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Golf's Greatest Players - Vijay Singh

Golf's Greatest Players - Vijay Singh

A profile of Fijian Golfer Vijay Singh

Vijay Singh, also known as the "The Big Fijian" is a Fijian professional golfer, born 22nnd of February 1963. Singh has won 64 tournaments including 34 events on the PGA tour, three Major championships; one Master’s title in the year 2000 and two PGA Championships in 1998 and 2004 respectively. In 2006, Singh was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Singh held the World number one spot in the Official World Golf Ranking for 32 weeks in the years 2004 and 2005.

Vijay was only the 12th man to reach the World Number 1 ranking and was also the only new No.1 in the 2000s decade.  Vijay was the leading PGA Tour money winner for the year 2003, 2004, and 2008, also clinching the FedEx cup in 2008.

Personal life

Vijay Singh, an Indo-Fijan was born in Laukota and grew up in Nadi. His main residence is at Ponte Vendra Beach, Florida. Singh is a man known for his meticulous preparation, most times arriving well before his matches, and staying late after to continue practice. Singh’s brother 'Krishna' is also a professional golfer.

Vijay singh golfs greatest.jpg

Early life and amateur career

Without doubt, Vijay Singh deserves every accolade he has gotten, and highly deserves the induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame. But all credit goes to no one else but him, for his resilience, hard work, and steadfastness. Growing up as a young star in the South Pacific, he would walk down and walk 100 yards in darkness through drainage pipes with his clubs across his back.

Singh said " “Going under the airport runway through a drainage ditch to get to the golf club, those are things you don’t think about when you are doing it,”  "Why walk three miles around when it takes you five minutes to get across?”

Singh already had that resilient spirit in him as a young boy. He had that drive to work hard and become a successful professional golfer.  Mohan, Singh's father worked at the Nadi airport and was a captain at the golf club. He got Vijay involved in golf when he was just 11. Vijay has two elder brothers who were better golfers than himself, and they inspired him to improve even more.

Professional career

Singh won the 1984 Malaysian PGA Championship, two years after he became a professional. However, Singh's career wasn't as smooth as expected. He had some crisis in his career when he suspended from the Asia Golf Circuit in 1985 over the allegations that he doctored his scorecard.

There were rumours that he lowered his scorecard from one over to one under in other to make the cut. In response to this, Singh denied the allegation levelled against him, saying that it would have resulted in a total disqualification rather than a mere ban if truly the allegations were concrete. After a proper investigation by the tour, he was found guilty, the Asian PGA Tournament president John Bender, issued Singh a lifetime ban on Asian PGA Tour play.

Singh felt he has been unjustly and harshly treated because the marker was “the son of a VIP in the Indonesian PGA." The relentless Singh then took up a job at the Keningau Club in Sabah, Malaysia, and later moved to the Miri Golf Club in Sarawak. Singh continued to gain experience during this period of hardship, and saved up the money required to bring back his career, and began to re-enter tournaments.

He then teamed up with a sponsor 'Red Baron' in 1988, who funded his trip to Africa to compete on the now-defunct Safari Circuit where he got his first event win. He later went on to enter the European Tour Qualifying School for the second consecutive year.

Between 1989 and 1997, Singh had his first European and American wins. He won his very first European Tour title at the Volvo Open Championship in Italy and finish 24th on the European Tour Order of Merit in 1989, helping him forget his early struggles.

He clinched the Volvo Open di Firenze, Ivory Coast Open, Nigerian Open, and Zimbabwe Open, making it a total of four wins for the year 1989. He then finished tied for 23rd at the Open Championship. He was once more the European Tour champion in 1990 and won the Tournament twice again in 1992. During this period, he dominated tournaments in Asia and Africa, thereby winning several titles.

Vijay Singh tournament wins.jpeg

In 1993, he joined the PGA Tour and won his first-ever PGA event, the Buick Classic. He was then named the 1993 PGA Tour Rookie of the year. He went off the scene in 1994 after being hampered with several problems but he came back in 1995, and like the resilient person he is known to be, he won the Buick Classic again and also the Phoenix Open in that year (1995). He went on to claim the Memorial Tournament and the Buick Open in 1997.

His finest and best moment of his career came between “1998-2000”. He won his first Major title: The PGA Championship at Sahelee County Club in 1998. He had 70-66-67-68 shot in four days.  Two years later, he went on to win the Masters defeating Ernie Els by three strokes.

Winning the Masters was another big achievement for Singh, as it is indeed one of the biggest achievements for any golfer.

Vijay Singh PGA Tour Wins (34)

   
No   
      
Date   
   
Tournament   
   
Winning Score   
   
Margin of
   
Victory   
   
Runner(s)-up   
   
1   
   
13 June 1993   
   
Buick Classic   
   
−4   (72-68-74-66=280)   
   
Playoff   
   
Mark   Wiebe   
   
2   
   
29 Jan 1995   
   
Phoenix Open   
   
−15   (70-67-66-66=269)   
   
Playoff   
   
Billy   Mayfair   
   
3   
   
21 May 1995   
   
Buick Classic   (2)   
   
−6   (70-69-67-72=278)   
   
Playoff   
   
Doug Martin   
   
4   
   
2 Jun 1997   
   
Memorial   Tournament   
   
−14   (70-65-67=202)*   
   
2 strokes   
   
States   Jim Furyk, Greg Norman   
   
5   
   
10 Aug 1997   
   
Buick Open   
   
−15   (67-73-67-66=273)   
   
4 strokes   
   
Tom Byrum,   Russ Cochran,
   
Ernie Els,   States Brad Fabel,
   
Naomichi   Ozaki, Curtis Strange   
   
6   
   
16 Aug 1998   
   
PGA Championship   
   
−9   (70-66-67-68=271)   
   
2 strokes   
   
Steve Stricker   
   
7   
   
23 Aug 1998   
   
Sprint   International   
   
47 pts   (15-12-6-14=47)   
   
6 Points   
   
Phil   Mickelson, Willie Wood   
   
8   
   
14 Mar 1999   
   
Honda Classic   
   
−11   (71-69-68-69=277)   
   
2 strokes   
   
Payne Stewart   
   
9   
   
9 Apr 2000   
   
Master Tournament   
   
−10   (72-67-70-69=278)   
   
2 Strokes   
   
Ernie Els   
   
10   
   
31 Mar 2002   
   
Shell Houston   Open   
   
−22   (67-65-66-68=266)   
   
3 Strokes   
   
Darren Clarke   
   
11   
   
3 Nov 2002   
   
The Tour   Championship   
   
−12   (65-71-65-67=268)   
   
6 Strokes   
   
Charles Howell   III   
   
12   
   
26 Jan 2003   
   
Phoenix Open (2)   
   
−23   (67-66-65-63=261)   
   
2 Strokes   
   
John Houston   
   
13   
   
18 May 2003   
   
EDS Byron   Nelson
   
Championship   
   
−15   (65-65-69-66=265)   
   
2 Strokes   
   
Nick Price   
   
14   
   
15 Sep 2003   
   
John Deere   Classic   
   
−16   (66-68-69-65=268   
   
4 Strokes   
   
Jonathan Byrd, J. L. Lewis,
   
Chris Riley   
   
15   
   
26 Oct 2003   
   
FUNAI   Classic (Walt Disney World Resort)   
   
−23   (64-65-69-67=265)   
   
4 Strokes    
   
Stewart Cink,   Scott Verplank, Tiger Woods   
   
16   
   
8 Feb 2004   
   
AT&T   Pebble Beach
   
National   Pro-Am   
   
−16 (67-68-68-69=272)   
   
3Strokes   
   
Jeff Maggert   
   
17   
   
26 Apr 2004   
   
Shell Houston   Open (2)   
   
−11   (74-66-69-68=277)   
   
3 Strokes   
   
Scott Hoch   
   
18   
   
3 May 2004   
   
HP Classic of   New
   
Orleans   
   
−22   (70-65-68-63=266)   
   
1Strokes   
   
Phil   Mickelson, Joe Ogilvie   
   
19   
   
1 Aug 2004   
   
Buick Open (2)   
   
−23   (63-70-65-67=265)   
   
1Strokes   
   
John Daly   
   
20   
   
15 Aug 2004   
   
PGA   Championship (2)   
   
−8   (67-68-69-76=280)   
   
Playoff   
   
Chris DiMarco,   Justin Leonard   
   
21   
   
6 Sep 2004   
   
Deutsche Bank
   
Championship   
   
−16   (68-63-68-69=268)   
   
3 Strokes   
   
Adam Scott,   Tiger Woods   
   
22   
   
12 Sep 2004   
   
Bell Canadian   Open   
   
−9   (68-66-72-69=275)   
   
Playoff    
   
Mike   Weir   
   
23   
   
26 Sep 2004   
   
84 Lumber   Classic   
   
−15   (64-68-72-69=273)   
   
1 Stroke   
   
Stewart Cink   
   
24   
   
31 Oct 2004   
   
Chrysler   Championship   
   
−18   (65-69-67-65=266   
   
5 Strokes   
   
Tommy Armour III, Jesper
   
Parnevik   
   
25   
   
16 Jan 2005   
   
Sony Open in   Hawaii   
   
−11   (69-68-67-65=269)   
   
1 stroke   
   
Ernie Els   
   
26   
   
24 Apr 2005   
   
Shell Houston   Open (3)   
   
−13   (64-71-70-70=275)   
   
Playoff   
   
John Daly   
   
27   
   
8 May 2005   
   
Wachovia   Championship   
   
−12   (70-69-71-66=276)   
   
Playoff   
   
Jim Furyk,   Sergio García   
   
28   
   
31 July 2005   
   
Buick Open (3)   
   
−24   (65-66-63-70=264)   
   
4 Strokes   
   
Zach Johnson,   Tiger Woods   
   
29   
   
11 June 2006   
   
Barclays   Classic (3)   
   
−10   (70-64-72-68=274)   
   
2 Strokes   
   
Adam Scott   
   
30   
   
7 Jan 2007   
   
Mercedes-Benz   Championship   
   
−8   (70-68-67-67=272)   
   
2 Strokes   
   
Adam Scott   
   
31   
   
18 Mar 2007   
   
Arnold Palmer
   
Invitational   
   
−8   (70-68-67-67=272)   
   
22 Strokes   
   
32   
   
3 Aug 2008   
   
WGC-Bridgestone   Invitational   
   
−10   (67-66-69-68=270)   
   
1 Stroke   
   
Stuart   Appleby, Lee Westwood
   
   
   
33   
   
24 Aug 2008   
   
The Barclays   (4)   
   
−8   (70-70-66-70=276)   
   
Playoff   
   
Sergio García,   Kevin
   
Sutherland   
   
34   
   
1 Sep 2008   
   
Deutsche Bank
   
Championship (2)   
   
−22   (64-66-69-63=262)   
   
5 Strokes   
   
Mike Weir   
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