Vijay Singh clinches title in playoff

Vijay Singh clinched his third PGA Tour victory of the year after edging out Sergio Garcia and Jim Furyk in a playoff at the Wachovia Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina on Sunday.

Six shots off the lead at the start of the final round, the Fijian world number two completed a stirring rally by getting up-and-down to save par at the fourth extra hole and edge out American Furyk, who found water from the tee.

Spain's Garcia had started the day six strokes clear of the field, but he was eliminated at the first extra hole when he bogeyed the par-four 18th.

"In a playoff you only think of that one shot at a time," Singh said.

"You're not even worried about anything else that's going on, just one particular shot, and probably that's why it's a little bit easier to go ahead and play it.

"Maybe I should do that all the time."

The victory was the 27th PGA Tour win of Singh's career and allowed the Fijian to join Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson as three time champions this season.

"I just want to go out there and win golf tournaments. I've done away with trying to be number one," added Singh, who will remain behind Woods when the new rankings are published on Monday.

"I mean, it seems like I've got to win five times to get up there. I totally forgot about that. That does not cross my mind anymore.

"I just want to go out there and win golf tournaments."

The trio had completed the 72 holes on 12-under-par 276, Garcia closing with a 72 while Singh and Furyk both fired equal best-of-the-day 66s at Quail Hollow Club.

It was a stunning final round collapse by the 25-year-old Spaniard who had been perched on top the leaderboard from the opening round, building his advantage to six strokes heading into Sunday.

With Singh and Furyk charging, Garcia flinched as his lead slowly evaporated, already reduced to two shots as they made the turn.

As Singh continued to apply pressure with four consecutive birdies from the 10th, Garcia finally cracked and the Fijian took the lead when the Spaniard bogeyed the 13th.

Despite his troubles, Garcia was still in a position to take the win when he recovered to lead by a stroke with two holes remaining.

However, a wayward tee shot on the par-three 17th found the water and resulted in another bogey. That was followed by a missed birdie putt on the last and Garcia headed to the playoff.

"They say you learn more from your losses than from your wins, so I think I can take a lot of positive things out of this week and it's going to help me to keep going," Garcia said.

"It's been a great week, disappointing at the end, but that's it.

"I played very well all week and I hit the ball pretty much exactly like I wanted every time.

"Coming down the stretch, it's easy to not hit perfect shots, and unfortunately I hit a couple that cost me a little bit, but it's one of those things."

American Chris DiMarco, one of five players to close with a 66, finished alone in fourth at eight under with compatriot Vaughn Taylor (67) and Paraguay's Carlos Franco (66) a further two strokes back in a share of fifth.

World number one Woods, in action for the first time since winning the U.S. Masters last month, tied for 11th at two under after closing with a 71.

He had carded a 69 to finish in a tie for ninth, but was penalised two shots by rules officials who determined that he should not have moved a fence next to the 10th fairway, that was damaged when the gallery joined in to help.

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