Vijay Singh

Vijay Singh Biography

Vijay Singh is a professional Fijian golfer who was number one in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. Singh 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. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2006.

An Indo-Fijian of Hindu backgroud, Singh was born in Lautoka, Fiji and grew up in Nadi. His name means Victorious Lion.

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.
Singh recollected to reporters about his childhood: "When we were kids we couldn't afford golf balls so we had to make do with coconuts. My father used to say, 'Little Vijay, golf balls don't fall off trees you know,' so I found some that did!"[3] Growing up, he played snooker, cricket, football, and also the island's most popular sport, rugby.
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.
Singh felt he had been more harshly treated because the marker was "the son of a VIP in the Indonesian PGA." He 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 him, he continued to gain experience. He saved the money he needed to resurrect his career and began to re-enter tournaments. He 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 struggles firmly behind him. He 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 his 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. Singh also set a 9-hole scoring record at the U.S. Open with a 29 on the back nine of his second round. [6] 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.
However, the 2003 season was also spotted with controversy involving Singh surrounding the year's event at the Bank of America 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, Singh was misquoted as having said that Sörenstam "didn't belong" on the men's tour and that he would not play if he were paired with her. What he actually said is that he would not be paired with her because his playing partner was being selected from the past champion's pool. Singh 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."
Singh began 2004 (Read more...)

Vijay Singh Facts

Vijay Singh Photos / Pictures

Vijay Singh YouTube Videos

Users who viewed this profile also viewed:

Manchester United Views:  2920 Comments:  0

Jim Furyk Views:  1299 Comments:  0

Detroit Red Wings Views:  1427 Comments:  0

Marat Safin Views:  2105 Comments:  0

Kenny Perry Views:  1046 Comments:  0

Vijay Singh Links

Vijay Singh Feeds