Near-Flawless Final Round Propels Vijay Singh to Deutsche Bank Championship victory
While it takes four days and 72 holes of golf to crown a champion each week on the PGA TOUR, it was a 60-minute span on Labor Day Monday that earned Vijay Singh the 2008 Deutsche Bank Championship.
It was 3:48 p.m. on Monday and Canadian Mike Weir stood in the middle of the 9th fairway at TPC Boston holding a one-shot lead over Singh. At 4:47 p.m., Singh, who began the day three shots behind Weir, sank a 60-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole to take a five-shot lead.
You read that right – a six-shot swing in exactly 59 minutes.
That massive turnabout led to a comfortable five-shot victory for Singh at the Deutsche Bank Championship, his second in as many weeks in the PGA TOUR Playoffs and his second at the TPC Boston course. Singh also captured the title in 2004, the Championship’s second year.
“It feels incredible,” said Singh after the victory. “I don’t think that golf course can play any tougher [than it did today]. I think that makes [the win] all the better.”
The reversal of fortune began when Weir pulled his approach shot from the middle of the fairway at 9 into the tall grass to the left of the green. Despite getting relief after his ball was imbedded, Weir flew his third shot over the green, then chipped 15 feet past the hole and two-putted for a double bogey to drop to -17, a shot behind Singh.
NORTON, Mass. – It all happened in less than 60 minutes.
The time was 3:48 p.m. on Monday afternoon and Canadian Mike Weir stood in the middle of the 9th fairway at the TPC Boston course holding a one-shot lead over Fiji’s Vijay Singh. At 4:47 p.m., Singh, who began the day three in back of Weir, sank a 60-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole to take a five-shot lead.
DOUG MILNE: We'd like to welcome the 2008 Deutsche Bank champion, Vijay Singh, to the interview room. What you did out there was nothing short of spectacular, final round 63. With the win you pick up for the second week in a row 11,000 FedExCup points. Just start off with some feelings on the day.
VIJAY SINGH: Obviously I feel incredible right now. It was a tough day. I mean, I showed up here and the wind was kind of blowing again, so that was a good thing. I knew the greens were going to be firm. The leaders don't normally run away with it with the greens this firm.
I started great, made a great eagle on 2 with a chip-in, and I kind of -- kind of got the ball rolling. A great two-putt on 4, as well, for par, which kind of kept the momentum going, as well, and just played well from there. I drove the ball beautifully all day and kept the ball in play and never got myself into much trouble. I think that was the key.
NORTON, Mass. – Canadian Mike Weir fired a 4-under-par 67 in Sunday’s third round at the Deutsche Bank Championship to enter the final round with a one shot lead. But that was hardly the news of the day.
Columbia’s Camilo Villegas fired a blistering 8-under-par 63 on Saturday on a day when high winds made scoring a challenge. Villegas, who began the round tied for 21st, finished the day at 16-under, one shot behind the leader Weir heading into Monday’s final round.
STEWART MOORE: We'd like to welcome Mike Weir to the interview room here at the Deutsche Bank Championship after a great round of 67 out there. You're heading into tomorrow with the lead, and you said coming in that round by Camilo must have been one heck of a round because conditions were certainly a lot more difficult today than they were the first two.
MIKE WEIR: Yeah, that's a heck of a round. I played with Camilo earlier in the week. We played a charity event for -- a skins game for Notah Begay and his foundation, and he was playing really well. But still, that was a heck of a round out there today.
Q. 69 today, it seemed a little bit hard to get things going out there. Is that how you felt?
VIJAY SINGH: A little bit. Like I thought, the greens were going to be a lot firmer today. I didn't expect it to be that firm. It was okay on the front nine, but the back nine kind of firmed up a lot more. I hit some really good shots at the pins and came up short or went long. I grinded it out. You cannot win the golf tournament today, so that was the key part, to go out there, stay in there and just keep patient.
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