CHARLOTTE – The sun always rises in the morning and sets at night. Christmas always falls on December 25. Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday. George Steinbrenner is always stressed out about the state of his Yankees.
Vijay Singh? He’s always in contention.
The relentless Singh, who began yesterday’s Wachovia Championship final round at the Quail Hollow Club trailing Sergio Garcia by six shots, played himself into a three-way playoff with Garcia and Jim Furyk, and then outlasted them to capture his 27th PGA Tour title on the fourth extra hole.
With Garcia vanquished from the playoff after one hole (the 18th) following a three-putt bogey from 43 feet, Singh and Furyk dueled to par on Nos. 16 and 17 before Furyk blinked first, pulling his drive into the creek running down the left side of the 18th fairway.
Singh, who shot a 6-under 66 to get into the playoff, hit a driver into the fairway, approached into the right greenside bunker and then splashed out of the sand to one foot for par and his third win of the year, dispatching Furyk.
“Vijay is a great competitor,” Furyk said. “He lives and breathes golf. He has a one-track mind. He deserves his success. I respect him as a person and I respect his game. As hard as he works, it’s good for a lot of people to emulate. He has a chance to win 10 to 15 times a year. There aren’t many players in the world that talented and that good.”
Garcia, who led the tournament after each of the first three rounds, found that out first-hand.
“I feel disappointed I didn’t finish the job,” Garcia said.
Garcia was done in by a 7-iron tee shot on No. 17 that one-hopped off the bank and into the water, the bogey dropping him into a tie with Singh at 12-under.
“I put the worst swing I made all week (on No. 17) and it cost me,” Garcia said.
“Sergio made it a little easier for us by bogeying 17,” Singh said.
Moments earlier, Garcia slightly pushed a six-foot eagle try past the hole on No. 15 that, if made, would have given him a two-shot lead.
Garcia’s lost six-shot lead matched the largest blown third-round lead. The last time it happened was Greg Norman losing his six-shot lead to Nick Faldo in the 1996 Masters.
“Sometimes it’s harder to play with a big lead,” Singh said. “You don’t want to lose the golf tournament instead of trying to win the tournament. You start to get a little nervous. That played a little bit in (Garcia’s) mind. I think he was a little bit nervous.”
Singh called the playoff “pretty tense.”
Yet as he, Garcia and Furyk stared down par putts of similar distances on the first playoff hole, the three had a hearty laugh to break the tension.
“I told the guys, ‘Good, good, good . . . let’s go to the next tee box,’ ” Singh said.
That would be the last of the levity as Singh marched onward for yet another win.
