Residence: Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
DOB: 22/02/1963 |
Vijay Singh is without doubt one of the best golfers ever to play the game, leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003 and 2004 and boldly knocking Tiger Woods from world #1 for 32 weeks in 2004/05. Our photo of Vijay shows him using his Cleveland HiBore XL driver at the Doral Resort in Miami during the World Golf Championships in March 2007 where he finished tied 11th.
His enormous achievements are sometimes overlooked because of his fractious relations with the media - he’s known as a bit of a misery that would rather spend hours on the driving range than court publicity. But with career prize money of over $60m I can’t imagine he’s losing much sleep over it.
Born in Fiji of Sikh ancestry the name Vijay means ‘victorious lion’. His father was an aircraft technician who also taught golf. The family was of modest means, and Vijay often had to resort to hitting coconuts for practice. He ended up teaching golf in Borneo, using all his spare time to practice.
After joining the European Tour in 1989, after 2 attempts at ‘Q-School’, Vijay’s career began to take shape. Numerous win on varying continents announced The Big Fijian onto the world stage and he joined the golfing elite on the PGA Tour in 1993. He beat Mark Wiebe in a play-off at the Buick Invitational in his rookie season and as a result was named Rookie of the Year. He saw continued success in America, winning The Buick Invitational a further 2 times in the next 3 years and capped off an excellent start to life in America by winning the PGA Championship in 1998, Vijay’s first Major Title.
After adding a Green Jacket to his wardrobe in 2000 with victory at Augusta, Vijay decided to step into overdrive in 2004. Of his 29 starts, Vijay won a staggering 9 times (a number which included a 3rd major triumph at The Masters) and posted 18 further top-10 finishes, pooling a whopping $11,000,000 in prize money alone. He is currently sat alongside Phil Mickelson in 13th place on the PGA all time wins list with 34 to his name. Many of which, unlike the names around him, have come once he had turned 40.
Like many of the seasons in Vijay’s career, 2008 saw numerous wins - 3 to be exact (The Deutsche Bank Championship, The Barclays and the WGC Bridgestone Invitational). Sitting proudly at the top of the Fed-Ex cup leader board and with over $6,500,000 in prize money this year alone The Big Fijian, like fine wine, seems to get better with age. |
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20-23 March - WGC CA Championship - Doral Golf Resort and Spa.The second WGC of the season saw a tight battle for honours with Geoff Ogilvy piping Jim Furyk, Retief Goosen and Vijay Singh to the title and bagging the $1,350,000 1st prize. The World Golf Championships are played over 5 continents and feature the top-50 players from the Official World Golf Rankings along with top finishers on the money lists of 6 Tours comprising the International Federation of PGA Tours (PGA TOUR, European Tour, Australasian Tour, Japan Golf Tour, Asian Tour and Southern Africa Tour). The formats vary - match play, strokeplay and team - but the purses are always big! This was the second WGC title that Geoff Ogilvy has won, adding the 2008 WGC CA Championship to the 2006 WGC World Accenture Matchplay Championship. |
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| | In Vijay Singh's bag... | In Vijays bag at the WGC in March 2008, Cleveland CG1 Black Pearl irons, Cleveland HiBore XL driver and fairway woods - and Never Compromise GM2 putter.
(CLICK ON IMAGES TO SEE FULL SIZE VERSION). | | | | |
8-11 March - PODS Championship - Westin Innisbrook - Copperhead Course.Won by 1998 Open Champion Mark Calcavecchia with a 10 under par score of 274. This was Calcavecchia’s first Tour victory since the 2005 Bell Canadian – and his 13th win in total. The $954,000 first prize takes him over the $20m career earnings for his career. He finished at 10-under 274 – and had a bit of a let-off when Heath Slocum missed a 4-foot par putt on the final hole which would have taken him into the play-off. |
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| | In Vijay Singh's bag... | In the bag: Cleveland HiBore XL 9.5 degree driver, Cleveland Launcher Steel 13 degree 3 wood and 17 degree 5 wood, irons 3-PW are Cleveland CG1 Black Pearl, 54 and 60 degree high bounce Cleveland Tour Action wedges and a Never Compromise GM2 Exchange #7 Belly putter.
(CLICK ON IMAGES TO SEE FULL SIZE VERSION). | |
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