Singh pulled his tee shot in the native grasses on the par-5 18th hole, hit a remarkable recovery and escaped with a par, giving him his second straight 4-under 69 and a one-shot lead over Trevor Immelman and Will MacKenzie in the PGA Tour opener.

MacKenzie had a chance to tie until missing a 10-foot putt, giving him a 70. Immelman, the rookie of the year in 2006, birdied two of his last three holes for a 68.

The elements changed, but the Plantation course at Kapalua remained a stern test.

The start of the second round was delayed 1 hour, 20 minutes because of a light rain that began overnight and didn't stop until an hour after the round started. The trade wind picked up strength to 35 mph gusts as it tried shoo the clouds away. Singh thought it was nearly unplayable as he made the turn in a tie for the lead, but it calmed down enough for him to pick up a few more birdies and reach 8-under 138.

"I'd like it to calm down a little bit," Singh said.

But he had few complaints about his position. He has finished a combined four shots behind three-time defending champion Stuart Appleby the last three years, and has not finished out of the top 10 since the winners-only tournament moved here in 1999.

Appleby shot 72 and was seven shots behind in his bid to tie a PGA Tour record with his fourth straight win at the same event.