Vijay Singh is king

This Singh does not don a turban but he's a king alright. He holds sway over the fairways and greens of the PGA Tour with an oddly shaped implement called a belly putter. Considering Vijay Singh's current physical condition, a six-pack putter would be a more appropriate term but anyway, he is using this instrument to telling effect in an arena that packs the best players in the world. Not that he is any less adept with other forms of armaments like a driver or an iron. He is averaging 297 yards per drive and is hitting nearly 70 per cent of the greens in regulation. This from a guy who is 45 years of age and has tendinitis in his left forearm.

Age is just a number, he says, and he seems to believe that when he is on the greens too. Take the Deutsche Bank Championship where he holed two putts of 35 feet each and a 60-footer over the closing holes to win by five shots. Feet or yards (or age), it doesn't matter. For a long time we've known that Vijay is the hardest grinder in golf. He spends hours on end at the practice range trying to build on his strengths and ironing out deficiencies. You combine that with the right attitude and presto, you have a winner—three wins in five starts and the season's leading money winner on the PGA Tour, where he has won 22 times since turning 40.

That's a record. Woods being on sick leave is of little consequence here. Putting has been his bane for some time and Vijay has found an answer to that problem. On the advice of a psychologist, Vijay now tells himself repeatedly that he is the best putter in the world. And it works! What a difference a change in thinking can make.

Wonder if that'll work for me? Talking about attitude, my thoughts go back to Augusta National last year where by some quirk of fate, the two Singhs happened to be paired together in the final round of the Masters. While Jeev's fortunes fluctuated through the round, Vijay, coming off a 79 the previous day, stuck to hitting fairways and greens all day in a masterful display of course management. I'm sure our Singh would have picked up a tip or two that day.

Tip I tried
All golf coaches talk about the importance of a pre-shot routine—you stand behind the ball, visualise your shot, take your stance, and pull the trigger. Besides helping you plan your next move, the thinking is that a fixed routine will put you into a comfort zone and, therefore, increase the chances of consistency. Next time you watch golf on TV, notice the preparation the guys put in, especially on the tee.

As the golfer begins his pre-shot routine by standing behind the ball, he will have this dreamy, far away look in his eyes. No, he is not thinking of the shapely blonde he spotted on the last hole. What he is doing is imagining exactly how his golf ball is going to travel to the spot he has picked on the fairway or the green. Try it yourself the next time you play—pick a target and then visualise your shot to that spot. This holds good for any caliber of golfer, and if this is not part of your shot preparation already, you will be pleasantly surprised with the results.