|
Vijay Singh and Camilo Villegas dominated the second edition of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Vijay won the first two events, and the big cheque of $10 million, while Camilo triumphed at the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship, to finish second in the points list.
The points Vijay carried over into the playoffs, and his victory in the first two events killed off any suspense as far as the FedEx Cup was concerned, but they made for some great advertisement for the game.
I am not sure how many Americans are aware of the existence of Fiji, but if they do, Vijay must be a big reason for it.
And when you talk about Colombia, the first thing that comes to your mind is the drug cartels and gangwars. Nobody would associate these two countries with golf.
As interesting as their native countries are, of greater importance for the sport is the age of the pair.
Vijay is 45-years-old while Camilo is just 26. This goes to show the career longevity that golfers can enjoy.
Can you imagine something like this happening in tennis, football or cricket? At the age of 26 and 34, Roger Federer and Sachin Tendulkar are already considered veterans in their respective sports.
People may talk about Vijay's win coming in a year when Tiger Woods competed for less than half the season.
But there will be no asterisk next to his name on the Roll of Honour. Let's not forget he is the only player, apart from Tiger, to top the PGA Tour Money List. And he has done it it twice.
British Masters
On the European Tour, the British Masters was played last week at The Belfry.
I finished tied fifth and it felt great to be in contention once again.
To be honest, given my preparation for the event, which was severely hampered by my ankle injury, I was delighted with the way I played.
And to top it up, I also had the pleasure of scoring my first hole-in-one on the European Tour.
The tournament was won by Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, who reminded everyone of his legendary compatriot Seve Ballesteros with the way he scrambled on the final day before beating Lee Westwood in a playoff.
It was great drama, but the story of the tournament had to be the continued return to form of Michael Campbell.
The Kiwi, winner of the 2005 US Open, posted his second successive top-three finish, which indicates he is slowly getting back to where he belongs in world golf.
Earlier this year, Cambo missed six cuts in a row, raising doubts about his motivation. But his recent run shows he has his hunger to compete back.
|
