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|awardnameandyear =PGA Tour money list winner (2003, 2004)<br>PGA Tour Player of the Year (2004)
|awardnameandyear =PGA Tour money list winner (2003, 2004)<br>PGA Tour Player of the Year (2004)
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'''Vijay Singh''' (born [[22 February]], [[1963]] in [[Lautoka]], [[Fiji]]) is a [[Fiji|Fijian]][[golfer]] of [[India]]n descent [[PGA TOUR]] who has won three [[major championships]] (one [[The Masters|Masters]] in [[2000]] and two [[PGA Championship|PGA Championships]] in 1998 and 2004) and was the leading money winner in [[2003]] and [[2004]]. Singh, who is of [[India]]n ancestry, grew up in [[Nadi]].
'''Vijay Singh''' (born [[22 February]], [[1963]] in [[Lautoka]], [[Fiji]]) is a [[Fiji|Fijian]] [[golfer]] of [[India]]n descent [[PGA TOUR]] who has won three [[major championships]] (one [[The Masters|Masters]] in [[2000]] and two [[PGA Championship|PGA Championships]] in 1998 and 2004) and was the leading money winner in [[2003]] and [[2004]]. Singh, who is of [[India]]n ancestry, grew up in [[Nadi]].


Vijay, a resident of [[Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida]], is the son of an airplane technician who also taught [[golf]]. Growing up, he admired the swing of [[Tom Weiskopf]], using it as an early model for his own. Vijay is considered the [[Ben Hogan]] of his era, often staying at the range hours before and after his tournament rounds working on his game.
Vijay, a resident of [[Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida]], is the son of an airplane technician who also taught [[golf]]. Growing up, he admired the swing of [[Tom Weiskopf]], using it as an early model for his own. Vijay is considered the [[Ben Hogan]] of his era, often staying at the range hours before and after his tournament rounds working on his game.

Revision as of 04:43, 14 March 2006

Vijay Singh
Personal information
Sporting nationalityFijian
ResidencePonte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA
Career
Collegen/a
Highest ranking1 (5 September 2004)[1]
(32 weeks)

Vijay Singh (born 22 February, 1963 in Lautoka, Fiji) is a Fijian golfer of Indian descent PGA TOUR who has won three major championships (one Masters in 2000 and two PGA Championships in 1998 and 2004) and was the leading money winner in 2003 and 2004. Singh, who is of Indian ancestry, grew up in Nadi.

Vijay, a resident of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, is the son of an airplane technician who also taught golf. Growing up, he admired the swing of Tom Weiskopf, using it as an early model for his own. Vijay is considered the Ben Hogan of his era, often staying at the range hours before and after his tournament rounds working on his game.

Standing six feet two (1.88 m), Vijay is married to Ardena Seth. They have a son, Qass Seth, born on 16 June 1990.

Career history

Vijay began playing professionally in 1982 and won several international victories, including the Malaysian PGA Championship in 1984. Singh was suspended from the Asian Tour in 1985 over allegations he doctored his scorecard, then worked as a club pro in Borneo trying to save his money to resurrect his career. He won the Nigerian Open in 1988, to qualify for the European Tour. In 1989 he won the Ivory Coast Open, Zimbabwe Open and Volvo Open di Firenze, then in 1990 El Bosque Open, and in 1991 the King Hassan Trophy.

He finally made it to the PGA Tour in 1993. Vijay won his first PGA TOUR event, the Buick Classic in a playoff over Mark Wiebe. That victory led to Vijay being named the 1993 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year. After being hampered with back and neck problems in 1994, Vijay came back to win the Buick Classic again in 1995 as well as the Phoenix Open. After playing well in 1996 (but with no victories), Vijay won both the Memorial Tournament and the Buick Open in 1997.

In 1998, Vijay was victorious at the PGA Championship at Sahalee in Sammamish, Washington, playing a 70-66-67-68 over the four days (66 tied a course record) and giving him his first Major title. He followed up his first Major title by winning The Masters in 2000 with a three-stroke victory over Ernie Els.

Vijay did not win any tournaments in 2001, but finished the year with a Tour-best 14 top-10 finishes and was fourth on the money list with $3,440,829 for the year. In 2002, Vijay won at the Shell Houston Open at TPC at The Woodlands, setting a new 72-hole scoring record with a 65, and at the Tour Championship, winning by two strokes over Charles Howell III.

2003 proved to be a very successful year for Vijay. He won four tournaments, had 18 top-10 finishes and was the PGA TOUR's money leader (and second all-time single-season total) with $7,573,907, beating Tiger Woods by $900,494. Vijay had victories at the Phoenix Open, the EDS Byron Nelson Championship, the John Deere Classic and the Funai Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort.

However, the 2003 season was also spotted with controversy surrounding the year's event at the Colonial. LPGA star Annika Sörenstam became the first woman to play at a PGA TOUR event since Babe Zaharias at the 1945 Los Angeles Open. Surrounding this fervor, Vijay was misquoted as having said that Sörenstam "didn't belong" on the men's tour and that he wouldn't play if he were paired with her. What he actually said is that he wouldn't be paired with her because his playing partner was being selected from the past champion's pool. Vijay later clarified, "There are guys out there trying to make a living. It's not a ladies' tour. If she wants to play, she should—or any other woman for that matter—if they want to play the man's tour, they should qualify and play like everybody else."

Continuing his torrid pace Singh began 2004 by winning the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am at -16 and winning $954,000 in prize money. This was his first win on tour in 2004 and his 16th all-time on the PGA TOUR. It was his 12th consecutive top-10 finish, which is two shy of Jack Nicklaus' all-time record.

Singh won the final major of 2004, winning the PGA Championship, his third major, in a three-hole playoff over Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco. Singh was the leader by one shot over Leonard going into the final round, but made no birdies in the final round, finishing regulation at 67-68-69-76=280. His final round of 76 was the highest winning score by a major champion since 1955. The playoff was a tense affair, and Vijay 's birdie on the first playoff hole, his first birdie of the day, proved to be the difference.

On September 6 2004 (Labor Day), Singh won the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston. With the win, Singh overtook Tiger Woods at the top of the Official World Golf Rankings, ending Wood's streak of 264 weeks at the top of the golf world.

He finished the 2004 season with a career-best nine victories, 18 top-10s, and a record $10,905,166 in earnings and was named the PGA TOUR's and PGA of America's Player of the Year.

Despite picking up a win early in 2005, Singh lost his world number 1 ranking when Tiger Woods won the Ford Championship at Doral on 6 March, but just two weeks later he took it back again after notching up top three finishes in three consecutive weeks. Followings Woods' win at the 2005 Masters, Singh once again lost his place as World No. 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings and finished tied for fifth place. In April, he became the youngest living person elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame, garnering 56% of the ballot. He lost the distinction of being the youngest living entrant when the 30-year-old Karrie Webb joins the Hall of Fame later in 2005, but not that of the youngest living electee, as Webb qualified for the Hall without an election process. (The 19th century great Tom Morris, Jr., who was elected in 1975, died at age 24.)

In 2006 Singh is competing for the European Tour Order of Merit for the first time since 1995. By February he has already played three European Tour events outside of the majors and World Golf Championships, so he only needs to play one more to make the eleven European Tour-sanctioned event requirement.

Singh's career has been marked by steady sustained progress based on exceptional commitment to practice. Even when he was in his late thirties few suspected that he was a future World Number 1, but he has won 16 times since turning 40 - second only to Sam Snead's 17 wins after 40 - and his 28 career victories is the most on the PGA Tour by a non-American player.

Results in major championships

Tournament 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Masters DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T27 CUT T39 T17 CUT T24
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT DNP T10 T7 T77 T25 T3
British Open 23 T12 T12 T51 T59 T20 T6 T11 T38 T19 CUT
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP T48 4 CUT CUT T5 T13 1 T49
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
The Masters 1 T18 7 T6 T6 T5
U.S. Open T8 T7 T30 T20 T28 T6
British Open T11 T13 CUT T2 T20 T5
PGA Championship CUT T51 8 T34 1 T10

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

PGA Tour career summary

YearMajorsOther winsTotal winsEarnings ($)Rank
1993011657,83119
1994000325,95952
19950221,018,7139
1996000855,14017
19970221,059,23616
19981122,238,9982
19990112,283,2334
20001012,573,8355
20010003,440,8294
20020223,756,5633
20030447,573,9071
200418910,905,1661
20050448,017,3362
Total*3252844,777,4252

* Complete to the end of the 2005 season.

There is a summary of Singh's European Tour career here

Tournament victories

PGA Tour wins (28)

Major championships are shown in bold.

European Tour wins (12)

Singh's major championship victories are repeated here because the three major championships played in the United States became official events on the European Tour in 1998.

Other professional wins (13)

Team appearances

Notable Achievements

Other interests

In May 2005, Singh was appointed a goodwill ambassador for Fiji. He said that he did not expect anything in return from the Fijian government for representing his country. At a press conference on 18 May 2005, Singh lamented what he said was a deterioration in race relations in Fiji, saying that for such a small country, people of all races should live together, put their differences aside, and get on with life. Relations between Indo-Fijians and indigenous Fijians had been more harmonious when he was younger, he said.

Singh has purchased an island on The World Islands archipelago in Dubai. He intends to built a water golf course on his property.

See also

  1. ^ "Week 36 2004 Ending 5 Sep 2004" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
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