Bank roll
Sizzling Singh runs away to 5-shot victory
NORTON - Twilight was falling Saturday when Vijay Singh surveyed a second-round 66 in the
"I hope," said Singh, with a scent of sarcasm, "they turn off the water here soon so we can just play golf."
To say he got what he asked for and delivered what he promised would be a generalization in need of explanation, but the bottom line is this: Singh put on a spectacular performance in yesterday's final round to blitz a bevy of world-class challengers and not only win this championship for a second time, but also put to rest the question of who'll win this year's $10 million
Starting the day in a tie for third, three strokes behind, Singh caught fire with the one club in his bag that he's often shown an aversion to - the putter - and shot a sizzling 8-under-par 63 to win by a whopping five shots with a tournament-record 22-under 262.
So stunning was his work - he went from one back to four ahead in the span of nine holes - that it left his beleaguered competitors shaking their heads.
"A guy who makes 175 feet of putts can't be beaten," said Jim Furyk.
Ernie Els explained that it was near-impossible to make birdies coming home and added, "Maybe Vijay was the exception. I'm not sure how he made his birdies - maybe long putts."
Els had no idea how right he was, for he played in front of Singh. So let a man who had a front-row seat explain: "That was awesome to watch," said Sergio Garcia, one of four marquee contenders who got swamped by Singh's explosive performance. "I'm glad I got to watch it."
For those who didn't - like Mike Weir, who started the day with a one-stroke lead over Camilo Villegas, and Els and Furyk, both of whom began the final round just four back - here is what happened: Singh told himself he was a good putter and he not only believed it, he darn well proved himself right.
"It has to come from inside of me," said Singh, whose putting woes had bothered him so much in recent months that he spoke with a psychologist.
What made Singh's final-day performance so compelling was the stage on which it was performed. TPC Boston was under siege the first two days of the tournament, partly because men of great skill were at work, but mostly because not a breath of wind came along to offer any defense. Despite deep-red numbers of 64 and 66, Singh trailed by two, and he seemed to suggest that the greens were too receptive, the conditions too soft, and that combination afforded too many players a chance to get into the hunt.
It had rained overnight between Rounds 1 and 2 and continued into Saturday morning, but he must have missed that. Still, Mother Nature must have listened, for she turned off the water at his command and turned on the wind. Thus, what players had for Round 3 were firmer and faster conditions that got even more so for yesterday's finale in swirling winds.
"I knew the greens were going to be firm," Singh said. "It was a different golf course."
No worries, because the big Fijian is qualified to adjust, so when he chipped in from 30 feet at the par-5 second for eagle, he was set in motion. He fell two back when Weir birdied the par-4 fourth, but when Singh stuck a 9-iron within 6 feet at the sixth and made birdie, he was 17 under and tied for second with Garcia, who had birdied Nos. 2, 3, and 4.
With Els, who had birdied the first, second, and seventh, at 16 under, a delectable shootout seemed to be unfolding before galleries that have become accustomed to these matchups. Singh beating Tiger Woods in 2004, Woods turning the tables in 2006, Phil Mickelson besting Woods in 2007 - it's a Labor Day mandate perhaps, only this time Singh changed the script. When a deft wedge set up a 7-foot birdie putt at the par-5 seventh, Singh was tied with Weir at 18 under.
When he walked off the 14th green a short time later, he led by four and had not only sewn up the $1.26 million winner's take, but also the $10 million for the FedEx Cup title, which is all but assured thanks to wins in each of the first two playoff events.
How did it go from a shootout to a blowout in such a short time? With a series of head-shaking putts that went in.
Oh, Singh got some help, of course. Like from Weir, who pushed his approach left at the par-4 ninth and made double bogey. He went from one ahead to one behind Singh because of it, then he was two back because Singh hit a sizzling 3-iron to 8 feet at the 231-yard, par-3 11th. Eight feet? It was a mere tap-in compared with what Singh did at the 13th when he slam-dunked a 37-footer. And what he did at the par-4 14th after leaving his approach 60 feet short? Well, let him explain.
"I got on the green and just kept talking to my caddie [Chad Reynolds]. 'I'm the best putter in the world,' and he said, 'You're damn right you are.' "
Who's to argue, because Singh somehow made that 60-footer to push to 21 under.
Game, set, and match is what they could have announced - even though they don't do that in golf - because none of Singh's worthy competitors were able to mount any sort of charge on the back. Weir (71 -267, second) bogeyed the 12th to fall four back. Els (70 -270, T-3) had two birdies mixed in with four bogeys. Furyk (72 -272, T-7) had two bogeys and a birdie.
Oh, and Garcia (72 -271, T-5)? He had to be the most flustered, for several reasons. Having been tied for the lead briefly, he hung just one back for a stretch of holes, only to bogey Nos. 9, 10, and 13 to crash a whopping six behind to a man who had just one week ago beat him in a playoff.
Singh's brilliance included a harmless bogey at the par-4 15th, to be offset by a birdie putt at the 17th - from a mere 35 feet, of course - and a ho-hum birdie at the 18th.
It closed out a 63 that was not only the low round of the day, it beat the field average (72.083) by a mind-boggling 9.
It also gave Singh wins in consecutive weeks for the fourth time in his career, and with 22 triumphs after turning 40, he remains a marvel - a sometimes misunderstood, maligned, and unpleasant one - but still, a marvel.
He had gone 36 holes without a bogey until that meaningless one at the 15th, and with another 11,000 FedEx Cup points, he has a virtually insurmountable lead.
"I haven't really got it down yet," he said, but quickly he was told that he pretty much had nailed it down. One player would have to win the next two playoff tournaments - the BMW Championship in St. Louis, then the Tour Championship in Atlanta - and Singh would have to finish dead last in each. Oh, and if Singh were disqualified . . .
He got the point, so he smiled as he had smiled after that eagle chip-in and the seven birdie putts.
"That makes me feel a lot better now." 