Singh master's his game

Results

 AUGUSTA, Ga. (CP) -- An unflappable Vijay Singh ignored challenges by Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and David Duval and captured his first Masters championship Sunday by a comfortable three strokes.

 The lanky Fijian, who was once banished from two tours for cheating, added the famous Masters green jacket to his PGA Championship trophy, giving him two majors in two years.

Jose Maria Olazabal, from Spain, left, puts the green jacket on Vijay Singh, from Fiji, after Singh won the 2000 Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., Sunday, April 9, 2000. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

 "I just love the colour green," a beaming Singh said after donning the size-46 long coat and collecting a cheque for $828,000 US.

 His record in major championships now puts him among the finest players in the world, said his bested playing partner, Duval.

 "He's a great player, obviously one of the best on the planet. No one should be surprised that he won the golf tournament."

 Singh's 278 total put him three shots clear of Els, four shots ahead of Duval and Loren Roberts and six strokes in front of Woods.

 Mike Weir of Bright's Grove, Ont., struggled to a 78 on Sunday and finished 15 shots back at 293. He earned $28,673 US for his 28th-place finish.

 His fortunes were set after he bogeyed the first hole and took two shots to get out of the pines lining the second hole.

 "I did take a little wind out of myself there, definitely," Weir said.

 Singh's three-under-par final round of 69 displayed more patience than panache. When Duval made birdies on the sixth, eighth and ninth holes to momentarily pull into a tie for the lead, Singh birdied the same holes.

 When the distant roars forced him to glance at scoreboards showing a Woods charge with birdies at six, seven and eight, Singh's three birdies in the same span meant his five-shot cushion over the world's No. 1 player was never threatened.

 The bobbles and wobbles in Singh's round were fleeting.

 Clinging to a two-stroke lead over Duval, Singh sent his approach into the pond left of the 11th green. He took a drop and was left with no gift for a chip. He cozied it to within four feet for bogey.

 He sailed his seven iron over the green and into the most daunting bunker at Augusta on the par-three 12th. He was left with a shot that fed into water.

 "I had practised that shot quite a few times during practice rounds and I knew how to do it," he said.

 He blasted out to within 24 inches of the cup for par.

 Woods was attempting the greatest 36-hole comeback in Masters history after the first two rounds left him at three over par. He was nine strokes back of the lead when play began Saturday.

 He climbed to within three of Singh's lead on Sunday but ran out of magic and out of holes, playing even-par on the back nine to finish in fifth place.

 "I knew going into this week that every time I play, this game is very fickle," Woods said. "Even though I didn't get off to a good start Thursday, I gave myself a chance. I got back into the tournament and had a chance on Sunday."

 Els, who along with Woods is a two-time winner of majors over the past decade, needed to birdie the last three holes, but could not and finished at 281.

 The South African started the final round last year in a tie for fifth, but plunged to 27th with a closing 80.

 "This year was a totally different experience," Els said. "I really felt I was going to win the tournament. I had my chances, but it wasn't meant to be."

 The biggest threat came from Duval, who lost by a stroke here in 1998 and has yet to win a major.

 He was in the hunt at Augusta for the third straight year. Perhaps pressing too hard to end his frustrations here, he attempted a bold second shot on the par-five 13 that found the dyed-blue water of Rae's Creek in front of the green.

 "That's what probably cost me the golf tournament," Duval said later. "It was the only poor shot I hit this weekend."

 He watched his shot go into the creek, bowed his head and realized he had lost the tournament after Singh escaped 12 with his fortunate par.

 "Those are the kinds of things you need to happen to win," said Duval, the world's No. 2 player. "I didn't get any of those things to happen."

 A bogey on the final hole gave Duval a 70, and he finished in a tie for third with Roberts.

 Singh, 37, was reduced to giving lessons in Borneo 15 years ago after a cheating allegation bounced him from the European and Asian tours.

 He used the down times between lessons to hit thousands of balls on the practice range.

 "It was really hard. It was 100 degrees every day. It's always hot. "All I did was wake up in the morning and give lessons and then hit balls."

 The practice has paid off.

Results

 AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- Final scores and money winnings Sunday of the Masters on the 6,925-yard, par-72 Augusta National Golf Club course (a-amateur):
 Vijay Singh, $828,000 72-67-70-69--278
 Ernie Els, $496,800 72-67-74-68--281
 Loren Roberts, $266,800 73-69-71-69--282
 David Duval, $266,800 73-65-74-70--282
 Tiger Woods, $184,000 75-72-68-69--284
 Tom Lehman, $165,600 69-72-75-69--285
 Davis Love III, $143,367 75-72-68-71--286
 Phil Mickelson, $143,367 71-68-76-71--286
 Carlos Franco, $143,367 79-68-70-69--286
 Hal Sutton, $124,200 72-75-71-69--287
 Nick Price, $105,800 74-69-73-72--288
 Greg Norman, $105,800 80-68-70-70--288
 Fred Couples, $105,800 76-72-70-70--288
 Dennis Paulson, $80,500 68-76-73-72--289
 Jim Furyk, $80,500 73-74-71-71--289
 Chris Perry, $80,500 73-75-72-69--289
 John Huston, $80,500 77-69-72-71--289
 Jeff Sluman, $69,000 73-69-77-71--290
 Glen Day, $53,820 79-67-74-71--291
 Padraig Harrington, $53,820 76-69-75-71--291
 Colin Montgomerie, $53,820 76-69-77-69--291
 Jean Van de Velde, $53,820 76-70-75-70--291
 Bob Estes, $53,820 72-71-77-71--291
 Steve Stricker, $53,820 70-73-75-73--291
 Larry Mize, $37,567 78-67-73-74--292
 Craig Parry, $37,567 75-71-72-74--292
 Steve Jones, $37,567 71-70-76-75--292
 Mike Weir, $28,673 75-70-70-78--293
 Bernhard Langer, $28,673 71-71-75-76--293
 Dudley Hart, $28,673 75-71-72-75--293
 Stewart Cink, $28,673 75-72-72-74--293
 Jumbo Ozaki, $28,673 72-72-74-75--293
 Nick Faldo, $28,673 72-72-74-75--293
 Thomas Bjorn, $28,673 71-77-73-72--293
 Justin Leonard, $28,673 72-71-77-73--293
 Paul Azinger, $28,673 72-72-77-72--293
 Fred Funk, $21,620 75-68-78-73--294
 Jay Haas, $21,620 75-71-75-73--294
 Notah Begay III, $21,620 74-74-73-73--294
 Sergio Garcia, $17,480 70-72-75-78--295
 Mark Brooks, $17,480 72-76-73-74--295
 Jesper Parnevik, $17,480 77-71-70-77--295
 Ian Woosnam, $17,480 74-70-76-75--295
 Darren Clarke, $17,480 72-71-78-74--295
 Retief Goosen, $17,480 73-69-79-74--295
 Scott Gump, $13,800 75-70-78-73--296
 Shigeki Maruyama, $13,800 76-71-74-75--296
 Brandt Jobe, $12,604 73-74-76-74--297
 Steve Pate, $11,623 78-69-77-74--298
 Miguel Angel Jimenez, $11,623 76-71-79-72--298
 David Toms, $11,623 74-72-73-79--298
 Rocco Mediate, $10,948 71-74-75-79--299
 Steve Elkington, $10,948 74-74-78-73--299
 a-David Gossett 75-71-79-78--303
 Jack Nicklaus, $10,672 74-70-81-78--303
 Skip Kendall, $10,580 76-72-77-83--308
 Tommy Aaron, $10,488 72-74-86-81--313