Vijah Singh shows why his No. 2 ranking in FedEx Cup is ridiculous

HARRISON, N.Y. (Aug. 23, 2007) - Anyone who’s really followed golf this year knows that the idea of Vijah Singh being the No. 2 player in the world makes as much sense as High School Musical 2 winning an Oscar. Singh isn’t even one of the 10 best players on Tour anymore. He might not be one of the Top 15.

Yet there Singh stood second in the FedEx Cup standings heading into the first playoff tournament, The Barcleys, today. Even Singh seemed to realize the David Copperfield-sized illusion in this.

“I’ve played poorly,” Singh said before he teed off. “Take away the two weeks this year (he won), I’ve played poorly as well. I’ve just managed to play a lot of events, not missing too many cuts. But I have not performed the way I think I should.”

Then, Singh went about proving the absurdity of his ranking. He went five over in his first seven holes at Westchester Country Club and never really recovered, posting a 4-over 75. So much for all those prognosticators predicting that Vijay could take advantage of Tiger Wood’s absence and steal away the FedEx Cup on courses that supposedly favored him.

Newsflash: The Singh who won three times at Westchester CC in the past against subpar fields does not exist anymore. Vijay has gotten old fast - or finally realized he was old in a rush.

He maintains his lofty rankings perch by playing much more than any of the other top players. It’s not a bad strategy. But it doesn’t make him one of the best in the world.

Singh is one of the few pros who appreciates the amazing perks of being a pro golfer today. For more on that, read the column on Tim Finchem’s need to get tough on Tiger Woods on the front page of WorldGolf.com.

For more of Vijay as a dominant golfer capable of winning major events, you’re going to need to dust off some old VCR tapes. And hopefully find someone who still has a VCR.

Vijay probably does.