Roundtable: Can Singh run the Playoff table?

text size

Martin/Getty Images

Vijay Singh has two consecutive PGA TOUR victories.

Editor's note: Can Vijay Singh run the table and win all four events of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup on the way to the $10 million bonus? Judging by the way he's playing, it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility. So PGATOUR.COM decided to pose the question to its panel of experts in this on-line chat. Here's what they had to say.

MORE: How can they clinch? | Movers and Shakers | Complete Playoff standings | The changes

Helen Ross: It's definitely hard to pick against the big Fijian right now. After all, he's won three tournaments in the last five weeks, including the first two Playoff events -- The Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship. That said, I just don't think he's going to get the job done at Bellerive Country Club this week. It's another Rees Jones renovation and Singh is on the record as saying he didn't like the greens at Oakland Hills at the PGA where he missed the cut. So we'll see. Confidence in his putter has been the key to the recent surge.

Regardless of what happens in St. Louis, though, I look for Singh to win THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. He'll be rested after the two-week Ryder Cup break and he's a proven winner at East Lake. In fact, he's never finished out of the top 10 there.

Dave Shedloski: I think Vijay can run the table for sure. He has the attitude and the confidence, and he may be the most plugged in player to the Playoffs right now as many of the top guns can't help but be distracted by the upcoming Ryder Cup, where the stakes always are high. Of course, winning the first two events had a big dampening effect on other players' ambitions. Mr. Singh didn't like the greens at Oakland Hills because they were charred and hard Donald Ross-designed putting surfaces that simply didn't match up to the rest of the golf course set-up put forth for the 90th PGA Championship. He's been on a roll, and he's like a shark. Blood in the water only makes him hungrier.

Mike McAllister: Helen and Dave, you both alluded to Vijay's issues with Oakland Hills as a potential obstacle in his bid to win this week at Bellerive. And no doubt, if he's not comfortable, he's not going to putt as well. But let's not get caught up in those three bombs he dropped during that eye-popping 63 on Monday. Had he just two-putted each of those holes, he still would've won by two shots. That's how good his ball-striking is right now.

Plainly, no one's hitting 'em better at the moment. A couple of other things -- 1.) I think Vijay has a bit of the Tiger-like intimidation factor going on now. He's on a roll, he's putting great and he can't be beat.

If Singh is in contention on the back nine Sunday, that's going to mean something. 2.) Remember, the Playoffs field was cut to the final 70 this week, so Singh has fewer players to beat than in the previous two weeks.

Melanie Hauser: OK. Enough. Yes, Veege is a shark right now. He smells the FedExCup, the money title and the next major (even if it is seven-plus months away). And, yes, he could run the tables. BUT ... how many Sergio putts have lipped out the last two weeks? It's only a matter of time. Weir's a forgotten man, but shouldn't be. And who Els to spoil the run but Ernie? Or Justin. Too hard to win four in a row. I'll give him THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, but someone else will win this week.

Dave Shedloski: I like Mike's point about fewer guys to beat. And I would have to point out that when it's one guy against 69 others, the odds aren't on Singh's side. But the same odds exist for every player. At the moment, Singh's psychological edge seems to me to be the difference. Now if only the ball knew that. Those lip-outs befuddling Garcia could easily bite the big Fijian this week and then it's end of story.

Helen Ross: You're all right. Vijay is the most focused and intense player on the planet right now. And he's that damn good, to boot. I just think the law of averages has to catch up with him sometime, and these are hardly average players he faces at the BMW Championship. They want their shares of the $35 million bonus pool, too, and the only way to improve their standing is to play well. Not to mention, with no cut this week, the chances to move into the top 30 and make the field for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola are limited. So the pressure is on -- and the stakes are high -- for everyone.

Mike McAllister: So let me ask this question to the group -- if Singh does run the table in the Playoffs, does that put him in the mix for Player of the Year? Or did he already take himself out by not winning a major? I'm thinking the latter but four straight wins and the FedExCup title is something that previously we've never had to factor in.

Helen Ross: It certainly would make the choice more difficult -- and I think the camp was already pretty evenly divided between Mr. Woods and Mr. Harrington. I still lean toward the man who won back-to-back majors ... but I wish he would step up this week at the BMW Championship and make the choice easier.

Dave Shedloski: Well, I won't back off my earlier assertions that Tiger Woods is the Player of the Year in my mind. His peers may have another thought, and, ultimately, they do the voting. But four wins in six starts, no tournament out of the top 5, and a victory in the U.S. Open on one leg trumps everything else, including Padraig Harrington's two majors, as fine an accomplishment as that is -- but realized without Woods in the field, a fact that can't be ignored. If Vijay runs the table in the Playoffs, he certainly deserves some votes. I just think nothing trumps the extraordinary performance of Woods, who hasn't been 100 percent since after the 2007 British Open.

Melanie Hauser: I'm right there with Shed. It will be tough to go against Tiger for Player of the Year. Everything he's done for a while now has been on one leg -- his record this year and that U.S. Open win are nothing short of iconic. To me, it will come down to Tiger and Paddy both in the player's vote and the Golf Writers Association of America vote. Vijay is coming on strong -- never doubted he would -- and he will get some votes. But to the heart of it ... his focus is singular right now in the FedExCup and that will help him since Sergio and a few others have the Ryder Cup in their focus, too. Four wins in a row would be impressive -- think about his nine wins in '04 -- but I doubt that will happen.