|
On the Course
Singh’s ball-striking leads to greens, green jacket
Posted: Sunday April 09, 2000 08:43 PM
By Gary Van Sickle, Sports Illustrated AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Say what you like about the changes that have been made to the Augusta National Golf Club over the last two years and whether the course really
needs rough and exactly where it should go. Then look at the leaderboards
that presided over the Masters Tournament all week. It looked a lot like the
world golf rankings -- maybe not in the right order, but most of the right
names. So Masters officials got something right.
There's no faulting hard-working Vijay Singh as the winner. He has always
been one of the world's finest ball-strikers. If he could putt decent by PGA
Tour standards, he would have won another half dozen tournaments. If he
putted well, he'd be chasing Tiger Woods in the world rankings.
Singh has been frustrated, disappointed and intimidated by Augusta National's
ferocious greens. This year, he came in with a different mindset and accepted
them as a fun challenge. The statistics show he ranked 45th out of 57 players
in that category. Yet he won the Masters, his second major championship in
two years, in convincing fashion. His putting was solid but his ball-striking
was spectacular. The greens in regulation statistics say it all. Singh ranked
first, hitting 58 of 72 greens-in-regulation. Tom Lehman was second, with a
mere 54. Only 10 other players hit as many as 50. In short, Singh's
superlative ball-striking was nearly dominant.
"I couldn't be happier," fellow competitor Nick
Price said moments after he finished. "There's not a man who works harder.
This is going to be big for him. The second shot he just hit onto the 15th
green was a golf shot. His swing is so fluid, it looks like he's made of
rubber."
The myth that the Masters doesn't start until the back nine on Sunday was
only partially true. Only two of the top contenders shot under par on the
final nine -- Singh, who shot 35, and Ernie Els, who shot 33 but went to the
back trailing Singh by five shots.
Singh won the Masters in the same style that he approaches the game of
golf -- in a plodding, relentless, workmanlike to the point of boring way. Much
like the way he won the 1998 PGA Championship at Sahalee. Fairway-green,
fairway-green, fairway-green. Most people assumed that Tiger Woods will be
the next player to eventually win all four of the Grand Slam events. Woods
already has a Masters and PGA title. Now, so does Singh. It just might be a
pretty good race. Next stop: Pebble Beach in June.
Gary Van Sickle is a Sports Illustrated senior writer. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
| 
CNNSI.com, a Time Warner Company and