Singh sizzles to victory

2008-09-02 07:07

Massachusetts - Vijay Singh rolled in three tremendous long putts in a sizzling eight-under 63 on Monday to win the US PGA Deutsche Bank Championship, his second triumph in a row in the tour playoffs.

Singh, a Fijian-Indian, finished 72 holes on a four-round record 22-under par 262 to defeat runner-up Mike Weir of Canada by five strokes. South Africa's Ernie Els fired a final-round 70 to finish third on 270 with Colombia's Camilo Villegas.

"I feel incredible," Singh said. "I started great, made a great eagle on 2 with a chip-in and got the ball rolling. I drove the ball beautifully all day and kept the ball in play, never got into much trouble. That was the key."

American Tim Herron and Spain's Sergio Garcia were on 271 with US veterans Jim Furyk, Justin Leonard and Chad Campbell another stroke back.

"It was just impressive," Garcia said. "Well done to Vijay. He played amazing."

The victory makes Singh the man to beat for the PGA playoff crown, with Weir and Garcia needing victories and bad showings from Singh to overtake him for the points crown.

"It's good to see my ball going in for a change," Singh said. "I've been watching everybody else's go in. It's nice to actually stand over the putts and make putts like that. It's a great feeling. There's nothing better."

Seize control

Singh, who was struggling with his putting just last month, eagled the par-5 second hole and added birdies at the sixth and seventh, the latter a 37-foot twisting putt that found its way to the bottom of the cup.

Singh birdied three of four holes starting at the 11th to seize control and dazzled at 14 with a 60-footer.

After a bogey at 15, Singh sealed his third triumph in five starts with a 35-footer at the 17th for birdie and a tap-in birdie at 18th, his fourth birdie in as many tries at the closing hole.

"Vijay played a wonderful round," Weir said. "That was just a fantastic round in those conditions. It's hard to combat that firepower when the wind was blowing. Vijay's round was really exceptional."

There was more length in all of Singh's putts on Monday than there had been in all of his putts over the first three rounds.

"I've never felt this comfortable on the greens ever," Singh said. "The more I talk to myself on the golf course, the better I feel."

Singh won the Barclays in a playoff over Spain's Sergio Garcia and American Kevin Sutherland last week and won the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational last month at Akron, Ohio.

'Psychologist'

"Making the last putt at Akron told me that I needed to change some kind of an attitude or change my putting style. If I kept doing that, I don't think I could make it anymore. It was hard just putting," Singh said.

"So I went back home and just a good attitude change. I spoke to some psychologist that was trying to help me. Deep down it has to come from me."

Singh, 44, fired the lowest final round by a tournament winner on the US PGA Tour this year to claim his 22nd victory after the age of 40, giving him 34 for his career.

"Since he turned 40 he's had 22 wins, so he just keeps getting better and better," Weir said. "He just has that kind of body that he's a big guy and he's kind of loose, so I think he'll always hit it far even as he gets older."

Singh has a huge lead in the points fight to determine the season-ending champion, but that will not stop him from working hard next week in quest of yet another triumph.

"I don't take anything for granted," Singh said. "I'm going to play hard next week."

'Rolling the ball'

The top 70 players in points will advance to next week's event in St. Louis, which will decide the 30 players who compete later this month in the season-ending Tour Championship, but Singh's lead is nearly insurmountable.

"When Vijay is playing like this and rolling the ball like he's rolling it, it's hard to get him because we all know how good a ball-striker he is," Garcia said. "I don't see him finishing outside the top 10 in the next two tournaments."

The victory, worth $1.26m, also moved Singh beyond $60m in career winnings, trailing only Tiger Woods' $82m total.

"It' like when Tiger is playing well," Garcia said. "You want to beat him, but you've got to give it up to him. It's awesome to watch. You're watching history."

An impressive global leaderboard featuring six stars with a chance to win faltered, with only Singh coming through lower than one-under par with the title on the line in the $7m event.

- AFP