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USPGA final round - Victorious Singh admits: "It's all in the nuts!" |
August 16, 2004; Source: AnyoneForTee World ExclusiveSingh thanks coconut influence as Leonard fails just in time! WISCONSIN. An emotional Vijay Singh recalled his childhood days in Fiji spent putting with coconuts, after winning a drama-laden USPGA at Whistling Straits yesterday in a three man playoff.  The Fijian superstar of Indian extraction (he was extracted from an Indian mother) wept uncontrollably as he told Anyone For Tee of his joy at defeating Prince Andrew look-alike Justin Leonard and surprise package Chris DiMarco over the 3-hole playoff following the trio’s tie at 8-under for 72 holes. "When we were kids we couldn’t afford golf balls so we had to make do with coconuts," Singh sang... sorry, Singh said. "My father used to say, 'Little Vijay, golf balls don’t fall off trees you know,' so I found some that did!" (see our archive photo of 8 year old Vijay, right)."The problem was they were too big to go into the hole, which explains the problems I’ve had with my short game ever since. Mind you the milk was nice." But learning to control a 4lb coconut in the stiff sea breezes and occasional cyclones that prevail in the Fijian islands stood the young Singh well after he turned professional in 1982. "Playing with coconuts really helped me come out of my shell," he recalled.  However, his early career was shrouded in controversy following an incident in the Suva Open in 1983 when he hit his tee-shot into a thicket of coconut trees on the final hole while one shot ahead of his nearest rival.Spectators who believed his ball had been lost were amazed to see Vijay climb one of the trees, claim one of the tusked fruit as his own and play a stunning 7-iron recovery to within inches of the pin to win the tournament. A rules official later confirmed that as Vijay had apparently found his original ball, this did not count as three off the tree. "From that moment, I knew I had greatness in the palm of my hand," he told Anyone For Tee over a celebratory Pina Colada.  Singh spoke freely about another controversy that dogged his career, notably his comment that LPGA star Annika Sorenstam "didn't belong" on the PGA Tour and that he wouldn't play if he were paired with her even if she made the cut at the Colonial.
"Basically I was misquoted," he said, "I was slurring my words after a few too many Malibus and actually said 'She won’t be long' off the tee and that she had a lovely pair of coconuts. What’s wrong with that?"
Singh also claimed he was unfairly renowned for his sometimes surly image and had a consoling word for Leonard and DiMarco. "Tough," he said.Singh said he was delighted to have restored the image of the world’s best players, after a spate of unknowns winning golf’s Majors in recent years. "It’s really been unfair you know," he said, "they’re under none of the pressure that we big guys are, they turn up thinking all they have to do is shoot the lowest score and they can win the tournament."  But it was a close-run thing. Chiselled Really (Chris Reilly! – Ed), pictured left, won the almost as prestigious Anyone For Tee Unknown USPGA with a closing 73 to finish on 281 just one behind the major Major winner, and two strokes ahead of fellow unknowns Bent Forklift (Ben Crane!! – Ed) and three in front of Alan Upholsterer (Arron Oberholser!!! – Ed). |
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