Vijay Singh once earned $10 a lesson as a club pro in Borneo. With his ninth victory of the year yesterday in the Chrysler Championship, the Fijian became golf's first $10-million man.
In a year that gets better with each week, Singh birdied the first two holes at Innisbrook in Palm Harbor, Fla., and never let anyone get within two shots the rest of the way. He closed with a 6-under 65 to win by five shots, matching Tiger Woods for the most victories in a season on the PGA Tour since 1950.
"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 the tournament record - set by K.J. Choi in 2002 - by one shot.
Jesper Parnevik qualified for the Masters with a birdie on the final hole to shoot 68 and finish No. 40 on the money list. Tommy Armour III three-putted the final hole for a 69 to share second place at 271.
Singh now goes to the Tour Championship with a shot at a 10-10 season - 10 victories, $10 million.
He earned $900,000 for this victory, the easiest time he has had all year. It was Singh's largest margin of victory since he won by six shots in the 2002 Houston Open.
Woods won nine times in 2000. No one else has won that many times since Sam Snead had 11 victories in 1950.
"It's hard to swallow it right now," Singh said. "It's incredible."
It took Singh 173 tournaments over 8 years to earn $10 million for his career. He has surpassed that with one incredible season, his victory at Innisbrook pushing his total to $10,725,166. That's more than $5 million more than Phil Mickelson, who is second on the money list.
This was the final full-field tournament of the year, the last chance for players to get into the top 30 on the money list to qualify for the Tour Championship; the top 40 to get into the Masters; the top 125 to secure their PGA Tour cards for next year; and the top 150 to have conditional status and bypass the second of three stages in Q-school.
Tag Ridings, who was 190th on the money list just 1 month ago, made seven birdies over his final 10 holes to close with a 64. That put him in a tie for 11th, earning enough money to finish No. 125 on the money list.
Kenny Perry shot 67 and moved up two spots to No. 29, making him eligible for the Tour Championship next week in Atlanta. Carlos Franco held onto the 30th spot, despite closing with an 83.
The real drama involved the Masters.
Joey Sindelar missed the cut but was poised to finish No. 40 on the money list and get to Augusta National for the first time since 1993. But it all changed so suddenly.
First, Parnevik made an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole. Then, Armour missed a 3-foot par putt that knocked him into a two-way tie for second. That was worth an extra $100,000 for Parnevik, and he moved past Sindelar to No. 40 by $13,254.
In other tournaments:
* At Jeju, South Korea, Grace Park won the CJ Nine Bridges Classic, shooting a 7-under-par 65 for a five-stroke victory in her home country. Park finished at 16-under 200. Top-ranked Annika Sorenstam and Carin Koch, both of Sweden, shot 67s and tied for second at 11 under.
* At Sotogrande, Spain, England's Ian Poulter won the Volvo Masters, beating Sergio Garcia on the first playoff hole. Garcia missed a 4-foot putt on the final hole of regulation that would have given him the win. The two were tied after 72 holes at 7-under-par 277 after final rounds of 1-under 70. *
