Singh putts victory down to new belief

Published on Monday 25 August 2008 10:55

VIJAY SINGH landed his 33rd PGA Tour victory at The Barclays last night and credited his much-maligned putting as the key to his success.

The Fijian's sudden-death play-off win over Spain's Sergio Garcia was his second win in a month following his triumph at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club, his fourth victory in The Barclays and his 21st title since his 40th birthday.

For many of his years on tour, he has been branded one of the game's least dependable putters but Singh went some way to dispelling that myth at Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey, sinking a 26-footer at the first sudden-death hole to match Garcia's even better effort and send the play-off to an extra hole.

"I think in my head, I convinced myself that I'm the best putter," Singh said.

"I think through the past weeks and months and years, with the media talking about my putting and writing about my putting and people talking about my putting and people want to help me, I must have had hundreds of letters and phone calls and all saying that they can fix my putting.

"At the end of the day, it gets to your head that you're not a good putter.

"So I made a point after last week that (I was) going to change that attitude, and I believed in myself that I'm the best putter, and I came out here with a different attitude, and I putted great."

With The Barclays serving as the first FedEx Cup Play-Off event of the season in the United States, Singh's victory saw him leap to the top of the points standings heading into next week's Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston. He is also in pole position to claim a $10million (5.4m) bonus by leading the standings at the end of four-event series in five weeks.

Garcia's runner-up finish sent him to second place in the FedEx Cup standings but his play-off defeat was particularly disappointing in a week when he was playing for the memory of those that lost their lives in last Wednesday's Madrid air crash.

"Obviously you want to win," said Garcia, who wore a black ribbon on his cap throughout the tournament.

"And for this week, it was even more special with everything that happened in Spain with the plane crash and with my Godmother losing her brother on Monday, I really wanted to win."