Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Vijay Singh: An Underappreciated Golfer


Most people think that Vijay Singh is a 3 time major winner who has had a troubled past. However there is a whole lot more to the man that is nicknamed The Big Fijian.

Vijay was born on February 22, 1963 in Fiji, his father who worked at an airport got him into the game of golf. When he was 21 he turned pro and won the Malaysian PGA Championship, however he was accused of changing his scorecard by one stroke in an event in Indonesia, Vijay has always denied this and he has said that his caddy and the person who he gave his scorecard to was the son of a VIP in the Indonesian PGA so he may have changed it to be courteous. Vijay and his wife Ardena then moved to Borneo where Vijay gave golf lessons. He then joined the Safari Tour and won there and went into European Tour Q School, He finished 24th in Q School and then won in Europe a few years later and joined the PGA Tour in 1993. He won his first tournament he ever played in and then over the next 15 years won 33 more times including a Masters win in 2000 and 2 PGA Championships in 1998, and 2004. In 2004 he won an astounding 9 times and that season he overtook Tiger Woods as the #1 player in the world. He won the Fedex Cup in 2008 when he won the 1st 2 tournaments in the Fedex Cup playoffs. He won 22 times over the age of 40 and is still competitive at age 52 as he has one top 10, and a few other top 25's due to his meticulous practicing. He has made the 3rd most money of all time. He has not been without scandal the past few years as he admitted to using deer antler spray for his back which has bothered him as he has gotten older and he did not know that this was on the banned substances list, he was suspended for a little while and then the PGA Tour dropped the case against him. However, he has decided to pursue action against the PGA Tour because they exposed him to public humiliation and ridicule during the investigation. He also wants to do it because the PGA Tour does not do a very good job of announcing suspensions for the players, and they aren't always fair. Currently Vijay still plays on the PGA Tour but he is eligible for the Champions Tour, but he chooses to stay on the PGA Tour and he is still a decent golfer. He has always had a tremendous work ethic and that is probably why he is still able to play well at 52, he practices about 360 days a year and while that is difficult for his caddy, he has been known to give gifts to his caddies if they have ever needed anything.

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