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Singh wins his first World Golf Championship

Vijay Singh of Fiji hits his approach shot to the 18th green in the final round of the World Golf Championship tournament at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, on Sunday. PHOTO: AP

Vijay Singh overcame a shaky putter on the back nine by making a 1m par putt on the 18th hole Sunday to close with a 2-under 68 for a one-shot victory in the Bridgestone Invitational.

Singh won his first World Golf Championship (WGC) and ended a 0-for-34 drought on the PGA Tour that dated to the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March last year, his longest stretch without winning in six years.

Singh, who had fallen out of the top 10 in the world during his drought, is now expected to move up to No. 4.

But he had to work harder than he wanted. Singh missed four putts inside 8 feet over the final 11 holes, but he made the ones that mattered. He made a 4-footer for par on the 17th to stay in the lead, and his final putt swirled into the cup to avoid a playoff with Lee Westwood and Stuart Appleby.

Phil Mickelson had a one-shot lead until he had bogeys on three of his last four holes. Mickelson played bogey-free through the first 14 holes to build a one-shot lead, then threw it away by making three bogeys from the bunker on the final four holes to finish with a 70, two shots behind.

According to tour statistics, Singh was 8-of-18 on putts from 4 to 8 feet during the tournament, and the last thing he wanted was to face another attempt. But he left his 30-foot birdie putt well short of the hole, and was relieved to see gravity pull it into the hole.

Singh finished at 10-under 270 and earned US$1.35 million for his first WGC title.

Westwood, who could have moved up to No. 4 in the world with his first US title in 10 years, rallied from a five-shot deficit with 11 holes to play to get within one of the lead. But he missed a 7-foot birdie on the 17th, and his 15-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the 18th to tie for the lead was left all the way.

An equally impressive rally belonged to Appleby, the only player to compete in all 29 of these WGC events since they began in 1999.

He was seemingly out of the picture until a 30-foot birdie on the 16th, a 3-foot birdie on the 17th and an 18-foot birdie attempt on the final hole that just stayed right of the cup.



■ MCLACHLIN VICTORIOUS

AP, RENO, Nevada

Parker McLachlin shot a 2-over 74 on Sunday and still cruised to his first PGA Tour victory by seven strokes at the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open.

McLachlin, in his second season on the PGA Tour, recovered from trouble time after time to card 14 pars, three bogeys and a birdie on the 18th to finish the tourney at 18-under 270.

The 29-year-old tied the course record with a 10-under 62 on Friday and set a 54-hole record at 20-under at the 6,832m Montreux Golf & Country Club near Lake Tahoe. But he had to scramble his way to the US$540,000 winner’s check after hitting only four greens in regulation for the day. Brian Davis and John Rollins tied for second at 11-under 277.

England’s Davis trailed by only four strokes with five holes to go, but had a double bogey and two bogeys down the stretch to shoot a 75. A shot back tied for fourth were Martin Laird (66), Harrison Frazar (69), Eric Axley (69) and Ryan Palmer (70).

The closest McLachlin had come to winning on the PGA Tour before was a tie for fifth in May at the AT&T Classic.

With the top 50 golfers in the world playing at the Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio, McLachlin entered the week ranked 98th on the money list, but the US$540,000 first-place check at Reno gives him US$1.28 million on the year and should push him at least inside the top 70.
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