IRVING, Texas, May 16 (UPI) -- Fiji's Vijay Singh put the controversy surrounding Annika Sorenstam out of his mind Friday and grabbed the lead after the second round of the Byron Nelson Championship.
Four days after touching off a controversy with his comments slamming Sorenstam's participation in next week's Colonial, Singh let his clubs do the talking in a 5-under-par 65.
Singh totaled seven birdies and two bogeys in strong winds at Cottonwood Valley, one of two courses used for the $5.6 million event.
"I came here to win the tournament. My mind is totally on this golf game," said Singh, who was at 10-under 130, one stroke ahead of Tim Petrovic (66) and two better than Robert Gamez, Kevin Sutherland, Scott Verplank and Jeff Sluman. Petrovic aced the par-3 fifth hole at the TPC course.
Singh switched putters overnight and liked the improvement.
"I am excited about the way I am putting," he said. "If I had used that putter yesterday, I probably would have shot 60.
"I missed a lot of chances. That's why I changed. It's the best I've felt with a putter for a long, long time. It makes a lot of difference."
Eighty players made the cut, which fell at even-par 140. Among those to bow out were defending champion Shigeki Maruyama of Japan and the struggling Sergio Garcia and David Duval.
It was the seventh successive missed cut for Duval.
