BETHESDA, Md. (AP) 鈥� Vijay Singh started thinking about what he might do with his weekend after bogeying the first three holes Friday at the .
鈥淵our mind just goes haywire,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I鈥檝e played long enough to know that there鈥檚 a lot of golf out there.鈥�
Then, he showed it.
After and PGA Championship this spring because of an undisclosed injury, Singh looked perfectly healthy the rest of the second round with seven birdies to surge to the top of the leaderboard at Congressional Country Club. Shooting a 4-under 68, the former top-ranked player was tied for the lead with Y.E. Yang (68) and Cameron Percy (71) at 6 under halfway through the PGA Tour Champions major.
鈥淚鈥檝e been driving the ball good,鈥� Singh said. 鈥淛ust hung in there and started making a couple of birdies here and there, picked up the shots, and the back nine I played solid golf.鈥�
The 62-year-old from Fiji is aiming for his first career victory at the course in the Maryland suburbs just outside of Washington, which he has played a handful of times, including the 1997 U.S. Open. He tied for 77th then and missed the cut in his last event at Congressional, Tiger Woods' tournament in 2014.
鈥淚鈥檝e always loved playing here,鈥� Singh said, noting that much has changed from his previous tries. 鈥淚t鈥檚 totally a different golf course, totally new golf course. The greens are very challenging, to say the least.鈥�
Calgary's Stephen Ames (73) was tied for 61st at 4 over and Mike Weir (74) of Brights Grove, Ont., was tied for 92nd at 7 over.
Singh, who spent 32 weeks atop the world ranking roughly two decades ago and was known for his rigorous practice habits, has cut that part of his routine in half.
鈥淥nce I get on the range and hit, it used to be I鈥檇 go out there and hit five, six good shots and I鈥檇 say, 鈥極K, let鈥檚 see if I can do 20 of these ones,鈥欌�� Singh said. 鈥淏ut now if I hit two or three good shots, I say, 鈥業鈥檝e had enough, that鈥檚 it.鈥�"
Yang birdied four of his last five holes Friday.
With conditions changing throughout his round, Percy kept looking for the big American flag to see how windy it was at any given moment and credited growing up in Melbourne, Australia, for knowing how to handle it.
鈥淚 think the wind definitely helps me,鈥� Percy said. 鈥淵ou get down in the tree lines and you can鈥檛 feel the wind, and then you walk 200 yards and it鈥檚 blowing like crazy.鈥�
Padraig Harrington headlined a crowded group two strokes back at 4 under. Stuart Cink, Justin Leonard, defending champion Richard Bland and others were 3 under.
Ernie Els followed an opening 69 with a 75 to drop to even par. He won the 1997 U.S. Open at Congressional.
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AP golf:
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
