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Vijay Singh poses with the trophy on the 18th green of the Plantation Course after winning the Mercedes Benz Championship. (AP/Eric Risberg)


Doug Ferguson, Canadian PressPublished: Sunday, January 07, 2007
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KAPALUA, Hawaii -- The new era in golf brought out the old version of Vijay Singh.
Coming off his least productive season in five years, the 43-year-old Singh delivered a strong statement Sunday that he's still around by closing with a 3-under 70 for a two-shot victory over Adam Scott in the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship.
It was the 30th victory of his PGA Tour career and 18th since he turned 40, breaking the record held by Sam Snead.
And Singh finally walked off the Plantation course at Kapalua with the winner's lei around his neck and the keys to a new car, which he said he would give to his son. He has been runner-up twice in the last three years, and has never finished worse than eighth since this winners-only tournament moved to Maui.
This time, no one stood a chance.
He doubled the size of his three-shot lead after two holes, and only a late charge by Scott kept it interesting.
Singh finished at 14-under 278 and along with US$1.1 million to push him over $50 million for his career, he earned 4,500 points for the new FedExCup competition.
Calgary's Stephen Ames finished tied for 11th, closing with a 3-under 70.
The tour has called this a "new era in golf," and the hype has been so strong that Singh said he was tired of listening to it. All he cared about was winning, and he took care of that with ease.
Scott led by three shots when he played with Singh in the final round of the season-ending Tour Championship two months ago. This time he was trailing by three, and Singh never gave him hope. Scott fell six shots down after two holes, but he somehow made it interesting.
Two straight birdies on the back nine pulled him within two shots of the lead, and he had a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th that grazed the lip. He winced and turned away, then missed the three-foot par putt to end his chances. A birdie on final hole gave him a 69.
The only consolation was his runner-up finish will move him up to No. 3 in the world ahead of Phil Mickelson.
Trevor Immelman birdied the 18th for a 72 to finish third.
Singh had only one victory in his last 35 starts on the PGA Tour, and the proud man who had climbed to No. 1 in the world slipped all the way down to No. 7 at the end of last season. He discovered flaws in his swing toward the end of the year, and to no one's surprise, the hardest-working man in golf spent his off-season correcting them.
He also brought a belly putter to Kapalua, and the combination was unbeatable. Singh was in a tie for the lead with five other golfers, including Ames, after the opening round, and he slowly pulled away.
Singh tied Leo Diegel for 16th in career PGA Tour victories, but more impressive are his 18 victories in his 40s. That's as many as Hall of Famer Nick Price won in his career on tour.
"Anyone who says 43 is old, they can go to hell," Singh said with a laugh at the trophy presentation.



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