Singh fails to putt rivals away
And yet he must have felt like kicking himself for throwing away the ideal opportunity of opening up a decent gap between himself and his closest rivals.
Singh stands on even par, which is satisfactory in itself but it might well have been a whole lot better.
It's a measure of just how well the 42-year-old Fijian giant played from tee to green that he took a whopping 34 putts in his round of 70. Time and again, beautifully-played approach shots pulled up within a few yards of the target but for some reason the putts kept slipping by.
Playing partner Pádraig Harrington looked on at Singh's shot-making with undisguised admiration, while admitting to astonishment that Singh was unable to make it pay a richer dividend.
"The putts were the problem today," acknowledged the man who will displace Tiger Woods as the world's number one player should he win this weekend.
"I hit the ball really good. I drove it where I wanted and a lot of times I played away from the flags to the front part of the greens. But the pace was a little slower than what I thought it was going to be.
"I'm satisfied with even par for the tournament. It's not going to get any easier for the weekend. I feel I'm in a great position right now and if I come out strong tomorrow and figure out the pace of the greens, I'll be even happier."
It will be recalled that Singh issued what amounted to a threat to USGA supremo Tom Meeks before the start that he should go and hide if the greens were allowed to become as fiery as they were at Shinnecock Hills 12 months previously.
Well it looks as if Meeks is relatively safe, for now anyway, with Singh acknowledging that "they must have put on a lot of water, I was surprised the greens were so receptive."
Singh enthused about how he drove the ball long and straight, which meant that more often than not he was going in with a wedge or nine iron.
The stats backed up his claim, for he hit 12 of the 14 fairways, an average of 85.7% and he reached 16 of the 18 greens in regulation, or 88.9%.
Hard to beat that - the only trouble is that the putter remained ice cold, a point well made by the 34 occasions on which he used the blade.
While Singh was consolidating his challenge, another member of the so-called 'fab four' Phil Mickelson was doing his best to reverse his way out of contention.
The gifted left-hander was sitting nicely after Thursday's 69 but it all came unstuck when he dropped a remarkable six shots in seven holes from the 12th, his third. He carded two further bogeys and compensated with a single gain to finish in 77 and six over par. It was a sloppy performance by any standards, with even his usually immaculate short game letting Mickelson down.
"I putted pretty poorly," he admitted. "I missed a number of short ones. I felt I didn't play that badly. I hit a lot of good shots where I wanted to that didn't quite end up where I was hoping. But it was down to the putting... I just didn't read them right or get the right speed."
Another well-fancied American who was also less than happy at the end of his day was Jim Furyk.
The 2003 champion was sitting pretty at one under par when he bogeyed his final two holes, the 8th and 9th. Still, 70 for one over demonstrates how successfully he has overcome his injury troubles and how well he may contend for a second title through the weekend.
"The two bogeys were a little disappointing", he accepted. "I pulled my drive just into the left rough and on nineI was between clubs. But I also played really well today. I'm surprised that I hit 14 greens and proves it was a solid ball striking day and yet I've only made four birdies in the first two days, all from relatively close distance. I'm probably a little fitter and stronger than I was back in 2003 when I had my best ever year. I got hurt after that and everyone wants to compare what I'm doing now to the best I ever was."
One of the most impressive performances of the day came from Michael Campbell who proved that Pinehurst does yield birdies. He had as many as six, the trouble being that he also picked up five bogeys.
The Maori, who is also keeping a close eye on rugby affairs back in his native New Zealand, felt the course yesterday morning was "two shots easier" than the previous evening. He was also "just happy to sign my score card for 69 today because one or two under is probably going to be the winning score this week. That's my goal."
Meanwhile, defending champion Retief Goosen was cruising along in his own quiet, inimitable way and moved two clear of the field at four under when he birdied the par five 4th, his 13th hole, thereby putting Ireland's Paul McGinley in dire danger of missing the cut. McGinley, on eight over, was hoping for salvation under the ten shot rule and also entertained a slim hope that the mark would go out from seven to eight over par.
Graeme McDowell was also also eight over with eight to play but Pádraig Harrington was well out of the hunt after a 74 for 11 over.
