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Birthdate: February 22, 1963
Nationality: Indo-Fijian
Turned Professional: 1982
Current Tour: PGA Tour (joined Spring 1993)
European Tour (rejoined 2006)

Background:

A son of an airplane technician, Vijay Singh is a Fijian golfer with roots in India. His father taught golf in his spare time. Singh is known for the long hours he spends on the range, and in 2005 he spent 32 weeks atop of the Official World Golf Rankings – the only man to displace Tiger Woods. In 2005 he was named the official good will ambassador to Fiji. Singh lives in Florida, is married and has a son.

Professional Career Bio:
Vijay Singh’s career is one that takes to heart, “practice makes perfect”. His committed attitude has brought him to the top of the list of greatest golfers, has won 17 times after turning 40 and his 29 career victories are the most on the PGA Tour by any non-American. Few would have suspected this from the player that was suspended by from the Asian Tour in 1985 for allegedly doctoring a score card. This seemingly misfortune turned out to give him a lot of time for practice at the remote club in Borneo where he was teaching. In 1988, he won the Nigerian Open and later that year entered the European Tour Qualifying School – winning his first European Tour Title at the Volvo Open Championship and finished 24th on the European Tour Order of Merit.

His PGA debut was in 1993, winning the Buick Classic in a dramatic playoff, leading to his being named PGA Rookie of the Year. After fighting back problems in 1994, he rebounded to more wins in 1995, faltered in 1996 but again came back in 1997 with wins at the Memorial Tournament and the Buick Open. Singh continued to have ups and downs, but later obtained his first major victory at the 1998 PGA Championship, and in 2000 won a green jacket with a three stroke victory over Ernie Els.

Controversy marked his 2003 season, when he was misquoted over objecting to Annika Sorenstam’s appearance in a PGA event, but later clarified his statement, saying that she should have to qualify like any other man who wants to play in the event – not simply be invited.

In 2004, Singh had his 16th PGA win at the AT & T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. This win brought him close to Jack Nicklaus’ all time win record. Singh won the final major of 2004 after a 3 way, 3 hole playoff with Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco. Singh followed this victory with a win over Tiger Woods at the Deutsche Bank Championship, ending Wood’s streak at the top of the rankings. This began a tug-o-war for first place between the two that ended with Woods once again on top with the win at the 2005 Masters. Singh was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame with 56% of the vote – being the youngest ever to be elected.

Professional Wins: 51 (PGA Tour 29; others 22)
· 1993 (1) Buick Classic
· 1995 (2) Buick Classic, Phoenix Open
· 1997 (2) Memorial Tournament, Buick Open
· 1998 (2) PGA Championship, Sprint International
· 1999 (1) Honda Classic
· 2000 (1) The Masters
· 2002 (2) Shell Houston Open, Tour Championship
· 2003 (4) Phoenix Open, EDS Byron Nelson Championship, John Deere Classic, FUNAI Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort
· 2004 (9) AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Shell Houston Open, HP Classic of New Orleans, Buick Open, PGA Championship, Deutsche Bank Championship, Bell Canadian Open, 84 LUMBER Classic, Chrysler Championship
· 2005 (4) Sony Open in Hawaii, Shell Houston Open, Wachovia Championship, Buick Open
· 2006 (1) Barclays Classic
European Tour wins (12)
· 1989: Volvo Open Championship
· 1990: El Bosque Open
· 1992: Turespana Masters, Volvo German Open
· 1994: Scandinavian Masters, Lancome Trophy
· 1997: South African Open (co-sanctioned with Southern African Tour)
· 1998: (PGA Championship)
· 2000: (The Masters)
· 2001: Malaysian Open, Singapore Masters
· 2004: (PGA Championship)

Other professional wins (13)
· 1984: Malaysian PGA Championship
· 1988: Nigerian Open, Swedish PGA (not a European Tour event)
· 1989: Nigerian Open, Ivory Coast Open, Zimbabwe Open
· 1991: King Hassan Trophy
· 1992: Malaysian Open
· 1993: Bells Cup
· 1995: Passport Open
· 1997: Toyota World Match Play Championship (England - not an official European Tour event at that time)
· 2000: Taiwan Open
· 2003: Canadian Skins Game (unofficial event)

Majors: Masters (2000); PGA Championship (1998, 2004)

Awards: PGA Tour Rookie of the Year (1993); PGA Tour money list winner (2003, 2004); PGA Tour Player of the Year (2004)


PGA Earnings (per year): $3,328,970 (5)

Attached Images

VijaySingh.jpg (15.5 KB, 2 views)