VIJAY SINGH is the latest star golfer to make his debut on the lucrative US Champions Tour.
The 34 time US PGA Tour winner turned 50 in February and played his inaugural senior tour event on the weekend at the 2013 Pacific Hawai‘i Championship at the Kapolei Golf Club.
The big Fijian admitted before the event he didn’t know that much about the Champions Tour but wasn’t making any big claims about how he would go moving from 72 holes on the regular tour to 54 on the over 50’s circuit.
“There’s no cut so you can be aggressive from the opening shot,” Singh said before the event in Hawaii. “People say that it’s a sprint out on the Champions Tour because of the three rounds vs. four. I really don’t think so. I just think you need to be consistent enough and play your game and not worry what else is going on. If you play good enough, it will take care of itself. Every tournament you go to, someone’s going to have a hot week and you just have to not worry about that. I’ve played enough tournaments to realize it’s not a one-rounder.”
Singh’s 34 tour victories include the 2000 US Masters and the 1998 and 2004 PGA Championships. The World Golf Hall of Famer also won the FedEx Cup in 2008.
He hasn’t gone so well on the tour this year with only one top 25 finish and said in Hawaii he had taken a break to refresh.
Singh is also third on the list of all-time career earners on the PGA Tour with over US$67.5 million, plus whatever he has taken in from endorsements and whatever.
You would think that would mean he can ease himself into the Champions Tour without having to worry too much about early results.
In the end, he didn’t do too badly on the weekend, and was tied for the lead after 11 holes of the final round.
Thoughts of a debut win receded however as he played his final seven holes in 2-over par to drop to a 1-over 73 to finish tied for 6th on 8-under. No doubt he’ll be back and said before the tournament he planned to play more events.
The championship was won by America’s Mark Wiebe (72) who birdied the final hole of regulation to get into a playoff and eventually defeated Corey Pavin on the second extra hole to claim his second win of the season. The pair finished regulation at 11-under.
Australia’s Steve Elkington (69) finished on 2-under tied for 24th with Peter Senior (71) on 1-under tied for 32nd.
The Champions Tour moves to California this week for the Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.