Vijay Singh of Fiji has been named as The European Tour Golfer of the Year for the first time following a remarkable season in which he scaled the summit of world golf, replacing Tiger Woods as Number One, and won a second US PGA Championship as well as setting a new earnings record on the US PGA Tour.
After a lengthy debate to identify the 2004 winner, the 41 year old received the vote of a panel from the Association of Golf Writers, Television and Radio, who met with representatives of The European Tour at Surrey County Cricket Club’’s magnificent redeveloped ground, the Brit Oval in London.
Last week Singh, an Honorary Member of The European Tour, also received the Jack Nicklaus Award as the US PGA Tour Player of the Year, following a season where he topped the US PGA Tour Money List for a second successive time with record earnings of $10,905,166 from nine victories, and finished the year with a stroke average of 68.84. Among those victories was the 2004 US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, Kohler, Wisconsin, where he defeated Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard of the United States after a play-off.
Singh wins The European Tour Golfer of the Year Award at the end of a year in which several outstanding candidates were in contention, namely Volvo Order of Merit winner, Ernie Els of South Africa; US Open Champion, Retief Goosen, also of South Africa; Europe’’s inspirational Ryder Cup Captain, Bernhard Langer, and Spain’’s popular multiple champion, Miguel Angel Jiménez.
Singh said: “It is a wonderful honour to be named as The European Tour Golfer of the Year for the first time. This accolade completes a very special ‘double’’ for me after winning the Player of the Year Award in the United States only last week.
“I take great satisfaction from the 2004 season, having won nine times, including my second US PGA Championship and becoming the first player to reach $10 million in earnings on the US PGA Tour. However the pinnacle was unquestionably becoming World Number One for the first time – the culmination of many years of hard work and dedication.
“Obviously it was disappointing not to win on European soil in 2004, but this Award makes amends for that a little! As everyone knows I spent several happy seasons learning my trade on The European Tour in the late eighties and early nineties and to be recognised by this Tour gives me immense personal satisfaction.
“I would like to thank everyone on the panel who voted for me and I look forward to seeing all my old friends on The European Tour in 2005.”
Jiménez was a close run second behind Singh following his four victories on The 2004 European Tour International Schedule and five in the calendar year after his win in the Omega Hong Kong Open, the second event of the 2005 season, just two weeks ago.
During a remarkable 2004 in which he started the year 94th on the Official World Golf Ranking and is currently 12th, Jiménez won the Johnnie Walker Classic, the Algarve Open de Portugal Caixa Geral de Depositos, the BMW Asian Open and the BMW International Open. In doing so, he became only the ninth player to win four or more titles in one season and those victories ensured his automatic qualification for Europe’’s Ryder Cup Team.
Jiménez went on to perform with great distinction at Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan and also in another team event, the WGC – World Cup, in which he and Sergio Garcia carried Spain to second place behind England in Seville.
Els, The European Tour Golfer of the Year in 2003, finished Number One on the Volvo Order of Merit in a season in which he finished in the top ten in all four Major Championships and won the Heineken Classic, the WGC – American Express Championship and a record sixth HSBC World Match Play Championship to set alongside two victories on the US PGA Tour.
Goosen claimed a second US Open Championship and won back-to-back titles when he returned to Europe to win the Smurfit European Open two weeks later. These wins were followed by successes in the US PGA Tour Championship and the Nedbank Golf Challenge in his native South Africa.
Langer, meanwhile, came close to winning a third Masters Tournament, finishing fourth behind Phil Mickelson at Augusta National, before injury interrupted his playing season. However, 2004 will be remembered for the German’’s brilliant captaincy of The European Ryder Cup Team which beat the United States so convincingly in September.
David Davies, the recently retired Golf Correspondent of The Guardian newspaper and a member of the Panel, commented: “It was a towering achievement by Vijay to win nine times on the US PGA Tour and, in the process, to supplant Tiger Woods as World Number One. He was undoubtedly the World Player of the Year in 2004.”
Singh is the ninth player to win The European Tour Golfer of the Year Award following Langer (1985 and 1993); Seve Ballesteros (1986, 1988, 1991), Ian Woosnam (1987), Nick Faldo (1989, 1990, 1992), Ernie Els (1994, 2002, 2003), Colin Montgomerie (1995, 1996, 1997, 1999), Lee Westwood (1998, 2000) and Retief Goosen (2001).
Each month, an Award is presented to a European Tour Member from January to December for his performance on The European Tour International Schedule and in worldwide competition. Previous winners in 2004 have been Jiménez (January), Els (February), Adam Scott (March), Singh (April and August), Scott Drummond (May), Goosen (June and November/December), Thomas Levet (July), Langer (September) and Stephen Gallacher (October).
