All-world : His second major victory in three years elevates Vijay Singh to the next level - 2000 Masters Tournament

Golf Digest, June, 2000 by Dan Jenkins

Singh switched to the cross-handed method two months before he won the PGA at Sahalee near Seattle in '98.

"I've never been a very good putter," he explained. "Cross-handed gives me a more consistent stroke, and allows me to concentrate on the line."

Augusta National's relatively slow greens this time didn't hurt him, either, and he admitted it. Slow by Augusta standards. They were slowed both on purpose and by the rain, officials first fearing that the predicted winds and the expanded rough combined with the traditional marble-slick bent might make the course too tough.

Some claim there was a lack of drama in the final round, but blame Vijay's competition and at the same time credit his immaculate golf game.

Singh not only outplayed everyone-in the heat on Sunday he put it on three of the par 5s in two, after all-but he made the putts you have to make when you need to make them.

Time and again, after Thursday's first round when he required 36 putts, he rammed home the four-, five- and six-footers for par.

Other contenders, including Els, Woods and Duval, had a chance to hit the shots and make the putts that might have unsettled him, but they didn't.

There might also be those who say Vijay won it on Sunday with a drop and bounce. He got the nice drop near the green at the 11th after hitting his second in the water, his only ghastly mistake of a final-round 69. At first glance it looked like the rules official was asleep-the late Joe Dey, for instance, might have sent Vijay halfway back up the fairway and behind the water-but given the angle and the back-left pin position, you didn't see Duval barking about it. More power to Vijay for his up-and-down for a nice little bogey 5.

The bounce came at the next hole when he overpured a 7-iron and hit a shot that might easily have disappeared in Greg Norman country, the thicket on the tall slope behind the green. A 6 for sure there. But the ball-no, it wasn't another visitor from Augusta Country Club-landed between two bushes and rolled back down into the bunker, from where Vijay artfully played a sand shot stiff to the flag.

You can talk about the shots he hit to the 13th and 15th-and they were certainly splendid, given the circumstances-but without the drop and the bounce they wouldn't have slammed the door on anybody.

But, on the other hand, when you think about the journey of Vijay Singh's life, you have to say the guy deserves all the luck that comes his way.

The 2000 Masters

April 6-9, Augusta (Ga.) National G.C.

6,925 yards, par 72

Low 16 and ties qualify for 2001 Masters

Vijay Singh      72-67-70-69--278    $828,000
Ernie Els        72-67-74-68--281     496,800
David Duval      73-65-74-70--282     266,800
L. Roberts       73-69-71-69--282     266,800
Tiger Woods      75-72-68-69--284     184,000
Tom Lehman       69-72-75-69--285     165,600
Carlos Franco    79-68-70-69--286     143,367
Davis Love III   75-72-68-71--286     143,367
P. Mickelson     71-68-76-71--286     143,367
Hal Sutton       72-75-71-69--287     124,200
Fred Couples     76-72-70-70--288     105,800
Greg Norman      80-68-70-70--288     105,800
Nick Price       74-69-73-72--288     105,800
Jim Furyk        73-74-71-71--289      80,500
John Huston      77-69-72-71--289      80,500
D. Paulson       68-76-73-72--289      80,500
Chris Perry      73-75-72-69--289      80,500