: sports

Vijay Singh captures

Bridgestone trophy

||| Vijay Singh missed three putts inside 8 feet on the back nine at Firestone, but captured his first World Golf Championship by making the last one, which was all that mattered.

Rusty Miller | AP Sports Writer
 

After hitting his golf ball more than 17 miles over four days at Firestone Country Club, Vijay Singh agonized over the final 42 inches.
Singh had a shaky grasp on a one-shot lead at the Bridgestone Invitational as he bent over the 3-foot, 6-inch par putt on the 18th green, circled by thousands of fans and with Stuart Appleby and Lee Westwood watching to see if they'd sneak into a playoff with a miss.
But the 45-year-old Singh – who according to tour statistics had hit just eight of his 18 putts in the tournament between 4 and 8 feet – cast aside his troubling case of flat-stick nerves and gingerly nudged the ball in the side of the cup for a one-shot victory.
"I don't know why I left myself a 4-footer," the usually dour Singh cracked.
He missed three putts shorter than Yao Ming on the back nine, providing an open door for Phil Mickelson among others to walk up and grab the $1.35 million first-place check.
But either they were fighting their own self-induced problems or waited too long to try to catch Singh, who ended a streak of 34 PGA Tour events without a win.
Singh's 68 left him at 10-under 270. Appleby shot a 68 that featured birdies on two of the last holes and Westwood had a 69 but was 1-over on the last five holes.
Mickelson frittered away a prime shot at winning.
He led by a shot with four holes to go but had three bogeys down the stretch, each time failing to get up and down out of bunkers.
Mickelson, whose 70 left him tied for fourth with Retief Goosen (67), strained to find the positives in his day. "I hit a lot of good shots, a lot of good putts," he said. "But, you know, I'm turning 63s and 64s into 70s, and that's kind of what happened today."
Mickelson's late collapse helped Singh grab his first win on U.S. soil since the Arnold Palmer Invitational 16 months ago. He had led after three rounds at Pebble Beach and Bay Hill this year but hadn't won.
His first WGC win will likely move him to No. 4 in the world heading into next week's PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.
It was his 20th win since turning 40 – the most by any PGA Tour player in his fifth decade.
He scoffed at the thought that he might appreciate this victory more because of his age.
Asked if he felt 10 years younger, he laughed and said, "Ten? I always feel 10 years younger. Now I feel 20 years younger."
He added, "I'm not worried about being 40 or 45 or even next year, for that matter."
Playing his first U.S. tournament since the PGA Championship last year, Darren Clarke closed with a 67 to tie for sixth with Peter Lonard (66). |||