Singh enjoying familiar terrain

The last time Vijay Singh started this well in The Players Championship was in 2006, when he was No. 2 in the world and still adding to his record of most PGA Tour victories in his 40s.

It felt like old times Friday when he got within one shot of the lead until a bogey on the 18th hole for a 4-under 68 to finish three shots out of the lead.

Chalk that up to practice, nothing new for the 54-year-old Singh. In this case, it was practice on the Players Stadium Course.

“I had quite a few rounds here before I left for Wilmington (site of last week’s Champions Tour event), so I was quite familiar with the conditions,” Singh said. “It was a lot firmer, but we knew that it was going to be really firm because of new greens. I’ve never played that many rounds before the tournament.”

Singh won 34 times on the PGA Tour — 22 times when he was in his 40s — including two majors at the Masters and PGA Championship. But he rarely had a chance at The Players Championship in the city he calls home. His best chance was in 2001, when he was runner-up to Tiger Woods. He had only three other top 10s in 23 appearances.

Singh rolled in putts of 25, 40 and 30 feet in Friday’s round.

“I’ve been rolling the ball really, really well,” Singh said. “And my caddie just got excited every time I got it on the green. It was sad I three-putted the last hole, but that’s a strong part of my game right now. If I keep putting like that, I’m going to be right there on Sunday.”