Is That *BLOOD* On His Hands? (Vijay Singh)

Member Name: kenjohn

Product:	Vijay Singh
Date:	02/01/04 (49 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great golfer

Disadvantages: Maybe a wee bit too honest for his own good!

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~ ~ This is the 40-year-old golfer from Fiji who should have been declared the 2003 Player of the Year, only his fellow professionals in the USA would appear to all wear "Tiger Woods" tinted spectacles when it comes to casting votes. (More later)

~ ~ Vijay Singh never got anything easy in his golfing career.
He was born in Fiji, (of Indian descent) a country not exactly noted for being at the cutting edge of the golfing world. He would probably never even have thought of golf as a way of earning a crust, only for his father, an aircraft technician and self-confessed golf nut. He gave golf lessons in his spare time, and introduced his son to the sport at an early age. Vijay's swing was modelled on his childhood hero, Tom Weiskopf, and he turned professional in the early 1980's, obtaining a position as a club pro out in Malaysia.
He played on the Asian Tour, and it was here that he first savoured the sweet taste of victory, when he won the Malaysian PGA Title in 1984.
This encouraged him to try the European and African Tours, but it was to be another four years before he again won a tournament, the 1988 Nigerian Open. This was followed up by his maiden victory on the (far tougher) European Tour, the 1989 Volvo Open di Firenze.
In the intervening period he took part-time jobs in order to make ends meet, even working for a while as a security guard in my own home city of Edinburgh, Scotland.

~ ~ After savouring some success on the European Tour, most notably the Volvo German Open in 1992, he decided to try his luck over in the USA, and won his first tournament in America the following year, the 1993 Buick Classic.
Since that time he has never looked back, and has won a grand total of fifteen times on the American Tour, as well as achieving a further 22 victories in Europe and on the international stage.
Most notable of these wer
e his two wins in Major Championships, the 1998 USPGA, and the 2000 US Masters.
He almost added to his two Major wins in 2003, coming second to Ben Curtis in the British Open.

~ ~ What is remarkable about Singh is his incredible work ethic.
He is noted among his fellow professionals as the player who works the hardest on his game, spending long hours on the practice range and the putting green. The story does the rounds of how he once actually practiced so hard and so long that he actually drew blood from his hands!
His statistics are incredible.
On last years American Tour he topped the money list, winning an incredible $7,573,907 from 27 tournaments played, and beating Tiger Woods into second place by some $900,494. This was also the most money ever won by a professional in a single year, (on the US Tour) with the notable exception of Tiger Woods, who won $9,188,321 back in 2000.
He is the sixth longest hitter in America, but not always the most accurate from the tee, only ranking 132nd in driving accuracy. (Fairways hit)
But his remarkable recovery and short game puts him at the top of the pile (2003) when it comes to making birdies. (One under the par of the hole)
He had trouble with his putting for a while, in particular short putts of under about twelve feet, but seems to have now almost solved that problem by changing over to the relatively new "belly putter". (This is where the top of the longer than average putter is wedged into a player's stomach, to allow them to make a pendulum type stroke)

~ ~ Back now to explain my opening paragraph in more detail.
At the end of each season in America, the Tour players vote for a "Player of the Year". In the past few seasons this has been no contest, with Tiger Woods so far ahead of the rest of his contemporaries that realistically there couldn't be any other winner.
But this year Singh not only bettered Woods in the amount of money earne
d, but won a total of four times on Tour, only the third time this has ever been achieved.
His total of no fewer than 18 top-ten finishes was the second best ever, only been bettered way back in 1981 when Tom Kite posted 21 top-tens from 26 tournaments played.
But despite his remarkable achievements, when it came to awarding the Player of the Year title, his fellow pros still voted for Woods! (A complete travesty, in my own opinion)

~ ~ Many pundits feel this is a backlash in response to his outspoken comments back in May 2003, when he came out strongly against the decision to allow the top woman professional, Annika Sorenstam, to play on the Men's Tour on a sponsor's invite. (At the Colonial Tournament)
Of the players who voiced their concern about this, Singh was by far the most vocal and outspoken.

"It's just different for ladies to play on the men's tour," Singh said. "It's like getting the Williams sisters to play (tennis) against a man, and they're far better athletes than she (Sorenstam) is."

When asked what he would do if he was drawn to play with her, Singh said he would rather withdraw from the tournament.

"Why? Because she doesn't belong out here. If I'm drawn with her, which I won't be, I won't play."

Personally I feel that Singh had the right of the situation, but suffered because his on-the-record statements lacked "political correctness", even if they privately reflected what many of the Tour players were saying behind closed doors.
If women were to be allowed to compete on the Men's Tour, then where does it all end? Do you then allow men to enter tournaments on the Ladies Tour, where they would hold an obvious advantage because of their greater physical strength and length of the tee?

The whole media mess seems to have quietened down now, and I've heard of no further plans to open up the Men'
;s Tour to women competitors, so perhaps Singh has now been vindicated in the (unpopular) stance he took at the time.

~ ~ Singh is now ranked the number two player in the World Rankings, having overtaken South African Ernie Els as the main challenger to Tiger Woods.
Despite now being in his forties, this incredible golfer from Fiji shows no signs of age beginning to take its toll on his golfing ability, and I fully expect him to have yet another belter of a season in 2004.

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Copyright KenJ January 2004

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