The long, lonely hours on the range were merely a dress rehearsal for Vijay Singh. He was on center stage Sunday at Sahalee and turned in a star performance.
With a lucky bounce out of the trees, a spectacular recovery from the woods and nerves of steel down the stretch in a steady rain, Singh won the PGA Championship with a 2-under 68.The 35-year-old from Fiji two-putted for par on the 18th - his fourth par on the toughest hole at Sahalee Country Club - to finish at 9-under 271 for a two-stroke victory over Steve Stricker.
It was the 10th time in 11 years that a player won his first major championship at the PGA.
For Singh - a Hindu name that means "Victory" - it ended years of grinding away for hours at a time in search of a game that would give him one of golf's ultimate prizes.
He would practice on the far end of the driving range where he wouldn't be disturbed. He would rearrange the furniture in hotel rooms to give him room to practice at night.
It all paid off Sunday in what amounted to match play against Stricker, two men in search of their first major championship, both playing well enough to put a worthy collection of challengers at a distance.
Singh finally got some breathing room when he saved par from the bunker on No. 17 from about 18 feet and Stricker couldn't match him. He blasted out of the same bunker to 15 feet, but the putt grazed by the left side of the hole to put Stricker two strokes back.All that stood between Singh and the Wanamaker Trophy was an accurate drive on the 475-yard finishing hole, and he split the middle.
Stricker closed with a 70 for 273. Steve Elkington, the 1995 champion held back all year by health problems, shot 67 and finished third at 274.
Nick Price, trying to join Sam Snead and Gene Sarazen as a three-time PGA champion, tied the course record with a bogey-free 65. He was 5 under for day after an eagle on No. 11, but could do no better than par over the last seven holes and finished five back at 276, along with O'Meara and Frank Lickliter.
Mark O'Meara, Davis Love III and Tiger Woods all had something to prove, and all of them had their chances.
O'Meara, impervious to the pressure of chasing Hogan, raised hopes once again with an eagle on the par-5 second hole and a birdie on No. 5, the roars echoing through the forest of firs at Sahalee.
But he missed the next three greens and all three of the short par-saving putts to fall back to 2 under, well out of the hunt. Still, his tie for fourth was the best finish of the nine previous players who came to the PGA with a chance to win their third major of the year.
Love was trying to become the first player to win back-to-back at the PGA since Denny Shute in 1937. But his chances were drowned in the water on No. 5 with a double bogey, and three late birdies only got him back to par.
Love was at 277, along with Billy Mayfair.
Match play ended at the PGA Championship in 1957, but Stricker and Singh resurrected it on a final day that took as many turns as the tree-lined fairways of Sahalee.
They were tied at 7 under and had a four-stroke lead to start the day. Both had said they couldn't worry about the other in case someone emerged from back in the pack. Eight of the previous 12 PGA champions had all rallied from off the lead in the final round.
But it was clear early on it was a two-man race.
Singh led by two going into the back nine, but more heroics from Stricker kept it only at that. The 31-year-old from Wisconsin pulled his tee shot into the water on the par-3 ninth, but his third shot after a drop spun back 4 inches from the cup for bogey.
Stricker, who recovered from a disastrous 1997 season when he struggled through equipment changes, couldn't reach down and make the putt on No. 17 that would have kept him within one shot of the lead.
Singh, who won for the sixth time in America and 24th time around the globe, collecting $540,000, ended a steak of five straight majors won by American players and kept them from sweeping the majors for the first time since 1982.
First of America Seniors
ADA, Mich. - George Archer completed his long comeback from hip-replacement surgery with a record-setting, five-stroke victory Sunday in the Senior PGA's First of America Classic.
Archer, 58, who had the operation in April 1996, tied the Egypt Valley Country Club course record with an 8-under-par 64 in the final round to finish the 54-hole tournament with a record 17-under-par 199.
He won by five strokes over Jim Dent and six strokes over second-round leader Bruce Summerhays, 1996 Classic champion Gil Morgan and first-round leader Jose Maria Canizares.
"I had set a goal of winning a tournament after the hip but a couple of weeks ago I asked myself what I was doing out here. I said, `Why not go fishing?' I never have a bad day fishing."
Dent shot a final-round 68 to overtake Summerhays, who finished with a 72.
"I couldn't make any short putts today," Dent said. "I made two putts that were at least 40 feet, but I missed all the short ones."
Dent missed three birdie putts inside 10 feet down the stretch.
Summerhays three-putted twice in the final round.
"I three-putted two times today, and normally I don't three-putt," Summerhays said. "That hurt, for second place at least, because it would have been hard to catch George. George knew what he was doing today, and he did it all right."
Women's British Open
LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England - Sherri Steinhauer had more reason to think about switching her airline reservations than winning a tournament.
After all, she shot a 9-over-par 81 in the first round of the Women's British Open. Three days later, after a closing round of 69, the tournament belonged to her.
"After my 81, the only thing I dreamed of was changing my flight because I would have to leave early," Steinhauer said. "At that stage, my only real goal was making the cut."
She began the final round four strokes off the lead and opened with a bogey at the first hole at Royal Lytham St. Annes. Then Steinhauer began her surge on a windy, links course where no one could complete four rounds at par.
She finished one stroke ahead of American compatriot Brandie Burton and Sophie Gustafson of Sweden. Steinhauer of Madison, Wis., had a total of 4-over 292, with Burton and Gustafson at 293.
"This is like a dream," said Steinhauer, whose 156-yard approach to the last green gave her a straight 8-foot birdie putt. The ball hung on the lip and dropped in.
"When I walked up to make the putt, I looked at the leaderboard and thought, `This could win the British Open'," Steinhauer said. "I made a good strike but it barely made it. It was the last roll."
Steinhauer earned $165,000 for her victory. Her best previous result this season was a share of fourth at the Rochester International.
On Sunday, her opening round of 9-over seemed a distant memory. She followed with rounds of 72, 70 and 69 to charge past the contenders.
Betsy King, one stroke off the lead at the start of the final round, had a 78 and she finished 9-over. Winner of 31 titles and more money than anyone in tour history, she's still looking for her first victory this year.