Golf
Singh targets triumphant finish in low-key finale
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-25 09:18
ATLANTA: The FedExCup playoffs limp to an anti-climatic finish at this week's Tour Championship with Vijay Singh having all but secured the glittering trophy before Thursday's opening round.
After winning the first two of the four lucrative playoff events, the smooth-swinging Fijian simply needs to complete Sunday's final round to lift the Cup and pocket $9 million in cash with $1 million deferred.
Last place in the elite 30-man field at East Lake Golf Club would do the trick for Singh but he has set his sights on victory to end the PGA Tour's regular season with a flourish.
"It's a great feeling to know that all I need to do is tee it up and play and I've already won the FedExCup," the 45-year-old told reporters in the tournament build-up.
"But I want to make the point that I'm going to go out there and try to win the tournament. I love Atlanta and I love East Lake. I've had great success there.
"I know they've changed the golf course a little bit and I want to go out there and win it, make a point that I can win three out of four weeks.
"But I'd rather be in this position than going out there knowing that I have to win (the tournament) to win the Cup. This is a dream for every player out there to be in my position."
Killed suspense
Singh will be bidding for his fourth victory of the season, having also clinched the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone early last month.
Although he effectively killed off any chance of suspense at East Lake by winning the first two playoff events - the Barclays Classic and Deutsche Bank Championship - his rivals have much to gain.
"We're still playing to win this golf tournament and wherever you finish on the FedExCup, whether it's second or 30th, at this point it doesn't really matter," American Anthony Kim told reporters on Tuesday.
"Everyone is out here to win this golf tournament. Vijay is going to be remembered as the FedExCup champ so we're just trying to win this and finish as high up as we can."
Chad Campbell, who played with Kim on the triumphant US Ryder Cup team at Valhalla last week, agreed.
"I think it'll still be exciting," he said. "There will be a lot of stories there, and a lot of money to be made there in second, third, those places.
"It's still a golf tournament and I know everybody is here ready to play."
Twelve months ago, six players went into the Tour Championship with a chance of winning the inaugural FedExCup before Tiger Woods triumphed to become the overall champion.
This year six has become just one and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem accepts further tweaking of the ongoing FedExCup points system is needed to improve the four-event finale.
"The reality is the No 1 position in the FedExCup is sewn up before we get to Atlanta and that was not supposed to be part of the equation," Finchem said on Tuesday. "So that's an area that we certainly need to look at.
"But I don't think this week is irrelevant now. If you just think about the fact that some $22 million is at stake among these top-30 players in the world, so that means a lot."
