Vijay Singh is running out of firsts to take away from Tiger Woods.
Singh broke the PGA Tour single-year money record Woods set while winning three majors in 2000, holding off Stewart Cink to win the 84 Lumber Classic by one shot yesterday for his third consecutive victory.
Singh’s eighth championship this year pushed his money total to $9,455,566 in 26 events, surpassing Woods’ $9,188,321 while he was winning nine times in 20 events in 2000. With Singh expecting to play four more times, he could become the first to win $10 million in one year.
“I’m going to try,” Singh said.
Singh led from start to finish for his fifth victory in six tournaments, the best such streak since Woods won six in a row to end 1999 and start 2000. Singh has won seven times in his last 16 events.
In only three weeks, Singh has ended Woods’ five years-plus run as the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer and taken away one of Woods’ lines in the PGA record book. Maybe that’s why Woods pulled out of the 84 Lumber after unexpectedly committing last week — he didn’t want to see Singh knock him out of yet another lead.
“It’s ridiculous the way he’s playing right now,” said Chris DiMarco, who tied for third with Pat Perez and Zach Johnson after starting the round two back.
Singh had a three-under 69 yesterday, his third round in the 60s in four days, to finish at 15-under 273. Cink, five off the lead when the day started, had five straight birdies from No. 7 through No. 11 to make a move, but a bogey on the par-4 14th dropped him three back. Singh then held on despite a bogey on the par-4 18th.
“I want to win, I want to play well and it’s a good habit (to get into),” Singh said. “I had my driver working, my irons working and I made the putts I needed to make.”
Again, Singh’s exceptional fairway play allowed him to excel on a long course. Of the eight longest courses on the PGA Tour this year, Singh won on four — including the PGA at Whistling Straits. The mountaintop Mystic Rock course where the 84 Lumber is played was lengthened by about 400 yards to 7,471 yards after J.L. Lewis won last year at 22 under.
Singh is only 146th in driving accuracy despite being 11th in length, but is the best on the tour in greens hit in regulation. No matter where his drives go — and only about half the time do they land in the fairway — he’s still putting for birdie or par.
And while Woods started winning barely weeks after joining the tour in 1996, the 41-year-old Singh’s career keeps getting better the older he gets. Never a winner on the PGA Tour until he was 30, he now has 23 career victories, all in his 30s and 40s — 12 since last year. Yesterday’s championship was his 45th worldwide, starting 20 years ago with the 1984 Malaysian PGA Championship.
Singh was coming off victories in the Deutsche Bank Championship and the Canadian Open before sitting out the Ryder Cup — as a native of Fiji, he was not eligible. He got off to a fast start at the 84 Lumber with a best-of-the-tournament 64 on Thursday.
Singh dropped out of the solo lead only once yesterday, when a bogey at No. 3 briefly dropped him into a three-way tie with DiMarco and Jonathan Byrd.
