Vijay Singh Holds On To Win Bridgestone Invitational

The stars came out in full force at this week’s Bridgestone Invitational and provided us with the brand of golf we have been waiting for since Tiger Woods' departure six weeks ago.

After Woods’ announcement that he would be undergoing season-ending knee surgery, many true golf fans believed that Woods' absence might actually provide an even more exciting PGA Tour.

Fans, writers and analysts alike have been patiently waiting for a tournament that would finally see golf’s biggest names ferociously battling it out and providing that excitement we’ve sorely missed.

Sure, Kenny Perry’s mindboggling play has been a great story.

Greg Norman leading the British Open with nine holes to play on Sunday was incredible.

Padraig Harrington’s outstanding display of ball striking down the stretch at the British Open which led to his second straight Claret Jug also provided us with some excitement.

But, lets be honest with ourselves, although we have seen some exciting events, what we have all really been waiting for is a Sunday leaderboard infested with the game’s biggest names, all of whom have a legitimate chance to win.

The Bridgestone Invitational finally provided us with the excitement we’ve been desperately craving since Tiger retreated to his couch in Orlando six weeks ago.

Saturday afternoon gave us a pairing of Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson. 

After a rocky start for both, Singh and Mickelson put on an impressive display of birdies coming down the stretch.

Mickelson birdied 14, 15 and 16, while Singh briefly found his putting stroke and sunk two long putts to birdie 15 and 16.

Lee Westwood quietly hit fairways and greens all afternoon on Saturday and sustained a putting stroke that gave him a tournament leading average of 27.33 putts per round on his way to a third-round score of 67 and a share of the lead.

Sunday provided a leaderboard that we were actually excited to see. 

Mickleson, Singh, Westwood, Appleby and Goosen all began their final rounds with a chance to win the tournament.

Vijay Singh, who was paired in the final group with Lee Westwood, was quick out of the gate.

Sing birdied the 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 6^th holes and had his putter not been somewhat inconsistent, he might have been able to bury the rest of the field on the front nine. 

Vijay’s putting stroke had been shaky all week and finally deserted him for good at the turn. 

Luckily for Vijay, Mickelson and Westwood were unable to capitalize on his putting woes.  

As we have seen time and time again, Mickelson was unable to close out the tournament down the stretch. 

Mickelson hit his approach shot on the 667 yard par-5 16th to within five feet but proceeded to miss his birdie putt.

Mickelson then boldly hit a driver off the 400-yard par-4 17^th which he pushed into a fairway bunker leading to an eventual bogey.

On the par-4 18th, Mickelson again pushed his tee shot, winding up deep in the left-side rough and was left with no other option but to chip out, which led to his third bogey in the final four holes. 

Westwood didn’t fare much better.

Westwood missed a short birdie putt on the 17th for a share of the lead and then missed another birdie on the 18th, which would have forced a playoff with Sing.

Vijay’s putter finally came through for him on the 18th green as he sunk his five-foot par putt for a 2-under round of 68 and a World Golf Championship. 

It’s not as if we have never seen Mickelson meltdown before, but each time it happens is as surprising as the last.

Mickelson appeared to be in ‘the zone’ on the back nine. 

Although he was unable to sink several birdie putts, he was hitting fairways and was sticking one approach shot after another.

At almost the drop of a hat, Mickelson turned a quality round which had the potential of leading to his first WGC into another Mickelson meltdown to tack onto the list. 

This has happened to Mickelson before and the smart money is on it happening to him again, but, Mickelson has always been able to show his resolve by putting the past behind him and moving on.

Whether he can put this heartbreaking collapse behind him in time for next week’s PGA Championship is the big question.