Gritty Singh fights back after three double-bogeys

AUGUSTA, Georgia, Apr 8 (Reuters) Former winner Vijay Singh fought back in typically gritty fashion from three double-bogeys to remain in title contention at the US Masters.

The overnight leader, who hit an opening five-under 67 yesterday, made a rousing start to his second round with birdies at the first and third.

World number two Singh then ran up double-bogeys at the fourth and fifth before rallying with another birdie at the sixth.

The 2000 Masters champion again faltered badly at the beginning of the back nine, bogeying the 11th and double-bogeying the 13th. But birdies on 15 and 17 gave him a two-over 74 for a three-under total of 141.

''It's tough out there,'' the 43-year-old Singh told reporters after finishing three strokes adrift of leader Chad Campbell of the US.

''The winds were swirling around and it was difficult to pick clubs.

''It's something that you don't really think about until after the round and you sit down and say, 'wow, I made three doubles'.'' Singh was content to be sharing second place with two Americans, 46-year-old Fred Couples and Rocco Mediate.

''That shows this golf course, if you make one mistake, it's so easy to drop one, two, maybe three shots here,'' said the Fijian.

''All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the way I finished, with a 74. It could have been a lot worse.'' Recognised as the PGA Tour's hardest-working player, Singh has practised even more this year on his putting, which has long been considered his Achilles heel.

''If I had made some of the putts like I did yesterday, I missed probably five putts from inside of six feet, you know, that didn't help my scores,'' he said.

''Those three doubles that I made, all of my second putts were inside of six feet.'' Reuters OM VP0620