Fiji's Vijay Singh put the controversy surrounding Annika Sorenstam out of his mind and grabbed the lead after the second round of the Byron Nelson Championship.
Four days after lighting a fire with incendiary comments slamming Sorenstam's participation in next week's Colonial, Singh let his clubs do the talking in a five-under-par 65.
Singh totalled seven birdies and two bogeys in strong winds at Cottonwood Valley, one of two courses used for the event.
"I came here to win the tournament. My mind is totally on this golf game," said Singh, who was at 10-under 130, one stroke ahead of American Tim Petrovic (66) and two better than Robert Gamez, Kevin Sutherland, Scott Verplank and Jeff Sluman.
Singh switched putters overnight and liked the improvement. "I am excited about the way I am putting," he said. "If I had used that putter yesterday, I probably would have shot 60.
"I missed a lot of chances. That's why I changed. It's the best I have felt with a putter for a long, long time. It makes a lot of difference."
Most of Singh's birdies came from inside 10 feet. While he didn't make a bunch of bombs, he did what he needed to shoot a low score.
Eighty players made the cut, which fell at even-par 140. Among those to bow out were defending champion Shigeki Maruyama of Japan and the struggling Sergio Garcia and David Duval.
It was the seventh successive missed cut for Duval.
PA