It is Time to Start Giving Vijay Singh More Respect

Does Vijay Singh Deserve More Respect?

The short answer to that question is YES.

Background

As we know golf from the late 90s to the mid-2000s was dominated by Tiger Woods. It is perhaps because of this that Vijay Singh does not get talked about nearly enough in the golfing world, which to me is very sad because he was a tremendous player that deserves more recognition in golfing circles.

The man affectionately known as “The Big Fijian” was born in Fiji but is of Indian descent and is well known for his for his ridiculously long practise sessions where he would often hit over 500 balls, my body aches even just thinking about it. He has a notoriously long and slow backswing, and this combined with rhythm that us amateurs can only dream of allowed him to create effortless power and consistency. The link below provides a slow motion look as Singh's amazing swing.

(1) Vijay Singh - Slow motion golf swing - YouTube

Career

Singh won won an eye watering $71 million throughout his career and won 34 PGA Tour titles. His wins included The Masters, The PGA Championship twice and the real money maker the FedEx cup. His best season undoubtedly came in 2004, when he won 9 times on the PGA Tour and managed to knock Tiger off the number one spot, which is unbelievable impressive when you consider how dominant Tiger was in previous years. Below is a link to the PGA website that breaks down Singh's career in more detail.

Vijay Singh PGA TOUR Profile - News, Stats, and Videos

Controversies

Despite the success that Vijay had in his career controversy was never far away. Singh was banned from what we now know as the Asian tour in 1985 after he was caught altering his scorecard, a temptation that all of us amateur golfers have after shanking 3 balls into the woods. 

He was also suspended by The PGA Tour after he used deer antler spray yes deer antler spray to help him recover from knee and back injuries. The PGA Tour were concerned that this spray contained a growth hormone, the tour concluded that the spray didn’t contain enough growth hormone to improve Singh’s performance and he was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Perhaps these controversies and his sometimes-abrasive personality has led to Singh not getting the recognition he deserves, or his golfing ability demands. I say its time to start giving Vijay the respect he deserves for his glittering career. 

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