SirShanksAlot
Born: February 22, 1963
Birthplace: Lautoka, Fiji
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 198 lbs.
Turned Pro: 1982
Bio
With three Major Championships under his belt and over 40 victories worldwide, Vijay certainly has had a successful career as a professional golfer. But it hasn't been easy.
When he was seventeen, Vijay left his home in Fiji to join the Asian Tour. Three years later in Indonesia, he was accused of cheating on his scorecard and suspended from the Tour for two years. While on suspension Vijay found work as a teaching pro in Borneo, making barely enough money to scrape by. After his suspension ended, Vijay found himself playing all over the world on the African and European Tours. In 1985 he married his wife Ardena.
In 1993 Vijay finally found his way to the PGA Tour. He quickly earned a reputation as a quiet man, a talented player, and an extremely hard worker. Oftentimes Vijay is the last man on the driving range, hitting balls until past sunset. It is this kind of dedication that helped him to reach his ultimate goal in 2004, being the number one ranked player in the world.
With nine victories including the PGA Championship and over $10 million in earnings, 2004 will be remembered as one of the greatest single season performances in golf history.
Quick Facts
PGA TOUR Victories
(24) 1993 Buick Classic. 1995 Phoenix Open, Buick Classic. 1997 Memorial Tournament, Buick Open. 1998 PGA Championship, Sprint International. 1999 Honda Classic. 2000 Masters Tournament. 2002 Shell Houston Open, The Tour Championship presented by Coca-Cola. 2003 Phoenix Open, EDS Byron Nelson Championship, John Deere Classic, FUNAI Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort. 2004 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Shell Houston Open, HP Classic of New Orleans, Buick Open, PGA Championship, Deutsche Bank Championship, Bell Canadian Open, 84 LUMBER Classic, Chrysler Championship. 2005 Sony Open.
International Victories
(22): 1984 Malaysian PGA Championship [Asia]. 1988 Nigerian Open [Afr], Swedish PGA. 1989 Volvo Open di Firenze [Eur], Ivory Coast Open [Afr], Nigerian Open [Afr], Zimbabwe Open [SAf]. 1990 El Bosque Open [Eur]. 1991 King Hassan Trophy [Morocco]. 1992 Turespana Masters Open de Andalucia [Eur], Malaysian Open [Asia], Volvo German Open [Eur]. 1993 Bells Cup [SAf]. 1994 Scandinavian Masters [Eur], Trophee Lancome [Eur]. 1995 Passport Open [Asia], 1997 South African Open [SAf], Toyota World Match Play Championship [Eur], 2000 Johnnie Walker Taiwan Open. 2001 Carlsberg Malaysian Open, Caltex Singapore Masters. 2003 TELUS Canadian Skins Game.
Equipment
Vijay has gone through quite a few equipment changes in the last several years. He has been through several putters, playing the 2003 season and start of 2004 with a MacGregor Bobby Grace MOI belly putter. He also played around with a Never Compromise Voodoo Daddy and Bettinardi putter before going away from the belly style and settling on a Never Compromise Milled Series prototype. The putter is similar to a Ping Anser head, but has the trademark gray and black matter like all other Never Compromise putters. After the season Vijay had, I would expect that this putter could stay in the bag for awhile, but you never know.
The driver of choice for Vijay in 2004 was the Taylor Made R7 Quad Tour Preferred with a Mitsubishi prototype shaft. As reported in "News and Rumors", Vijay has been testing a Cleveland Launcher Comp prototype. Although he is still in testing stages the new driver is rumored to be about 400cc and is part of Vijay's new sponsorship contract with Cleveland.
Fairway woods include a Cleveland Titanium Launcher 13 degree with a Mitsubishi Rayon shaft and occasionally a Callaway Steelhead 18 degree which is bent open seven degrees that Vijay uses as a nine wood. He alternates between using this club and a 2-iron.
Irons and wedges are the one constant in Vijay's bag. For several years now he has used the Cleveland TA1 gunmetal irons either 2-PW or 3-PW depending on the course and if he is carrying his nine wood. The irons have the Apollo Hump shafts in XX-Stiff, half an inch long and 2 degrees flat. For wedges Vijay plays the Cleveland 900 series 54 and 60 degree in a gunmetal finish.
The Titleist ball that Vijay puts in play is the ProV1x.
UPDATE Jan 17/05, Vijay Singh won this past weekend's Sony Open using a Cleveland Launcher COMP 460 and Cleveland CG1 irons with a black pearl finish.