Singh victorious at Bridgestone Invitational
By Andrew Both PA SportsTicker Golf Writer
AKRON, Ohio (Ticker) - Vijay Singh became the most successful non-American player in PGA Tour history when he won the $8 million Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday.
Singh, whose short putting was woeful for most of the final round, sank critical par putts at the final two holes to edge Lee Westwood and Stuart Appleby by one stroke in ideal conditions at Firestone. Phil Mickelson made three bogeys in the final four holes to finish two strokes back with Retief Goosen.
Singh carded 68 to finish at 10-under-par 270, securing his first World Golf Championships victory, and his 32nd on the PGA Tour - one more than English-born Harry “Lighthorse” Cooper.
That’s not a bad haul for the 45-year-old from Fiji, whose astonishing journey from a most humble background sometimes gets lost amid all the focus on Tiger Woods.
“I was not really worried about that (record) today,” said Singh, who collected $1.35 million. “I was out there trying to win a tournament.”
But Singh at times appeared to do his best not to win, missing four putts from inside seven feet during the final round as he struggled with his mid-length “belly” putter.
“Although I made a lot of birdies on the front nine, I hit it pretty close,” he said. “On the back nine I started missing those four-footers and five-footers.”
But his nerve and stroke held up when it really mattered, as he rattled his ball home from five feet at the penultimate hole to preserve his lead, before sinking his winning putt from little more than three feet at the last.
“The five-footer on 17 was a good putt, went straight in the middle, and the last putt I hit on the right edge and it started right where I aimed and went in,” he said.
“I’m very, very uncomfortable with four-and-five-footers. I practiced so hard last week on the putting and at the end of the day it paid off.”
Singh, who started the day tied for the lead with Westwood and Mickelson, made three consecutive birdies starting at No. 2 and added another at No. 6 for good measure.
“The key to my round was trying to hit the ball in the fairway, and that’s what I was doing so well today,” he said. “I drove the ball beautifully and hit a lot of good iron shots. I felt really comfortable. The swing change toward the end of last year is finally coming together.”
Early on the back nine, it seemed a two-man battle between Singh and Mickelson, but the latter’s meltdown left Westwood and Appleby to apply the pressure.
Westwood was in deep trouble after a double bogey at No. 7, but climbed back into contention with three birdies in the next six holes.
“I was really back against the wall (after the double bogey), five behind, but I came back with a nice birdie on the next and just thought, ‘Dig in there and see what happens’,” he said.
Westwood missed a sharply breaking seven-foot birdie chance at No. 17 and had another birdie chance to tie it up from 15 feet at the last, but he hit a dreadful putt that never was a chance, missing wide to the left.
“I didn’t start it far enough right and it moved a foot,” he lamented. “I missed it left on Thursday and didn’t learn anything and missed it left today.”
It was the second successive American tournament he finished a shot off the pace, after a previous near miss at the United States Open.
“When I get into contention I feel very comfortable now,” Westwood said. “I hit nice shots under pressure the last few holes.”
Appleby was hardly on the radar screen until he suddenly jumped into contention with birdies at No. 16 and No. 17, and he had a nice birdie chance at the last, missing from 18 feet.
“I felt very confident I was going to make it,” he said. “It just didn’t come left.”
Singh’s victory will elevate him to one of the favorites for next week’s PGA Championship at Oakland Hills outside Detroit.
He has already won two PGA titles, in 1998 and 2004 and, in the absence of Woods, will probably never get a better chance to complete the hat trick.
