After victory, Singh takes aim at clinching FedExCup
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
NORTON, Mass. -- Sergio Garcia was glad he got to watch it, and that's high praise from someone who was trying his best to beat Vijay Singh on Sunday.
And for the second straight week, at that.
Eight days after he prevailed over the Spaniard in a three-man playoff, Singh was nothing short of dominant on Labor Day at the TPC Boston in winning the Deutsche Bank Championship by an impressive five strokes.
"He's a good friend of mine, so it's like when Tiger is playing well," said Garcia, who played with Singh and tied for fifth. "You want to beat him, but you've got to give it up to him. It's awesome to watch.
"You're watching history, and to have the chance of playing and battling it out with these kind of guys, it's great."
Singh shot a 63, his best round of the week and the day's best, as well, to move to 22 under and overtake third-round leader Mike Weir in the second event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. That round of 8 under was even more impressive considering TPC Boston was averaging nearly two strokes over par on Sunday.
"One guy came out and kicked our butts, that's for sure," said Camilo Villegas, who tied for third. "Congrats to Vijay. He played unbelievable today."
His second Playoff victory in as many events gave Singh a commanding lead of 12,225 points over Garcia in the competition for the $10 million bonus. Only Garcia, Weir at No. 3 and the man who wins this week's BMW Championship now have a mathematical chance to beat Singh.
Garcia, who has top-five finishes in his last three starts, needs to continue to play well in St. Louis. But he could still be in contention to win the FedExCup at the season-ending TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola even without a victory at Bellerive.
On the other hand, Weir, who trails Singh by 13,535 points will need to finish among the top two in St. Louis to have a chance in the finale at East Lake. The rest of the 70 players who advanced to the BMW Championship will need at least two wins.
Of course, that would mean the supremely confidence Fijian would have to falter, and no one is looking for that to happen any time soon. Particularly not at East Lake, where Singh won in 2002 and has never finished lower than ninth.
"When Vijay is playing like this and rolling the ball like he's rolling it, it's hard to get him because we all know how good a ball striker he is," Garcia said. "I don't see him finishing outside the top 10 in the next two tournaments."
"He's such a great player when he gets on form," agreed Ernie Els, who tied for third.
"He works hard, and he likes these golf courses. ... He's playing really good golf, and he's got some confidence going, so he's going to be a dangerous guy."
Singh has turned around what would have been a disappointing season -- by the World Golf Hall of Famer's standards -- with three wins in his last five starts. He picked up his first at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and credits a putt he "willed" into the 72nd hole in Akron with his turnaround.
"I absolutely put all my energy into making that putt, and that's not the way to putt," Singh said. "It was one of the worst feelings over a putt. If I didn't have the will inside of me to make that putt, the heart to make it, I don't think I would have made it.
"That's when I decided you've got to have an attitude change."
Singh went home to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and met with a psychologist. At the same time, though, Singh knew he had to look within himself to find the confidence that would allow him to start making 15-footers rather than worrying about two-putting.
Need proof of the turnaround?
On the back nine at TPC Boston Sunday, Singh made birdie putts of 37, 60 and 35 feet as he became the only player in the field to shoot four rounds in the 60s. In fact, the total length of his putts made on Sunday -- 174 feet, 7 inches -- was 41 feet more than anybody else in the field.
"My unconscious mind had a lot of stored-up bad thoughts in there, and that was the key, to get rid of all that, and I think I've done that,' Singh said.
The ageless 45-year-old came to Ridgewood Country Club last week convinced that he was the best putter in the world, and it showed. His elegant swing is grooved, thanks in part to a teaching aid he wears in his ear, and his fitness and work ethic have never been in question.
"(The) attitude change, it's kind of worked right through the whole golf game," Singh acknowledged. "Instead of just talking about my putting, I started talking about the rest of my game, as well. It kind of carried on.
"I'm standing on the tee and thinking that I'm the best driver of the golf ball before I hit it. That is a great way to go ahead and it takes away all the negative thoughts, and that's what we all strive for."
Right now, Singh's thoughts are on the FedExCup. He'd like nothing better than to take the suspense completely out of the equation next week at Bellerive -- and the way he's playing, that's hardly out of the question.
"I don't know how to play safe," Singh said. "I'm going to go out there and play the best I can play. I'm going to have a game plan and I'm going to stick to it. I'm going to go out there and try to win, put it this way.
"There's no cut (in the BMW Championship), which is even better, and I know Atlanta very well."
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