Consistent Vijay leaves Garcia to Singh the blues

BY normal criteria, a man of 42 years of age should be in the prime of life. However, if you happen to be one of the world’s greatest sportsmen, then you are generally considered to be pushing on a bit.

Not so, though, if your name is Vijay Singh and winning golf tournaments is your passion.

The Fijian has passed the 42 mark but one would never think it to watch the way he strolls around the golf courses of the world, invariably figuring among the leading group coming down the stretch on Sunday, frequently going all the way to victory.

So it was in North Carolina on Sunday when Vijay won for the third time on the US PGA Tour in 2005, beating the fast-finishing Jim Furyk and the faltering Sergio Garcia in a play-off for the Wachovia Championship.

At the end of yet another fascinating final round on the US circuit, Singh and Furyk were very much of one mind in describing just how he does it so consistently.

“My success is directly related to being fit and healthy,” said Singh.

“I’m hitting the ball as far as these young kids, so working out is everything when you get old.”

Furyk saw it like this: “Vijay has a one-track mind. He’s a tough competitor and I know how hard he works for it. He wants to win and win to get the monkey off his back.”

By which you suspect Furyk means how Singh has overcome a poverty-stricken youth and more especially the dodgy reputation he acquired many years ago in small tournaments in Asia and elsewhere, culminating in a suspension that would have broken the back of a lesser man.

Although few look calmer or more composed on the golf course, Singh still comes across as a cold, largely humourless individual.

It’s as if he is showing his many knockers and detractors that he’s proved himself one of the game’s greatest exponents and to hell with the begrudgers.

Yet, he is certainly not a triumphant man, always accepting victory with due consideration for the disappointment of his playing partners.

“Sergio would have blown us away had he played as well in the final round as he did on Saturday”, he said.

The Spaniard took a six shot lead into Sunday, frittered it away to fall two behind, only to lead by one coming to the fateful par three 17th.

“Seven iron was the perfect club, I just didn’t hit a good shot and should have committed better,” he said.

The ball kicked into the lake and he did well to escape with bogey. It proved Garcia’s undoing but again he had Singh’s sympathy as consolation.

“Sometimes it’s harder to win with a big lead and Sergio didn’t play badly,” he insisted.

The Spaniard three-putted the first tie hole to drop out of the reckoning, but Singh’s third victory of the season and the 27th of his career wasn’t assured until Furyk drove into the creek at the fourth extra hole. He brought to seven the number of wins by non-Americans on the PGA Tour this year. He has also been joined in the winners’ enclosure by Stuart Appleby, Adam Scott, Pádraig Harrington and Peter Lonard.

Although it has become popular to draw attention to the relative lack of success of American golfers in recent times, it is pertinent to note they have had 12 successes, with the biggest of all going to Tiger Woods in the Masters, the first major of 2005.

Tiger retains his world number one position in spite of Singh’s remarkable level of consistency and Woods’ poor finish in the Wachovia, not helped by a two-shot penalty for an illegal ball drop in the final round.

Like Singh, Woods and Phil Mickelson have both won three times on tour, the other American champions being Justin Leonard, David Toms, Geoff Ogilvy, Kenny Perry, Fred Funk and Tim Petrovic.

Consequently, the money banked virtually week after week by Woods, Singh and Mickelson would be the envy of world leaders, the captains of industry and just about anybody else you care to mention. The trio went into the 2005 campaign with respective career earnings on the US Tour alone of $45m, $36m and $29m.

Only one third of the campaign has been completed so far but already is Singh is the richer by $4.97m, Mickelson by $4.036m and Woods by $3.814m. Furthermore, the above figures refer only to their US exploits.

All three, and especially Woods, have earned vast sums in prize money and appearance fees all over the world, while only their personal accountants could give an accurate assessment of what they bank from endorsements and other activities.

Singh insists he “is looking forward to the next few weeks, I’m playing better than last year”.

Ominous words indeed for Tiger, Phil and the rest when you consider that in 2004 he won nine times, captured the Jack Nicklaus Trophy as player of the year, the Arnold Palmer award with a record $10.9m in earnings and the Byron Nelson award with a 68.84 stroke average.

Vijay next tees it up in the $6.2m Byron Nelson Classic starting over the TPC course in Irving, Texas, on Thursday. Woods will also be there, as will defending champion Sergio Garcia, who outwardly handled what must have been a bitter disappointment of forfeiting such a big lead in the Wachovia in excellent fashion.