Vijay Singh, ahead by one, has been unstoppable lately when leading after 3 rounds.
By BOB HARIG
Published August 15, 2004
HAVEN, Wis. - Vijay Singh slowly keeps chipping away at the aura of Tiger Woods, like a prisoner painstakingly trying to dig a trench out of his cell.
Winning last year's PGA Tour money title was but one spoonful of dirt. Three more tour titles early this year was another. Beating Woods two weeks ago at the Buick Open helped him see the light.
Now Singh is in position to win the 86th PGA Championship, and a victory today at Whistling Straits would, if not officially, go a long way toward finally knocking Woods off his lofty perch.
With Woods nowhere in sight and about to go 10 straight majors without a victory, Singh shot 3-under-par 69 Saturday to take a one-shot lead over Justin Leonard into today's final round.
And that is a scary position to find him in for the rest of the field. Singh has won his past seven tournaments when holding a share of the 54-hole lead.
"Vijay is an incredible player," said Leonard, who shot 70. "I think over the last year and a half or two years ... if he has not played the best of anyone, he's a close second or third.
"It's going to be a fun day. I'm going to get to go head to head with one of the best players in the world, if not the best player in the world. It should be really exciting."
Though Whistling Straits yielded 38 subpar rounds Saturday, the back nine became treacherous for the leaders, especially the 15th, 17th and 18th holes, which were among the four toughest on the course.
Singh, however, played the back nine in 33, without a bogey, converting a testy 5-footer for par on the last green to finish 12-under 204. Leonard, the 1997 British Open winner who has a single top-10 finish this year, found a bunker at the last hole and bogeyed to fall one behind.
The next-closest pursuers were at 208. Phil Mickelson got into contention with 67 and was tied for third with Ernie Els (72), Darren Clarke (72), Stephen Ames (69) and Chris Riley (69).
"That putt on the last meant a lot," Singh said. "Justin was obviously going to be tied if I missed, but being four ahead of the pack, those five guys ... they have to play one shot better to catch me now. That was a big putt for me."
At the very least, Singh made it that much more difficult for Els or Mickelson to add majors to their resume. Els was tied for the lead with nine holes to play, but made two back-nine bogeys. Mickelson played the front nine in 31 to give himself a chance at his second major of the year. Mickelson, who won the Masters and has finished 1-2-3 in the majors, could become the first to finish in the top three in all four majors in the same season.
"It's much easier having a couple of shots in hand than it is trying to chase because you don't have room for error," Mickelson said. "If you make a bogey or two, coming from behind, you have to press and make more birdies. But at least I have a chance. I could go play a solid round. I know I could shoot quite a few under par on this golf course, and if I do that, I should have a good opportunity."
Singh, 41, can capture his third major title and first since winning the 2000 Masters. He also won the 1998 PGA Championship. He'll be going for his 20th PGA Tour title, a significant achievement, especially considering he didn't join the tour until he was 30.
A victory would not push him past Woods in the world ranking, but most agree Singh - or Els - is the best player in the world at the moment. Els, who is No. 2 in the world, has contended in every major championship this year and has won three times around the world, including twice on the PGA Tour. Singh, who is third in the world, leads the PGA Tour money list and has four victories to Woods' one. Woods was tied for 25th, nine strokes back. "I'm not bothered about who is No. 1 right now and who is not," Singh said. "I just have to take care of myself. My focus two months ago was the wrong thing. I was focusing so hard to get to the No. 1 spot and I started to not focus on my own game. Every time I teed it up, I didn't want to play bad and I started making simple mistakes.
"Right now, I'm totally focused on what I am doing. I'm more confident going out there. I'm playing well enough to feel like every time I tee it up, I can win golf tournaments."
