Singh’s Spirit of 76 Leads to PGA Title

He fired a four-over-par 76 on the final day, played 21 holes and made one -- count them, one -- birdie and may draw up papers today to file for divorce from his putter.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome in and congratulate the winner of the 86th PGA Championship, Vijay Singh.

“Wow,” Singh sighed, “a bit surprised that I won the way I scored today.”

Ugliest win he has ever been involved in?

“A good 76,” Singh would joke.

Sunday’s overtime final round at Whistling Straits proved what can happen to a golfer if he makes his tee time.

Singh probably had no business winning his third major title but, hey, if no one else wanted it, right?

In the end, as the sun set on a silhouette of silos after four feel-good days of golf in America’s dairy land, Singh defeated Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco by one shot in a three-hole playoff to claim the Wanamaker Trophy.

Singh, Leonard and DiMarco all finished 72 holes at eight-under 280.

Leonard and DiMarco officially ended up in a tie for second and Ernie Els and Chris Riley tied for fourth at seven-under 281.

Phil Mickelson got the tough wind conditions he pined for, but couldn’t take advantage. He shot a two-over 74 and finished in a three-way tie for sixth at six-under 282.

Singh’s four-over 76 was the highest 18-hole final round by a PGA champion.

In 20 years, though, who is going to care?

His victory probably will cinch for him player-of-the-year honors and, perhaps within the month, move him past Tiger Woods for top spot in the world golf rankings.

Never mind that on Sunday, Singh wasn’t even the player of the day.

What Singh did was keep his head in the game and grind long enough, never in his life dreaming that his lone birdie of the day, on the first playoff hole, would be good enough for his fifth PGA Tour victory of the season.

At 41, Singh always has been one of the tour’s most diligent practitioners.

“This is a living for me,” he said, “this is my livelihood.”

He now has another major title to go with his victories at the 1998 PGA and 2000 Masters.

Singh almost punishes himself on the practice tee and plays like a man who knows he’s on the biological clock.

“I don’t have that many years to contend, I don’t think so, anyway,” he said. “I’d like to win a few more before I finish.”

On Sunday, Singh survived a game of musical chairs during regulation play and found himself in a playoff with DiMarco and Leonard only because Leonard missed a 12-foot putt on the final hole that could have sent everyone home.

The PGA Championship uses a three-hole, aggregate score playoff format and Sunday’s overtime session started on the 361-yard, par-four 10th.

Singh crushed a driver, knocked his second shot close and rolled in for a birdie to take a one-shot lead over his playoff partners, both of whom made par.

Singh appeared ready to close out the match on the second hole, the par-three 17th, when he hit his tee shot to within five feet of the pin and Leonard and DiMarco pushed their tee shots right and left themselves long second shots.

Singh, though, pulled his birdie putt, and Leonard and DiMarco each scrambled to make par.

So, it was on to the par-four 18th, named “Dyeabolical” after course designer Pete Dye. At 500 yards, the 18th played into the wind most of the day and ended up the second-toughest scoring hole on the day, yielding only six birdies.

Needing to make a up a stroke to extend the playoff, Leonard and DiMarco hit terrific drives onto the fairway.

Singh, figuring par would win, played it short and safe and ended up 243 yards from the pin -- not exactly what he wanted, but good enough.

“I just said, ‘Play it right, don’t be a hero and get it on the green some way,’ ” Singh said. “ ‘Try to make a two-putt, and maybe a three-putt would probably win it too.’ ”

From there, Singh hit a perfect five-wood to the center of the green.

Leonard barely cleared the bank with his second shot and DiMarco flew his long and left, into a bunker.

Needing a two-putt to win, Singh finally coaxed a quality roll out of his otherwise shaky putter. From 30 feet, he nestled the ball to within a couple of inches and tapped in for the win.

A lot of players left Whistling Straits kicking themselves, beginning with Leonard.

He began the day one shot behind Singh but seized control on the front nine after Singh made double-bogey on the par-four fourth hole.

A hole earlier, on the par-three third, Leonard had tied Singh at 12 under when he rolled in a birdie putt.

After Singh bogeyed the fourth and Leonard made a nice par save, Leonard had a two-shot lead.

Leonard then did his best to keep the contenders at bay as various golfers bobbled up and down the leaderboard.

At one point, DiMarco crept up to tie Leonard for the lead at 10 under, but Leonard appeared to have the tournament in hand on the par-four 15th.

Leonard stood over a short birdie putt that could have given him a three-shot lead over four players -- but he pulled it left.

Still, he was up two strokes with three holes to play.

But Leonard bogeyed the 16th and 18th holes to throw the afternoon into chaos.

He said he would reflect on all the putts he missed on the back nine.

“Any one of them,” Leonard said. “All I needed was one of them to go.”

Leonard wasn’t alone.

DiMarco, playing three groups ahead of Leonard and Singh, left a 15-foot birdie putt short on the 18th that would have put him in the clubhouse at nine under -- which would have been good enough to win in regulation.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous,” DiMarco said of the putt. “I hit a good putt, just a little bit short, just a little tentative with it.”

And, had they both not bogeyed the 18th, Els and Riley would have ended up in the playoff at eight under.

Singh could have won in regulation on the last hole had he rolled in a long birdie attempt.

Mickelson came to the last hole needing birdie to get to eight under. He played his second shot aggressively, ended up in the bunker, and ended up with bogey.

“I had a good chance if I could’ve birdied one hole coming in,” Mickelson lamented. “ ... I feel like I almost had a chance, which is frustrating.”

Mickelson wasn’t the only player who had a rough day.

You could ask the winner.

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The Four Tops

How the four top players in the world fared in the majors in 2004:

*--* The Major Woods Els Singh Mickelson Masters T22 2 T6 1 U.S. Open T17 T9 T28 2 British Open T9 2 T20 3 PGA Championship T24 T4 1 T6

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Playoff Run

Scores for the three-hole playoff at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits on Sunday. Note: lowest aggregate score after three holes wins; Leonard and DiMarco did not finish the 18th hole:

*--* 10 Par 4 17 Par 3 18 Par 4 Total 11 To Par 1. Vijay Singh 3 3 4 10 -1 T2. Justin Leonard 4 3 -- -- -- T2. Chris DiMarco 4 3 -- -- --

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