By Mark Garrod, PA Sport Golf Correspondent, Augusta

Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia entered what could be the most memorable weekend of their golfing lives at the Masters today.

But if they had to name somebody to give a four-shot start to over 36 holes round Augusta National, Vijay Singh is not the golfer they would choose.

The 39-year-old Fijian won the 2000 Masters from the front, holding off Ernie Els and David Duval.

He held off all challenges as well for his first major title at the 1998 US PGA championship, beating Steve Stricker and Steve Elkington down the stretch.

And only two weeks ago he took the Houston Open the same way, giving runner-up Darren Clarke no sniff of an opening with as polished a display as you could wish to see.

Now, following a brilliant second round 65, Singh is clear in the Masters again.

But before he, Harrington and Garcia can get back down to things, there is some unfinished business for 38 of the 89-strong field - including Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer.

Because of torrential rain on Friday night the second round could not be completed and they were teeing off again at 7.45am (12.45pm British Summer Time) to see if they could eat into Singh's lead.

Retief Goosen had already started to do so, a birdie on the 11th just before the suspension taking the South African second and trimming Singh's advantage to three, while defending champion Woods still has eight holes to play and at three under remains very much a threat.

Palmer's return, though, is merely to give an extra day for Arnie's Army, who thought Friday would be their final day on parade after he announced this was his final Masters round, indeed his final major championship round.

At 26 over par, the 72-year-old is last by a distance, but that is of no import. This lap of honour is being cheered every step of the way and with every reason for the impact he has had over the years.

Unlike two years ago, Singh might have to do without advice from his 11-year-old son Qass Seth this time.

He donned his first green jacket after the youngster memorably told him: "Papa, trust your swing."

After reaching halfway on the nine under par total of 135, Singh joked: "Now he's telling me 'if I walk around 18 holes, what are you going to do for me?'.

"No, he's a good kid and I was glad to see him out there, even though the weather wasn't great.

"I haven't made too many mistakes so far and hopefully I'm going to keep them down as much as I can.

"I feel like I'm playing a lot better than I did two years ago. I think I'm a much better player and that itself should carry me through if I'm playing the same way.

"I'm surprised I'm nine under because I was just going out to play a solid round, but I'm thrilled about it too."

He covered the back nine in 30, just one outside the tournament record.

Two weeks ago Singh came to Augusta to have a look at the new holes. He shot 63.

"It helps," he admits. "You shoot a low number like that on a practice day and you say 'Wow, that wasn't that difficult.'

"But you've got to remember that that was a practice day. It wasn't the tournament conditions. The greens were not as fast and it was much easier to play with nothing around you.

"But I was happy and it kind of eased my mind a little. You know exactly some of the clubs you can hit on these holes."

Winning in Houston helped too. "It eased a lot of the pressure in my mind that, hey, I can win if I just go ahead and play."

Harrington and Garcia, joint third overnight with Argentina's Angel Cabrera, are both eager to get going again.

"I'm busy worrying about myself rather than the position I'm in," said the Irishman. "I'm so uncomfortable with my swing that I'm clued into that.

"I'm not thinking about other people or what's happening around me. I'm totally engrossed in what I am doing."

Reminded that green is associated both with his home country and the Masters, the 30-year-old said: "You would think a green jacket would suit an Irishman, but we will have to wait and see."

The hole Harrington most wants to get the better of is the 510-yard 13th. He has had two sixes there so far, first going into Rae's Creek and then four-putting.

"I should have chipped there and I should have putted from off the fourth green. I also made a bad decision on the 17th, so I've got to try to eliminate those," he said.

Garcia also felt he struggled a bit with his game on Friday, but birdied the last and said: "That's always nice and I just need to get my thoughts straight now and play a good weekend.

"I want this as badly as anyone else, but it's the same old thing - be as patient as you can be and try to play the best you can."

Other Europeans remain in the hunt. Alongside Woods on three under are Garcia's compatriots Jose Maria Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez and also Thomas Bjorn, who playing with Singh set a Masters record with birdies at the first five holes.

Twice winner Olazabal still had eight holes of his second round to play, while three-time champion Nick Faldo has two to go and, at five under for his round and two under for the tournament, lies joint 12th. His revival this year is for real.

Darren Clarke and Jesper Parnevik are level par and Bernhard Langer and Paul McGinley one over - McGinley with five holes to complete.

Lee Westwood had to wait this morning to see if his three over aggregate was just good enough to survive and Colin Montgomerie might well influence that. He was on the same mark after 11 holes.

Belfast's Michael Hoey probably needs a birdie in the last four holes to qualify for the last two rounds - and it might well make him the first Briton to win the silver cup as leading amateur.

The other amateur to have a chance of making the cut is American champion Bubba Dickerson, five over after 10.