Singh's roll continues at Deutsche Bank
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2008 Deutsche Bank Championship | Round Four | 02 Sep 2008
Vijay Singh made it three wins in his last six starts when his final round of 63 at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston swept him to a massive five shot victory in the second of the FedEx Cup playoff series. Interestingly, Singh has missed the cut in the other three of those six starts but with a new found belief in his putting, he appears almost unstoppable at present.
Combined with his victory in last week’s Barclay’s Championship, Singh’s success today has ensured that irrespective of the outcome of next week’s BMW Championship in St Louis, he will still lead the FedExCup series into its final event, The Tour Championship, in three weeks time.
Singh’s lead is now 11,725 points over Sergio Garcia and with only 11,000 points available to the winner of the BMW, Singh will head into the Tour Championship with a good chance of pocketing the US$10 million prize.
On a day when the TPC Boston layout was more demanding than it had been all week, Singh’s round of 63 blew the field apart. None of those close to him at the start of round four would break 70 today. Not only was the winning margin a massive five shots, but there was a further three shots back to the third placed pair of Ernie Els and Camilo Villegas, further confirming Singh’s dominance over the high class field.
Singh eagled the 2nd today and made the turn in 32 to take control of the tournament. It would be several massive putts over the closing stages however that put paid to any remote hope his chasers had of catching him. Putts from 40 feet at the 13th, 60 feet at the 14th and 30ft at the 17th, highlighting Singh’s improvement on the greens this week.
Currently 70th in putting average for the PGA Tour in 2008, Singh’s form on the greens in the past two weeks has seen a huge improvement in that statistic, brought about by a change in Singh’s mindset relating to his putting capabilities. He has convinced himself that he is one of the best putters on Tour and this new found attitude has filtered through his game generally.
It was Singh’s second victory at the TPC Boston and rekindles some great memories as it was at this golf course in September of 2004 that he took the World number one title off Tiger Woods for an initial period of 26 weeks.
Singh will play this week’s BMW Championship then have a two week break before the Tour Championship.
Mike Weir continued his return to former glory when runner up following on from his 7th place last week at the Barclays and his 5th place in Canada. After a solid start to the day, Weir’s double bogey at the 9th took away his momentum and likely cost him a winning chance. He recovered over the closing stages to ensure a second place finish and he now moves to third on the FedEx Cup table behind Singh and Garcia.
Garcia started his final round with three birdies in his first four holes and at that stage it appeared as if the event might develop into a repeat of the duel he had last week with Singh but after a bogey at the 9th the Spaniard’s challenge fell away. A double bogey at the 16th after finding the water at the par three cost him any chance of a top three finish but his share of 5th keeps Singh within striking distance as far as the final outcome of the Fed Ex Cup series is concerned.
Ernie Els lost his way a little over the final nine holes but his share of third with Camilo Villegas was a much improved week.
The remaining intrigue from the event is just who has enhanced or destroyed their chances of US Ryder Cup Team selection. It appears that Steve Stricker, Woody Austin, Hunter Mahan and Brandt Snedeker might well have done enough although Azinger might yet opt for one more experienced player. The team is named on September 2nd US time.
In what was an ordinary week for the Australian contingent, John Senden and Stuart Appleby were best when they finished 33rd, Nick O’Hern and Robert Allenby were 44th, Jason Day 50th and Geoff Ogilvy 72nd.
Peter Lonard, Aaron Baddeley and Adam Scott made the cut but did not play the final round.
Seven Australians now remain in the FedEx Cup namely, Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Geoff Ogilvy, John Senden, Adam Scott, Mathew Goggin and Aaron Baddeley. They all get their chance at next week’s BMW Championship in St Louis to force their way into the top 30, who will advance to the Tour Championship.
