Vijay Singh

Lautoka, Fiji

Vijay Singh (born 22 February 1963), nicknamed “The Big Fijian”, is a professional Indo-Fijian golfer who was number one in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. An Indo-Fijian of Sikh ancestry, he was born in Lautoka, Fiji and grew up in Nadi. His name means Victorious Lion. He has won three major championships (The Masters in 2000 and the PGA Championship in 1998 and 2004) and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003 and 2004. Singh was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2006.

Singh, a resident of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, is the son of Mohan Singh, 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. Singh is known for his meticulous preparation, often staying at the range hours before and after his tournament rounds working on his game.

Singh is married to Ardena Seth, who is Malaysian. They have a son, Qass Seth, born on 16 June 1990.

Two years after turning professional, in 1984, Singh won the Malaysian PGA Championship. However, his career was plunged into crisis after he was suspended from the Asian Tour in 1985 over allegations he doctored his scorecard. It was alleged that he lowered his score from one over to one under in order to make the cut, but Singh denies this, saying that in any case, it should only have resulted in disqualification from the event rather than a ban.

He felt he had been more harshly treated because the marker was “the son of a VIP in the Indonesian PGA.” Singh then took a job at the Keningau Club in Sabah, Malaysia, before his move to the Miri Golf Club in Sarawak. While this was a period of hardship for Singh, he continued to gain experience. He saved the money he needed to resurrect his career and began to re-enter tournaments.

Singh won the Nigerian Open in 1988, and at the end of that year he entered the European Tour Qualifying school for the second consecutive year, and was successful on this occasion. In 1989 Singh won his first European Tour title at the Volvo Open Championship in Italy and finished 24th on the European Tour Order of Merit, putting his early stuggles firmly behind him.

Vijay won four times in 1989, at the Volvo Open di Firenze, Ivory Coast Open, Nigerian Open and Zimbabwe Open. He also finished tied for 23rd at the British Open. He won on the European Tour again in 1990 and did so twice in 1992. He also won several tournaments in Asia and Africa in this period.

Singh entered the PGA Tour in 1993, winning his first PGA Tour event, the Buick Classic in a playoff over Mark Wiebe. That victory led to Singh being named the 1993 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. After being hampered with back and neck problems in 1994, he 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), he won both the Memorial Tournament and the Buick Open in 1997.

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

Singh did not win on the PGA Tour 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, he 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 Singh. He won four tournaments, had 18 top-10 finishes and was the PGA Tour’s money leader (and had the second highest single-season total in PGA Tour history) with $7,573,907, beating Tiger Woods by $900,494, though Singh played 27 tournaments compared to Woods’ 18 tournaments. His victories came at the Phoenix Open, the EDS Byron Nelson Championship, the John Deere Classic and the FUNAI Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort. He narrowly lost the vote for the PGA of America’s Player of the Year to Tiger Woods.

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, 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 Norton, Massachusetts. With the win, Singh overtook Tiger Woods at the top of the Official World Golf Rankings, ending Woods’ 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. The latter award is decided by a vote of active PGA players.

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. Thirty-year-old Karrie Webb was inducted into the Hall of Fame in October 2005, but Singh remained 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.) Singh deferred his induction for a year, and it took place in October 2006.

In 2006 Singh played enough European Tour events to be listed on the European Tour Order of Merit title for the first time since 1995.

Vijay shares the honour with Steve Flesch, K.J Choi, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson as the only multiple winners in the 2007 PGA Tour season, having won the season opening Mercedes-Benz Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

He has won 19 times since turning 40 — beating Sam Snead’s record by two. This record-setting win came at the first event of the 2007 PGA Tour season, the Mercedes-Benz Championship. He also became the second man to reach $50 million in PGA Tour career earnings that week, after Tiger Woods. His 31 career victories are the most on the PGA Tour by a non-American player, tied with Harry “Lighthorse” Cooper.

Although he is a right-handed golfer, Singh once said on TV he was “about a 6 handicap” left-handed.

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