Vijay Singh

Lore & Background

An Indo-Fijian practising Hinduism, Singh was born in Lautoka, Fiji and grew up in Nadi. He is the son of Mohan Singh, an airplane technician who also taught golf. Singh has a brother named Krishna who is also a professional golfer. Singh recollected to reporters about his childhood: 'When we were kids we couldn't afford golf balls so we had to make do with coconuts. My father used to say, "Little Vijay, golf balls don't fall off trees you know," so I found some that did!' Growing up, he played snooker, cricket, football, and the country's most popular sport, rugby. Growing up, he admired the swing of Tom Weiskopf, using it as an early model for his own.

In Their Own Story

The wind off the Pacific was doing that thing again, the kind that makes the flagstick at the 18th at Sawgrass lean like a tired sailor. Vijay stood over a ten-foot putt, the gallery a wall of faces behind the rope, and the ball sat on the fringe with a lip of rough just kissing its equator. He didn't rush. He never rushed. He tapped his putter on the ground once, twice, felt the grain of the green through the sole, and then he let the stroke happen more than he made it. The ball rolled, broke a whisper to the right, and dropped. The Fijian crowd that had followed him from Nadi to Florida roared, and he simply nodded, tucked his putter into the bag, and walked toward the clubhouse with the quiet satisfaction of a man who had done this a thousand times and still felt the first time.

Reader's Guide

Singh turned professional in 1982. Two years later, he won the 1984 Malaysian PGA Championship. However, his career was plunged into crisis after he was suspended from the Asia Golf Circuit in 1985 over allegations he doctored his scorecard. It was alleged that he lowered his score from one over to one under in order to make the cut, but Singh denies this, saying that in any case, it should only have resulted in disqualification from the event rather than a ban. After investigation by the Tour of this and other alleged violations proved true, John Bender, Asian PGA Tour president, issued Singh a lifetime ban on Asian PGA Tour play. Singh felt he had been more harshly treated because the marker was 'the son of a VIP in the Indonesian PGA.' He then took a job at the Keningau Club in Sabah, Malaysia, before his move to the Miri Golf Club in Sarawak. While this was a period of hardship for him, he continued to gain experience. Singh saved the money he needed to resurrect his career and began to re-enter tournaments. In 1988 he teamed up with a sponsor, Red Baron, which funded a trip to Africa to compete on the now-defunct Safari Circuit, an offshoot circuit of the European Tour. Singh captured his first event, the 1988 Nigerian Open, as locals cheered him loudly. At the end of that year he entered the European Tour Qualifying school for the second consecutive year, and was successful on this occasion. In 1989, Singh won his first European Tour title at the Volvo Open Championship in Italy and finished 24th on the European Tour Order of Merit, putting his early struggles firmly behind him. He won four times in 1989, at the Volvo Open di Firenze, Ivory Coast Open, Nigerian Open and Zimbabwe Open. He also finished tied for 23rd at The Open Championship. He won on the European Tour again in 1990 and did so twice in 1992. He also won several tournaments in Asia and Africa in this period. Singh earned membership on the PGA Tour in 1993 by winning the Buick Classic in a playoff over Mark Wiebe. That victory led to his being named the 1993 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. After being hampered with back and neck problems in 1994, he came back to win the Buick Classic again in 1995 as well as the Phoenix Open. After playing well in 1996 (but with no victories), he won both the Memorial Tournament and the Buick Open in 1997. In 1998, Singh was victorious at the PGA Championshi

Did You Know?

• Singh was banned for life from the Asian PGA Tour in 1985 after allegations of scorecard doctoring.
• He won the 1993 Buick Classic to earn PGA Tour membership and was named Rookie of the Year.
• In 2004, Singh won nine times on the PGA Tour, including the PGA Championship, and overtook Tiger Woods as world No. 1.
• He became the youngest living person elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2005.