Singh wins elite Tour Championship
BY iseekgolf.com | US PGA Tour | 2002 PGA Tour Championship | Wrap | 04 Nov 2002
Fiji’s Vijay Singh claimed his 11th PGA Tour title with a victory at the elite Tour Championship after firing a final round -5 (67) at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. Singh stormed home with birdies coming at the 9th, 10th, 11th and 15th holes to close the tournament at -12 and two strokes ahead of Charles Howell III.
This was first victory since March when he took out the Houston Open and it was also his first two-win season since 1998. Singh appears to have an affinity with the East Lake course, having lead at the end of the third round every time it has been played there. Previously, he lost to Hal Sutton in a playoff in 1998 and finished third in 2000.
Singh took home US$900,000 for first prize, which moved him into third position on the money list with US$3.75 million, his best season on the Tour so far. Singh also claimed US$500,000 for finishing the top of the points in the Fall Finish.
Howell started the day three shots off the pace and quickly moved to within two when Singh bogeyed the first hole. Howell finished with a -6 (66) after five birdies on the back nine but it was not enough to catch Singh and he had to settle for 2nd place at -10.
World numbers one and two, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson never really threatened with Woods carding a -2 (70) to close the tournament in a tie for 7th and Mickelson posting a -3 (69) and claiming equal 5th place.
Despite his loss this week, Woods will surely not be disappointed with his year. His prize money total of more than US$6.8million means that he has tied Tom Watson’s record by winning his fourth straight money title. He also closed the year with a five PGA Tour titles, including two major victories.
Robert Allenby, the only Australasian in the field, fired a 72 to close the tournament in equal 22nd alongside Nick Price. Allenby began the day in 10th place but a bogey at the first and a double-bogey at the third hole plus three others left him thirteen strokes off the pace at the end of the day.
Despite his finish this week, Allenby will be more than happy with his performance this year. He played 27 events and made 22 cuts. Of the 22 events he finished in the top 25, 14 times and in the top 10, eight times including two second placings and a third. He took home US$2,115,771 in prize money, which is currently close to $3.8 million in Australian dollars. Not a bad year’s work, in anyone’s terms.
Final Round Scoreboard
1 -12 Vijay Singh (65-71-65-67)
2 -10 Charles Howell III (66-69-69-66)
3 -7 David Toms (70-66-70-67)
4 -6 Jerry Kelly (71-69-67-67)
T5 -5 Davis Love III (72-70-68-65)
T5 -5 Phil Mickelson (70-69-67-69)
T7 -4 Chris DiMarco (70-68-69-69)
T7 -4 Tiger Woods (71-68-67-70)
T9 -3 Retief Goosen (69-69-72-67)
T9 -3 K.J. Choi (71-68-70-68)
T11 -2 Bob Estes (72-69-73-64)
T11 -2 Scott McCarron (70-69-69-70)
T13 -1 Rocco Mediate (74-73-68-64)
T13 -1 Ernie Els (73-69-70-67)
T13 -1 Shigeki Maruyama (68-73-70-68)
T13 -1 John Rollins (70-71-70-68)
T13 -1 Steve Lowery (65-71-73-70)
T18 Even Justin Leonard (71-73-71-65)
T18 Even Jim Furyk (68-73-72-67)
T18 Even Len Mattiace (68-68-74-70)
T18 Even Kenny Perry 2 F E (71-69-68-72)
T22 1 Nick Price (73-68-68-72)
T22 1 Robert Allenby (74-69-66-72)
T24 2 Fred Funk (67-71-76-68)
T24 2 Jeff Sluman (72-72-68-70)
T26 3 Chris Riley (72-69-74-68)
T26 3 Rich Beem (70-72-70-71)
28 5 Sergio Garcia (71-73-72-69)
29 7 Jose Maria Olazabal (74-71-71-71)
30 9 Loren Roberts (71-71-77-70)
