Vijay Singh full of confidence about US Open chances

Twice major champion Vijay Singh goes into this week's U.S. Open sky-high on confidence with his game in the best shape of his career.

The tall Fijian, golf's hottest player of the last 12 months with five victories on the PGA Tour, has targeted at least one more major title before the end of this season.

"This is the year I feel like I'm most capable of winning a major because I feel very comfortable in my golf swing, the way I'm playing and my mindset," the 41-year-old told reporters at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Wednesday.

"I'm not worried, I'm not excited and I'm not nervous about going out there and playing tomorrow (in the opening round).

"I'm playing as good as I've ever played. I can't do any more than just go out there and try to win the golf tournament," added the world number three.

"I feel like the next three majors I have a good chance of pulling one or two of them out."

Singh, winner of the 1998 U.S. PGA Championship and the 2000 U.S. Masters, completed a run of 12 consecutive top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour with victory at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February.

Having ended Tiger Woods's four-year reign as the tour's leading money winner in 2003, he has targeted the number one spot in the world rankings but realises he needs to make more of his opportunities at the majors.

"I've had good chances at the Masters the last few years, and at the British Open last year I had a very good chance of pulling it off," he said, referring to his eventual tie for second at Royal St George's.

"It's frustrating, but I did not take the chances I was given. You just have to go forward and learn from the mistakes that you've done in the past."

Singh, a three-times winner on the 2004 PGA Tour, feels he has at last learned to keep his mistakes at majors to a minimum, and to cocoon himself from the last-day pressure.

"This year, I've been playing better golf than I did last year," he said. "I'm dealing with the pressure better and I think it's giving me a chance coming down the stretch.

"If you're feeling good about your golf game, you're going to deal with the weekend better than in previous years. I just want a chance to be right in there come Sunday."

Although he is one of the firm pre-tournament favourites, Singh acknowledges that most of the 156-strong field are capable of winning at links-style Shinnecock this week.

"Everybody that enters a golf tournament, probably 90 percent of the guys, are capable of winning a major," he said.

"Look at the guys that have not won a major, they're still very capable of winning one because of the way they've been playing.

"Take (Ireland's Padraig) Harrington, for instance. He's playing great golf and he knows links golf courses. A lot of European players find these conditions very familiar."