| Castle
Rock, Colorado, 23rd August, 1998 - Vijay
Singh led wire-to-wire today and punctuated his final round with an eagle on the
17th hole to capture the Sprint International for his second title in as many
weeks. Singh, 35,
the newly crowned PGA champion, began the day with 33 points and a narrow 1-point
lead under the modified Stableford scoring system used in this event. He never
relinquished it. Singh
birdied five holes on his front nine, increasing his point total to 43 for a 7-point
lead over Willie Wood at the turn. His potential runaway didn't materialize, however,
and the victory wasn't clinched until eight holes later. Nursing
a 1-point lead over both Wood and defending champion Phil Mickelson, Singh played
the 492-yard, par-5 17th hole perfectly. He
drilled a 3-wood 306 yards uphill to the middle of the fairway, then hit an 8-iron
to the back fringe. His downhill, curving putt from about 25 feet found the cup
for a 5-point eagle, increasing his point total to 47. Wood
and Mickelson tied for second at 41, and Tiger Woods, who fashioned four eagles
in the first three rounds but none today, finished at 38. Rocco Mediate was next
at 37. The International's
scoring format awards 5 points for an eagle, 2 for birdie, zero for par, minus-1
for bogey and minus-3 for double bogey or worse. Points accumulated over all four
rounds. The field, cut at the halfway point, was cut again to the top 36 scorers
and ties for today's final round. Singh's
early birdie barrage gave him a seemingly comfortable lead. But after Singh's
poor drive on No. 10 and subsequent bogey, Wood ran in birdie putts at the 11th
and 12th holes, and the lead was trimmed to 2 points. Wood
three-putted the 14th to fall another point behind, but the diminutive Oklahoman
sank a 15-foot birdie putt at No. 16 to cut the deficit to 1. The
17th hole is a birdie and eagle opportunity for most players, but Wood's lack
of length hurt him there. His drive found the right rough, and his second shot,
a long iron, was short of the green. He pitched to 20 feet but two-putted for
a disappointing par. Mickelson,
who birdied three holes on the front nine to get to 34, closed with a flourish.
He eagled the 17th and birdied the 18th, a 7-point flurry. Woods
started fast, birdieing his first two holes and, after a bogey at No. 3, carding
another birdie at No. 4 to get to 36 points. But, struggling with his swing mechanics,
Woods began spraying the ball and suffered bogeys at Nos. 6, 9 and 12 to drop
to 33. Back-to-back
birdies at Nos. 14 and 15 got him back in contention at 37 points, but he three-putted
the 16th hole and his eagle bid failed at 17 when his putt slid past the hole.
Bob Tway, who
began the day far off the pace at 20, birdied four holes on the front side and
eagled the 17th. His 16-point round vaulted him to 36. Brad
Faxon, at 23 after three rounds, also made a belated move with an eagle at 17
to get to 36. Steve
Flesch and Brandt Jobe also finished at 36. | 
