Success after 40 like Singh's has never been seen before

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Sep. 3, 2008
By Craig Dolch, PGATOUR.COM Contributor

One of the few downsides of living in the Tiger Woods era is that his brilliance is so bright, it sometimes overshadows the best work of others.

Not anymore.

With Woods out for the year with a knee injury, Vijay Singh has stepped into the spotlight with three wins in his last five starts, including consecutive wins at The Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship to take command of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

It shouldn't be surprising that it has taken a while for Singh's victory tour to get rolling this year. It's been that way his entire career.

Consider that when Singh turned 40 in 2003, he had enjoyed a very good career with two major championships and 12 PGA TOUR titles. That's something 99 percent of the world's touring professionals would have taken in a heartbeat.

But Singh was just getting started. And he's not close to being finished.

Now 45, Singh has rattled off an astounding 22 TOUR victories since turning 40. That's five more than the legendary Sam Snead -- who many thought had the greatest longevity of any World Golf Hall of Fame member -- had after turning 40.

Twenty-two wins after turning 40? That has to rank up there with one of the top all-time achievements in golf.

Consider this: Singh has won more times on the PGA TOUR in his 40s than 13 Hall of Famers won in their careers: Craig Wood (21), Jim Barnes (21), Hale Irwin (20), Greg Norman (20), Ben Crenshaw (19), Hubert Green (19), Tom Kite (19), Julius Boros (18), Nick Price (18), Curtis Strange (17), Jackie Burke (16), Ralph Guldahl (16) and Payne Stewart (11), who died in a plane crash at age 42.

When Singh wins again -- and it could happen this week in the BMW Championship at Bellerive in St. Louis -- you can add Raymond Floyd (22) to that list. And, oh, yeah, Singh earlier this year became the winningest foreign-born player in PGA TOUR history, surpassing "Lighthorse Harry" Cooper of England (31).

Cohen/Getty Images

Vijay Singh poses with his latest trophy -- from the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Video: The Paramus victory Video

Video: The Akron victory Video

Video: Singh defies his age Video

Stats: Singh in detail Stats

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Well, at least Singh's parents knew something about his potential early on: His first name means "victory" in Hindi.

Singh is confident there will be many more "Vijays" in his career.

"I just feel comfortable right now," Singh said. "I am not worried about being 40 or 45 or even next year for that matter. I feel like I'm 10 years younger. Look what Greg Norman did. He looks pretty much the same as he did when he was playing the TOUR. He's as fit as he ever was."

So is Singh. He says his weight of 205 is about 5 pounds less than when he was in his 30s. How many other 45-year-old men can make that claim?

It's just a matter of time before Singh breaks all of Snead's longevity records, such as oldest winner on the PGA TOUR (Snead was 52 years, 10 months and 8 days when he captured the 1965 Greater Greensboro Open) and oldest to make a cut in a major (Snead was 67-2-7 when he qualified for the weekend at the 1979 PGA Championship).

It was fitting that Singh's latest win came on Labor Day, because no player in golf works harder than he does. He was like that when he was in his 20s, and it hasn't changed.

"As you get older, I guess you just have to work a little harder," Singh said. "This shows that if you're physically fit, you can play as long as you want to play."

Singh's mind is as strong as his body. After winning last month's World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational with almost a case of the yips, he convinced himself he was the World's Greatest Putter. And the last two weeks he has been -- he needed just 23 putts Monday while shooting an eight-under 63 to come from three shots back and win by five.

"When Vijay is playing like this and rolling the ball like he's rolling it, it's hard to get him because we all know how good a ball-striker he is," said Sergio Garcia, second in the Playoffs points list. "And when he goes on a roll like he's gone on these past couple weeks with his putting and everything, it becomes quite difficult. I don't see him finishing outside the top 10 in the next two tournaments."

What's interesting about Singh is even at this stage of his career, he's willing to make changes. He has switched caddies and trainers in the last year, and he didn't hesitate to try a new practice device invented by Robert D. Grober, a professor of applied physics at Yale University.

Despite possessing one of golf's most rhythmic swings, Singh said he started using the device two months ago, and it has made his rhythm more consistent with every club. The system uses a small wireless transmitter, which is inserted into the butt end of a club, to send a signal to a small receiver attached to a player's waist. The receiver plays a note through headphones, telling the player when his swing speed is optimal and in sync.

"Even when I take it off, I remember the humming sound in my head," Singh said. "I hum to myself on the golf course."

Lately, he's been humming a lot of victory marches. It won't last forever; it never does in this sport, but Singh has shown he's not about to slow down. Heck, he won't be eligible for the Champions Tour for 53 more months.

Enjoy this brand of brilliance that has never been seen before on the PGA TOUR. Not at his age.