At long last, Singh gets win at Bay Hill

Vijay Singh kept staring at the silver trophy from the Arnold Palmer Invitational, turning it slightly at the base to make sure his name was finally on the list of champions.

Even then, it must have been hard to believe.

Singh has been coming to Bay Hill for 15 years. He had left with nothing but three runner-up finishes and plenty of heartache. There was that bogey-bogey finish in 1994 to lose to Loren Roberts, the seven-iron into the lake on the 18th two years ago to lose to Kenny Perry.

He made sure that wouldn’t happen Sunday.

Singh played so well in the middle that it didn’t matter how bad it got at the end. Even with a bogey-bogey-par finish, the 44-year-old Fijian still matched the best score of the final round with a three-under-par 67 that gave him a two-shot victory over Rocco Mediate.

“I knew how difficult Bay Hill plays on Sunday,” Singh said. “It was a good feeling to be standing on 18 tee knowing that you don’t have to make a par to win the tournament.”

He played his approach far away from the water and wound up making par anyway.

Singh, who finished at eight-under 272, became the first multiple winner on the PGA Tour this year. His 31st career victory tied him with Harry “Lighthorse” Cooper of England with the most by a player born outside the U.S.

Mediate made three clutch par saves to keep alive his hopes, only to find trouble on the 18th for a bogey and a 67.

Tiger Woods’ chances ended with a three-putt double bogey on the 11th hole, and then a bad day got even worse. Woods hit his tee shot into the water on the par-three 17th and made double bogey. He made triple bogey on the 18th for a 43 on the back nine.

His 76 was his highest score in a regular PGA Tour event since a 76 in the third round of the Memorial four years ago. Woods wound up tied for 22nd.