South African golfer Ernie Els continues his excellent play to start the new year. After winning the first two tournaments of the year on the U.S. PGA tour, Els has the second round lead at the Caltex Masters event in Singapore.
Els overcame jet lag and searing tropical heat to shoot a 5-under-par, 67 Friday, for a two-day total of 8-under-par. He has a one shot lead over three other golfers: India's Arjun Atwal and Jeev Milkha Singh, and Scotland's Simon Yates. One shot further back is Irishman Gary Murphy.
The world number-two Els had to complete his rain-delayed opening round early Friday before heading out less than half an hour later to begin his second round. His only complaint on the day was the number of spectators' cell phones that rang during play.
Twenty-one players have yet to complete their second rounds due to the delays from bad weather on the first day.
Harrison Frazar has a two-stroke lead over fellow-American golfers David Toms and John Huston heading into Friday's second round of the Phoenix Open.
Frazar shot a brilliant 9-under-par, 62 on Thursday. It was the lowest round of his career. This is his sixth year on the tour but he has yet to win an event. He has two second place finishes and his best effort last year was a tie for fourth.
A double-bogey six on the final hole cost David Toms a share of the lead. Toms was the 2001 PGA champion. While he failed to win a tournament last year, he had 12 top-10 finishes and finished fourth on the money list with $3.46 million dollars. That set a single-season tour record for a non-winner.
World number-one golfer Tiger Woods of the United States continues to recover from minor knee surgery and hopes to return to action next month.