Victory shows that Singh is in control of his game and his life  PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents KAPALUA, Hawaii -- News flash. Vijay Singh plans to take Monday off. He won't stand on the range for five hours hitting an estimated 400 balls like he did each day the last two weeks in Kona. Forget those two-a-days his trainer, Joey Diovisalvi, had been putting him through, too. 
Singh might even allow himself a glass or two of red wine Sunday night. That is, if Diovisalvi lets him indulge. And why not? Singh just won the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship, beating 33 other players who, like the big man from Fiji, had earned titles in 2006. The victory was the 30th of the World Golf Hall of Famer's career. The win gave Singh the early lead in the inaugural FedExCup with 4,500 points and added $1.1 million to his bank account. He also ended a series of close calls at Kapalua -- including two runner-up finishes -- with his first victory here. "I wasn't nervous, but it was in the back of my head," said Singh, who has never finished out of the top 10 since the Mercedes-Benz Championship moved to the Plantation Course nine years ago. "There was always a concern how I'm going to go out there, how you guys are going to write about me tomorrow if I don't win; 'There he goes again, Mercedes.' "I went out there I was really, really focused to do well. I just said, if you just focus on ... what I do best and that's play golf, (I'll be OK). I started off beautifully birdieing the first two holes, and nobody was going to catch me then I don't think." Those birdie putts of 5 and 8 feet, respectively, all but ended the suspense. When his playing partner, Adam Scott, made bogey on No. 2, Singh suddenly had a six-stroke lead. The young Aussie gamely closed the gap but couldn't get closer than two. "I was totally in control of my game," Singh said simply. And his life, by all appearances. He says he has a few more aches and pains than he did a couple of years ago when he won nine PGA TOUR events, but that's hardly unexpected. He is a month shy of his 44th birthday, after all. "But I think I'm feeling pretty good," Singh said. "I'm very, very comfortable with not only my body but my golf swing, and that's more important to me than my body." Singh called the Mercedes-Benz Championship victory an "important one." He hadn't won since The Barclays last year, and he certainly wasn't satisfied with that lone victory after earning four titles in 2005, nine in 2004 and four in 2003. "This gives me a lot more freedom," Singh said. "I don't have to force myself. Sometimes when you don't win for a while in the back of your head you have some kind of pressure, and this eases all of (that). "I wanted this win, and I practiced hard for it. It's a good offseason for me. I worked hard and it paid off." Singh said he closed the book on the 2006 campaign after he tied for eighth at East Lake Golf Club last fall at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. "I turned over a new page and just had a great discussion with Joey," Singh recalled. " (We) just said, let's look forward to next season and make sure that when we arrive at Mercedes, we are ready to play and nothing is going to interfere with my head or my golf swing." The strategy -- not to mention the practice sessions and the workouts -- worked well. Although he didn't know it until he finished, Singh now has won more tournaments after turning 40 than any other player. He has 18, one more than Sam Snead, whose swing he admired for his "rhythmic" motion. Singh met Snead several times and even had lunch with him once at the TPC Sawgrass. He's read all of his books, too. Owning that particular record, though, isn't something that excites Singh all that much. "There's no trophies for doing it," Singh said with a smile. Besides, as Singh was quick to point out, "life doesn't stop at 40. It just begins, I guess." And he sees no reason why he can't continue winning golf tournaments -- although he's hardly one to stare into a crystal ball. "Fred Funk won a golf tournament when he was 48 and I'm a lot bigger and a lot stronger than Freddie Funk," he said, laughing. "So if he can win at 48, you know, what makes me think I'm not going to win when I'm 50? "I'm not looking that far ahead. Right now I'm just looking at the way I feel and I'm going to continue to work hard at my physical shape. The body is a very unique thing, and you can get hurt at any time and that would be the end of the career there. "So I'm trying to be fit, keep my body in shape and be injury free as much as possible. So I just think if I'm healthy and playing the way I'm doing right now, five, six, 10 years, I don't know. I'm just going to keep going." Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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