Singh's spot is secure

Atop the main scoreboard at the Masters, there are flags representing the countries of all of the players. After two rounds, all of those other flags are overshadowing the American one.

Vijay Singh has the lead, and only two from the United States are in the top 11 with the second round of the Masters nearly complete on Friday at Augusta National Golf Club. Play was suspended for the day following a torrential downpour at 5 p.m. It will resume at 7:45 a.m. today, with 38 players completing their second round, including Arnold Palmer.

- Greg Hardwig, Naples (Fla.) Daily News

Augusta National just wasn't ready to say goodbye to Arnold Palmer.

He seemed as reluctant to bid farewell himself.

An outpouring of love and affection was broken up by a downpour that halted Palmer's celebratory round, bringing the King back for another day to finish his 48th and final Masters.

On a wet and rainy Friday, his aging army sloshed through the mud to cheer Palmer one last time. He led the fans through the very holes where he first thrilled them more than four decades ago.

Palmer was deep into Amen Corner when the rain came, fresh off a triumphant par on 12, the 2,658th hole he has played in the tournament. He'll return this morning to finish the 5 1/2 holes left in his Masters career.

"I'll come back to play in the morning," Palmer said. "I owe it to the crowd."

- Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press

Every round is an adventure.

And if he can be believed, Phil Mickelson wouldn't have it any other way.

He came to the Masters 0-for-38 in the majors, and along the way, Mickelson has talked about playing aggressively, playing conservatively, about forgetting the past and then feeding off it.

Any remaining doubts about which mode he was in disappeared the moment he left the clubhouse Friday morning with that scorched-earth gleam in his eye. By the time he returned, playing his familiar spectacular-risk, spectacular-reward brand of golf, he made four birdies and four bogeys.

Ultimately, it seemed like a lot of wear and tear for someone who ended the day pretty much in the same place on the leaderboard where he began it.

- Jim Litke, Associated Press

Vijay Singh, for a guy who hails from a tropical island and lives on the ocean in Ponte Vedra Beach (Fla.), is no fan of the wet stuff.

So when he got out of bed on Friday morning, looked out his window and saw rain pelting the premises, he was not pleased.

"My caddie said, 'Don't worry,"' Singh said, "'I've got about nine towels in the bag."'

Considering how Singh saturated the field with birdies, the field will be waving white towels overhead in utter surrender, because the Fijian seems set on bagging himself another green jacket.

- Steve Elling, The Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel

A major championship remains that miracle salve, capable of massaging away those perceived imperfections. The white-hot heat of high expectation now soothes where it once seared. The view from the outside changes after that first major title because the player no longer cares what the outside thinks.

Where Vijay Singh was once defensive, he's now observed as dedicated.

Where Phil Mickelson was once aggressive, he's now seen as foolhardy.

With a PGA Championship and a green jacket already on his resume, Singh doesn't have to explain anything. He can play "his own game." Mickelson can't dine in a restaurant without rationalizing why he chose the chicken marsala over the filet mignon.

When you're the second-best player in the world and still haven't won a major, there must be a reason. Mickelson has understandably grown weary of providing a suitable response, because when you're as talented as this career 20-tournament winner, there isn't one.

Mickelson finished Friday's rain-shortened second round six shots off Singh's 9-under pace. He still has a standing reservation for about 7 p.m. Sunday at the Butler Cabin for the champion's coronation, but does anyone honestly believe Mickelson can keep that date - including Mickelson?

- Drew Sharp, Detroit Free Press

BE WARNED, PRETENDERS. If you intend to overtake Vijay Singh in the 66th Masters, get the job done today.

Failing that, plan on awarding the second green jacket in three years to the practice-a-holic who sizzled Friday in a round he did not expect to start on time.

By the time rain forced a delay that left the second round incomplete, Singh had raced around the back nine, posted a 7-under-par 65 and naturally looked at peace with his game. Hey, he played so well, and birdies - and one eagle - came so easily, that he claimed he did not realize how well he had scored until he added up his numbers.

- Bob Spear, The State, Columbia, S.C.