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Vijay
Singh
- Haven, Wisconsin,
Aug 15, 2004:
Vijay Singh wins PGA Championship
in playoff-claiming
the Wanamaker Trophy and a check for $1.125
million........more
NRI
Fijian, Vijay Singh keeps pace with second victory
April 26, 2004
Vijay Singh chased Tiger Woods for PGA Tour Player
of the Year honors last year, and this year he
might be chasing Phil Mickelson.
Singh won the rain-delayed Shell Houston Open
on Monday to earn his second victory of the season,
joining Mickelson as the only two-time winners
on the Tour.
Among Mickelson's victories is The Masters, which
gives him the lead over Singh in season earnings.
Mickelson has $3,488,600. Singh, who earned $900,000
Monday, has $3,349,866.
Mickelson is the early favorite for Player of
the Year. Last year Woods, who won five times
and finished second to Singh in earnings, was
voted Player of the Year by his peers.
''Last year he was playing better than anybody
when the season was over,'' Scott Hoch said of
Singh.
In 11 starts, Singh has six top-10s. Mickelson
has eight in nine tournaments. He did not play
the Houston Open, but he's scheduled to play the
HP Classic of New Orleans, beginning Thursday.
Singh did not make a bogey in either of the last
two rounds and finished 11 under par at Redstone
Golf Club in Humble, Texas.
He shot 68 Monday and was two strokes better
than Hoch (67). His worse score on any hole was
a double-bogey six in the second round when he
shot 66.
''His normal game is a bogey and then three birdies,''
Hoch said. ''For anybody to play without a bogey,
they had to have some really good (saves) or really
good putts.''
Singh led the field in driving distance (318
yards) and greens in regulation (61 of 72, 85
percent).
''I was driving the ball well,'' he said. ''When
I'm driving it well, it feels like my game is
there.''
Singh won the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February,
and he tied for sixth in The Masters.
In Augusta he matched Mickelson in the last two
rounds with 69 each day. But he had 75 and 73
in the first two rounds. Both days he had problems
at Augusta National's par-5 15th hole. He made
eight on it in the first round and seven in the
second.
''One hole kind of killed me,'' he said. ''If
you take that hole away, I would have played well.''
Singh said he left The Masters with a lot of
confidence and he came to Houston sure of himself.
''Today was the best I've played in a long time,''
he said. ''I struck the ball really solid from
tee to green.
''I'd like to play this way every day, not because
I won but because I struck the ball really solid.''
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Vijay Singh won
the John Deere Classic
September 8, 2003
Vijay Singh's sweet swing has earned him more
than $5.6 million this year.
That said, Vijay Singh does deserve our admiration,
even if it is difficult to put all the other stuff
aside.And in golf, Vijay Singh (OK he is a Fijian,
but we count him as an NRI!) has displaced Tiger
Woods at the top of the table, while Jyoti Randhawa
is a homegrown winner on the Japanese circuit.
And one shouldn’t forget cricket, where India
did after all reach the finals of the World Cup
after two decades. Singh won the rain-delayed
John Deere Classic on Monday, and simply looking
at the raw numbers, you have to say that he is
now on the radar for PGA Tour Player of the Year
honors.
The victory was his third of the year and pushed
him to the top of the PGA Tour money list, ahead
of Davis Love and Tiger Woods, past the $5.6 million
mark in earnings, meaning he is contender for
the tour's money title. It was also his 14th top-10
finish of the year, and when you consider that
Singh also has three second-place finishes, you
realize that the man is in contention often. Vijay
Singh, simply put, is one of the best golfers
of his era, even if he rarely gets credit for
it.
Amazingly, in a year of many distractions, Singh,
40, is having his best season.
"I actually [have] had no problem playing,"
Singh said over the weekend at the John Deere
Classic. "As you can see, I'm playing pretty
good. The most controversial week, I won, so it
didn't really affect me that much."
That, of course, came at the Byron Nelson Championship,
the week before the Bank of America Colonial in
which Annika Sorenstam competed with the men.
Singh made it painfully clear that he thought
Sorenstam had no business playing.
Fair enough; many of his fellow pros felt that
same way. But then Singh made it personal, declaring
he would withdraw from the tournament if paired
with her (even though it was impossible for the
first two rounds). He later made that a moot point
by withdrawing from Colonial before it even started.
It makes you wonder how Singh would feel if someone
said they would withdraw from a tournament if
paired with him because of the color of his skin.
Singh's 10-year career on the PGA Tour has not
been filled with pithy quotes. In fact, before
his comments about Sorenstam, it probably was
easier to paddle to his native Fiji than get him
to say anything of substance.
His distrust of the media likely stems from his
1985 suspension from the Asian Tour after he was
accused of altering his scorecard at the Indonesian
Open. Singh has long claimed it was a "misunderstanding,"
but never completely set the record straight.
Nor has he expounded much on his remarkable journey
to a top-10 player in the world, learning the
game in Fiji from his father, spending time in
exile in the steamy jungles of Borneo working
on his game.
Singh just plays. Renowned for his endless ball-beating
sessions on the practice range, Singh is the envy
of many of his peers, who say he is a friendly,
funny sort who gets a bad rap.
If you happen to just listen to his clubs, there
is no arguing his place in the game. Some will
say he should be considered for Player of the
Year, although that is not Singh's concern.
"Right now I don't think I'm in contention
unless I would go out and win the next three or
four events," Singh said. "I think the
guys that won the majors, they're all first-time
winners, I think they should be given the award
because it's no easy task winning a major for
the first time.
"I think the money title is more important
than Player of the Year for me. When you start
off -- if you win the money title, obviously Player
of the Year, you've got a chance of winning that.
For me I think playing tournaments, winning golf
tournaments, is the key, and if that leads you
to winning the money title -- when we look at
the money title, we see who's 1, who's 2, who's
3, and that is my goal, to be up there at the
end of the season."
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