Vijay Singh goes for his 10th Tour victory this weekend at the Tour Championship. Scott Halleran/Getty Images

The number of the day is 10. As in 10 million dollars, which is what Vijay Singh has won this year on the PGA Tour. As in 10 victories, which Singh is going for this week (and will probably get, since he won the same event at the same course -- East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta -- two years ago ) at the Tour Championship  As in 10 straight times that he's won when leading or sharing the lead going into the final round.

So here are 10 things to contemplate about Singh:

1. It took Singh 10 years to get his first 10 victories on the PGA Tour after he began playing it full-time in 1993. From 1993-'02, he had 11 second-place finishes, 10 thirds and 85 top-10s. Any idea how many of those could've been victories if he putted then like he is now? I'll go conservative and say he would've won 18 more. Yes, his putting was that weak before is that good now. Singh remains the only player I can think of who went from being a poor putter to being a very good putter. Usually guys are good putters first,lose it for a while and eventually get it back.

2. Perhaps the most impressive statistic from the Year of Vijay is this: His $10.7 million in winnings is more than double what Tiger Woods has earned ($4.7 million). I don't care how many more tournaments Vijay played (10 -- that number again), to double up on Tiger was unthinkable -- at least, until this year. In fact, Singh has nearly double the winnings of the No. 2 man on the money list, Phil Mickelson, who has won $5.6 million.

3. Just in case there was any doubt about Singh being enshrined to the World Golf Hall of Fame someday, this amazing season wiped that out. The nine victories might have done it, but winning a third major title, the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, to go with his '98 PGA and '00 Masters victories, definitely put him in Hall of Fame territory. The only question is when he'll get voted in. It would seem a little awkward to enshrine him while he's still playing the best golf of his life, wouldn't it?

4. You probably missed this announcement unless you were tuned in to Legend Radio in Suva (that's the capital of Fiji) on national Fiji Day last month, but Singh has been awarded his home country's top honor, the Companion of the Order of Fiji. The announcement said Singh got the award for his contributions to international golf and, essentially, for putting Fiji back on the world map in terms of recognition.

5. Vijay learned golf as a child by playing the nine-hole Nadi Airport Golf Club track, which was designed by his father, Mohan Singh. It is next to the runway at Fiji's airport. In February, Singh is scheduled to begin construction of a new course that he will design with his father. Here's a prediction: If it's up to Vijay, this place will have a great practice area. And, oh yeah, no media at the grand opening.

6. Here's what is wrong with the Ryder Cup: Vijay is now the No. 1-ranked player in the world, and he can't play in the Ryder Cup. Do you think Samuel Ryder, the event's founder, would've wanted to exclude the best golfer in the world? I don't think so. The President's Cup winner should play in the Ryder Cup against the defending Ryder Cup champion every two years and if that means it's Europe versus the Internationals and the U.S. is left out in the cold, so be it. We'll still get to see some great golf and the whole world will be included in the Ryder Cup. It won't happen, of course, because the PGA Tour runs the President's Cup and the PGA of America runs the Ryder Cup and neither group wants to give up any power, prestige or, especially, cash.

7. Counting the '98 President's Cup, which the International team won in Australia, Singh has victories on every continent except South America. (And if you send me an e-mail asking, "What about Antarctica?", you'll be banished to a cricket Web site.) That's one more continent than Woods, who has won in Europe, Asia and South America (with David Duval in the World Cup in Argentina) but not Africa or Australia.

8. Vijay's 24 PGA Tour victories ranks him in a tie for 23rd on the tour's all-time list with Gary Player and Macdonald Smith. Which means he's already passed Raymond Floyd (22), Lanny Wadkins (21), Mickelson (23), Greg Norman (20) and the man whose swing he imitated growing up, Tom Weiskopf (16). A victory this week at the Tour Championship would move Singh into a tie for 21st with Tommy Armour and Johnny Miller.

9. Here's another what-if: If Singh wins at East Lake, he'll do something else Woods hasn't done -- reach double digits in wins in a year. That's a feat that has been achieved only four times. Sam Snead was the last to do it with 11 wins in 1950. Ben Hogan did it twice, 10 wins in 1948 and 13 in 1946 and Byron Nelson had that unbelievable 1945 when he notched 18 victories. Before Woods, who won nine times in 2000 and eight times in 1999, no player had won as many as eight times in a season since Miller in '74.

10. Vijay has had a Player-of-the-Year season in the last 90 days. Since the start of August, he's won six times, finished second once and won $5.7 million. Singh has finished in the top five in 14 of 28 events this year, the kind of phenomenal stat you only see on the considerably less-deep Champions Tour. He's had a year for the ages. It doesn't quite rank with Tiger's '00, when he racked up three major championships, but it is pretty close.

USGA update

The United States Golf Association is not as far behind the curve as I thought. In fact, they're ahead of the curve in some ways. There's the driver-testing machine, which the USGA developed and the PGA Tour began using this year. And there's the electronic yardage-finder issue, which I wrote about last week. They're not legal in competition. However, it's not because of any USGA opposition, as I erroneously portrayed.

The group that has steadfastly held up approving range-finders is the Royal & Ancient, the organization with which the USGA jointly helps regulate the rules of golf. USGA leader David Fay and, I'm told by a USGA rep, most of the USGA executive committee support legalizing electronic range-finders, recognize they're no different from carrying a yardage book or looking as marked sprinkler heads and agree that using them would help speed up play, one of the game's biggest problems. 

Sports Illustrated senior writer Gary Van Sickle writes for the magazine's Golf Plus section and is a regular contributor to SI.com.