Weakened by a stomach virus that caused him to lose 18 pounds in five days, Singh recovered in time to make a strong defense of his Bay Hill title by chipping in twice Friday on his way to a 5-under 65 and a two-shot lead over Carl Pettersson.
The 45-year-old Fijian looked like the model of athleticism on a day of gray clouds and occasional rain, not even remotely resembling someone afraid to stray too far from the bathroom for four days.
"I've got a very heavy shirt on. I can see my ribs," said Singh, who was at 9-under 131. "I thought I was going to pull out of this tournament, but on Friday, I just started to hit a few (balls). And that was it."
What he couldn't see on the leaderboard was Tiger Woods, who hasn't been this far out of the lead since the British Open.
The world's No. 1 player also looked sick, but only after watching putts come up short on shoddy greens. Woods, trying to continue a winning streak that stretches all the way back to September, had to settle for nine straight pars to close out a 2-under 68. He was seven shots behind going into the weekend.
"I'll have to play better and make a lot more putts that I have been," Woods said. "I just wasn't swing the club very well today. And when I did put myself in position to make a putt, I didn't make them."
After hitting a tee shot on the 16th that stopped next to a grandstand on the 17th, Woods still had a 15-foot birdie putt that rolled and wiggled and bumped and eventually slid by the hole. By this point, he only smiled.
"Runs like a fairway," he said under a breath.
But they are the same for everybody, and scoring has been reasonable.
Pettersson opened with three straight birdies on his way to a 65. Former U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk, coming off an unproductive West Coast Swing, birdied the last hole for 67, leaving him in the group at 134 that included Lee Westwood (68) and Ken Duke (67).
Singh finally exorcised his demons at Bay Hill last year with a comfortable two-shot victory, giving him 31 career victories to tie Harry "Lighthorse" Cooper for most by a foreign-born player.
They're still tied.
Singh has gone more than a year without winning, and it was only a month ago that he squandered a three-shot lead with five holes to play at Pebble Beach, losing to Steve Lowery in a playoff.
That didn't make him nearly as sick as a trip to India two weeks ago for the Johnnie Walker Classic.
"Tried to eat clean and drink bottled water, and it didn't work," Singh said. "I got the flu and a stomach virus, so both things were not very good. I came back on Monday and just never left the bathroom for four days. It was almost a forced rest."
Singh says his fitness regimen from the offseason helped him recover quickly, and he has felt himself getting stronger with each day. It helps, of course, to chip in twice, including an eagle on the sixth hole that gave him the outright lead.
He also chipped in from 40 feet short of the par-3 14th green, and that's one way to cope with greens that are not in the best shape. Then again, Singh knows Bay Hill perhaps better than any other course on the PGA Tour.
