Singh Wins Ninth of Year and Reaches $10 Million

The guy who once gave $10 lessons as a club pro in Borneo is now the first $10-million man in golf.

On Sunday, Vijay Singh joined Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Paul Runyan and Tiger Woods as the only players with at least nine victories in a year.

“I just know it’s been an incredible year for me,” Singh said.

It got even better in the Chrysler Championship at Palm Harbor, Fla., where the 41-year-old Fijian put a quick end to the tournament with birdies on the first two holes, closed with a six-under-par 65 and set the tournament scoring record to win by five shots.

Woods in 2000 also won nine times, the most by anyone since Snead won 11 times in 1950.

Singh won $900,000 to push his season earnings to $10,725,166, a staggering amount considering that it took him eight years and 173 starts on the PGA Tour before making $10 million for his career.

“The wins keep coming, and I’m enjoying every bit of it,” Singh said.

He finished in style, hitting out of a fairway bunker to 15 feet and making that for birdie. Singh finished at 18-under 266 to break by one the record set by K.J. Choi in 2002.

Tommy Armour III (69) and Jesper Parnevik (68) were five shots back.

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Nick Watney completed his late-season charge to the big leagues with a three-under 69 to win the Nationwide Tour Championship at Prattville, Ala., moving him up to No. 5 on the final list to earn a PGA Tour card.

The top 20 players on the money list are exempt on the PGA Tour next year.

Also earning his card was Kevin Stadler, son of former Masters champion Craig Stadler. He tied for fifth in the tournament and was 13th on the money list.

Jimmy Walker won the money title and will lead the 2005 graduating class with $371,346.

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Grace Park shot a seven-under 65 to finish at 16-under 200 and win the CJ Nine Bridges Classic at Jeju, South Korea, by five strokes over Annika Sorenstam and Carin Koch, each of whom shot a 67 and tied for second at 11 under.

Tennis

Andre Agassi lost the Stockholm Open final in a third-set tiebreaker to Thomas Johansson of Sweden, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), in front of a capacity Royal Tennis Hall crowd that included Agassi’s wife, Steffi Graf.

Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic defeated fourth-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, in the final of the Swiss Indoors at Basel for his first indoor title.

Mikhail Youzhny of Russia won the St. Petersburg Open in Russia, defeating Karol Beck of Slovakia, 6-2, 6-2, for the second title of his career.... Top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France won her fourth title this year, beating Russia’s Elena Bovina, 6-2, 6-0, in the final of the Generali Ladies Open at Linz, Austria.... Alicia Molik of Australia defeated Dinara Safina of Russia, 6-3, 6-4, in the SEAT Open final at Luxembourg.

Beach Volleyball

Kerri Walsh and Mike Lambert have been selected the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals women’s and men’s most valuable players in a vote by their peers, the tour announced Saturday night at its annual season-ending awards banquet.

Walsh, who teamed with Misty May to win the Olympic gold medal at Athens, led the AVP with 174 blocks. Walsh won seven of the 11 AVP tournaments she entered and did not finish outside the top three.

Lambert led all men’s players with four victories and seven appearances in the finals. He had a tour-best 460 blocks and was also selected men’s offensive player of the year.

Lambert and Karch Kiraly won three times together and were selected men’s team of the year. Seven-time winners Walsh and May were the women’s team of the year. May was selected women’s offensive player.

Olympic bronze medalist Holly McPeak had a tour-best 694 digs and was voted women’s defensive player. Todd Rogers was selected men’s defensive player.

Jake Gibb and Jennifer Kessy were selected most improved players, and the rookie of the year awards went to George Roumain and Tammy Leibl.

Miscellany

Kelly Albin, a lacrosse player at UC Davis who also served as a volunteer in Peru, was selected as the NCAA woman of the year.

Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski of Bulgaria won the gold medal in ice dancing with an overall score of 208.93 points in Skate Canada at Halifax.

Boaz Kimaiyo of Kenya won the Frankfurt Marathon in 2 hours 9 minutes 10 seconds, his second consecutive victory in the race. In the women’s division, Olesya Nurgalieva of Russia finished in 2:29:48 to beat twin Elena by a second.

Cal State Los Angeles will hold a retirement celebration for former Golden Eagle baseball coach John Herbold on Nov. 19, on campus.

Herbold retired in May after 21 seasons as Golden Eagle coach and 49 years as a head coach at either the high school or collegiate level in the Southland.