missed a 5-foot putt at the last hole and tossed away a share of the lead at the Senior British Open in Gullane, Scotland, while overnight leader Nick Faldo lost his putting touch and slipped to sixth.
Watson finished with a par 71 and handed the lead to Des Smyth, who shot 70 and held the lead with a 2-under 140 total at windswept Muirfield. No player broke 70 yesterday.
Watson was tied for second with Eduardo Romero (71), Gordon J. Brand (73), and Stewart Ginn (70) at 1 under. Faldo shot 74, two strokes behind the leader after opening with a 68.
LPGA -- American Diana D'Alessio shot a 68 and Jin-joo Hong carded a 70 to share a three-stroke lead at 7-under 137 after Day 2 of the Evian Masters in France.
Michelle Wie rebounded with a 1-under 71 to make the cut with a 144 total. She had gone 24 consecutive rounds without breaking par.
European -- Englishmen Zane Scotland (68) and Lee Slattery (69) shared the second-round lead at the
USGA -- Kristen Park of Buena Park, Calif., the youngest remaining player in the tournament, was a 2-up victor, and Honolulu's Ayaka Kaneko won, 1 up, to advance to today's final match in the US Girls' Junior Championship in Lakewood, Wash. . . . Anthony Paolucci of Dallas and Cory Whitsett of Houston both won on the second playoff hole of their semifinal matches to advance to today's 36-hole final of the US Junior Championship in Augusta, Mo.
