FARMINGTON, Pa. - Ben Curtis came out of nowhere to win the 2003 British Open, one of the biggest upsets ever in a major championship. Almost immediately, nowhere found him again.

Curtis, all but invisible before that upset of a lifetime and all but invisible since, shot a second straight 5-under 67 Friday to close to within two shots of leader Vijay Singh at the 84 Lumber Classic.

Maybe he was wearing the wrong colors for a golfer in Pittsburgh Steelers country - Cleveland Browns bright orange rather the black and gold - but it was all that red on the scoreboard that made him stand out.

For someone whose tournaments usually have consisted of two days and out, it was a pleasant turnaround. Even if, no matter where he turned on the back nine, he heard all about his choice of clothing.

"I didn't hear anything until the 14th hole, then I heard something every hole from then on," said Curtis, who grew up a Browns fan in not-that-far-away Ostrander, Ohio. "It took them a little while to wake up and realize I had Browns stuff on."

Just as Curtis has needed time to put his game together again since the British Open, when he became the first player since Francis Ouimet in 1913 to win a major on his first try.

He didn't have a top-10 finish in his final eight events last year, then had only one - an eighth-place tie in the Memorial - in his first 17 U.S. tournaments this year. He's also No. 136 on the money list, hardly an enviable position for a recent major winner, but Curtis still thinks he has time to make something out of a mostly nothing year.

"Since I got my tour card last year, I haven't had more than three weeks off," Curtis said. "I'm from up north, and I'm used to three months off during the winter."

As a result, Curtis plans to play three or four weeks in a row to get into a rhythm next year, then take more time off so he doesn't wear down. He has missed the cut in five consecutive U.S. tournaments since finishing 30th at the U.S. Open in June.

As consistently well as PGA Tour money leader Singh is playing, he could be excused for not taking any time off.

Singh followed up his 8-under 64 Thursday with a 4-under 68 that could have been even better if he hadn't missed several birdie putts inside 8 feet. Still, he was not the least bit disappointed.

"I'm quite happy," said Singh, who recently overtook Tiger Woods for the world No. 1 ranking. "I've got the weekend to go and there are a few more chances out there."

Singh, who can set a season money record by winning the $756,000 first prize, liked how he putted despite the results. He blamed several misses on the still-maturing and tough-to-read greens at the 7,471-yard Mystic Rock course, all 18 of which were rebuilt after being criticized by last year's field for being too soft and too easy.

"It's pretty hard to read the greens," he said. "The greens are not settled. And just when you think you've got the right line, after putting you know the line then. ... I probably had three or four (misses) from inside 8 feet. But I made some long ones to equalize that."

Singh, trying for his eighth victory and fifth in six weeks, leads Curtis by two shots and U.S. Ryder Cup team member Chris DiMarco by three.

DiMarco, who won the tournament in 2000 when it was known as the Pennsylvania Classic, had a 7-under 65 Friday that was the best round of the day on the 7,471-yard Mystic Rock course.

DiMarco's 2-1-1 Ryder Cup record was the best of the Americans, but the one-sided 181/2-91/2 loss to Europe stayed with him for several days and affected his preparation for this weekend.

DiMarco might have withdrawn from the 84 Lumber, as Woods and Kenny Perry did, if he hadn't promised four close friends weeks ago he would take them to next weekend's World Golf Championship event in Ireland for free.

Joe Hardy, 84 Lumber's fabulously wealthy owner, offered any golfer a free trip for five if he played this weekend en route to Ireland.

"Mr. Hardy made an unbelievable deal," DiMarco said. "But the Ryder Cup was exhausting. ... Wednesday, I was out of it and Thursday it was still on my mind and I probably wasn't ready, but getting a good night's sleep really helped today. I hit a lot of solid shots and gave myself a lot of chances."