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The Week: Having a Blast

In Houston an amiable Vijay Singh got back on track

By Alan Shipnuck

Singh set a tournament record in his first Tour victory in two years. Darren Carroll

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Remember Vijay Singh? That international man of mystery who has won more major championships than Phil Mickelson, David Duval, Sergio García and Charles Howell combined? Singh resurfaced last week at the Houston Open after two years of anonymous effectiveness. Since his last victory in the U.S., at the 2000 Masters, Singh had amassed 22 top 10s on the PGA Tour yet somehow failed to win. He corrected that oversight in style on the TPC at The Woodlands, blowing away a strong field with a tournament-record 22 under par. Singh's 10th Tour victory (to go with 21 international titles) threw into sharp relief what a powerhouse he can be when his cranky putter cooperates. "When he's on his game, he'll lap anyone in the field, just like Tiger," says Adam Scott, who tied for sixth.

It was nice to be reminded of Singh's virtuosity on the course. A bigger revelation was his manner away from it. One of the best-kept secrets in golf has always been that Singh is a cutup with a biting wit, but after two years out of the spotlight, he suddenly seems comfortable letting the public in on the joke. Following a 66 last Saturday, Singh ventured into enemy territory, the press room, armed with only a crooked grin.

Question: Vijay, you say you left a few out there. Where did you leave them?

Answer: The holes that I didn't birdie. (Bah-da-boom!)

On Sunday, following a 68 that closed out his six-stroke victory over Darren Clarke, Singh got a little misty. "My wife is always my inspiration," he said. "She always supports me. [Pause.] Thank God I don't have to face her again after I haven't won."

Said Singh's caddie, Paul Tesori, "He's a pretty jovial fellow with his family and close friends." How were they going to celebrate the victory? "I'm sure when we get back on the [private] plane, we'll have a couple of drinks and deal a few hands of gin," said Tesori.

Singh is a fearless gambler who played his way out of Fiji by winning big-money games with fat cats from a local oil refinery. He hasn't lost his taste for action. On Sunday, at the par-5 13th hole, a muscular drive left him 232 yards, into the wind, to an island green. Singh stepped up and stuck a five-wood to five feet. (He missed the putt, but still.) "That shot was the same as the one he hit at number 15 when he won the Masters," said José María Olazábal, Singh's Sunday playing partner in Houston. "He took the risk, even though he didn't need to, and pulled it off."

Said a sardonic Singh, "I could've laid up and chunked it in the water, and you guys [reporters] would have had a ball."

In truth, it was the kind of brassy play that will serve him well at Augusta National, where Singh made a reconnaissance mission a few weeks ago. (He reportedly shot a 63.) "I like the changes to the course," he says. "If I drive the ball long and straight, I'm going to have a good chance at winning that tournament."

Long and straight works well pretty much anywhere, but let's not quibble. This renewed Singh is a fun character, and we don't want to scare him off.

O.B.

Colin Montgomerie 's mostly sunny disposition during his return to Houston, his old college stomping grounds, was due to a very familiar face on hand, but it wasn't the mug of a former Houston Baptist teammate. Montgomerie imported from England his longtime sports psychologist, Hugh Mantle , for a rare U.S. appearance, and they got together for skull sessions every night in Montgomerie's hotel room. On Sunday morning the therapy moved to the parking lot of the TPC at The Woodlands, where Montgomerie and Mantle spent 40 minutes chatting in a courtesy car before Monty's 71, which left him mired in 56th place.

The Pinnacle Distance Challenge roared into Houston last Saturday night, attracting hundreds of sluggers dreaming of the $10,000 prize that comes with outdriving a member of Pinnacle's distance team. (Team member John Daly was a no-show after missing the cut at the Houston Open.) After surviving a series of qualifying rounds, Jeremy West , a 22-year-old grocery store bookkeeper from Abilene, Texas, added the $10,000 to his ledger with a 283-yard bunt. Pinnacle's Mike Moulton was the goat, failing to keep any of his four drives inbounds in his matchup with West.

From April 4 to 14, the Tiger Woods Foundation will auction on eBay a round of golf with its eponymous founder. The minimum bid will be $100,000 and will increase in $25,000 increments. All proceeds will go to the foundation; the expectation is that bidding will reach seven figures. "There are Saudi princes with a billion dollars who are big golf fans," says Earl Woods , the foundation's president. The round will be played on an unspecified date at Isleworth Country Club, in Windermere, Fla. The winning bidder will be allowed to bring along a three-person rooting section.

Annika Sorenstam and family notwithstanding, the happiest people at the Kraft Nabisco Championship were the caddies, who were welcomed back to the player hospitality tent after an eight-year ban, enacted when a couple of loopers availed themselves of too much free alcohol. The tent also features famously fantastic milkshakes and elaborate food. To guarantee that the coveted privilege would not be revoked again, Jerry Woodard , Beth Daniel 's bagman and a member of the LPGA's caddie committee, posted a note in the caddie yard that read, "Anyone screw up and you will be banned from the tour for life."

Issue date: April 8, 2002

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