SINGH IN GEAR FOR BMW ASIAN OPEN

Fiji’s Vijay Singh competes in the inaugural US$1.5 million BMW Asian Open this week chasing a hat-trick of titles in Asia this year.

The BMW Asian Open is the third tournament in 2001 to be joint-sanctioned by the Asian PGA-run Davidoff Tour and the European Tour, and Singh enters it having won the previous two meetings.

In February the Fijian star won the Carlsberg Malaysian Open and the Caltex Singapore Masters back-to-back before returning to play on the US PGA Tour. Surprisingly he did not win after Singapore but finished second twice and third three times.

Said Singh: “It was a good season but it’s been disappointing not to win again after doing the double in Asia. It would be good to make up for that disappointment by winning this week. I am playing well and I didn’t come all this way to finish second.”

Victory in Taiwan would be particularly sweet as the BMW Asian Open is the richest event to be played in Asia. The Fijian rates his chances after having fine-tuned his swing.

“I have had a few flaws in my golf swing. When I was getting in contention I was always hitting bad shots to the left. I have worked on that and got it corrected. It’s taken a while but I think I have got it to the point where I have good control of my golf swing,” said Singh, who has won six times in Asia.

“It’s important that you know down the stretch that your golf swing is going to hold up and mine wasn’t doing that. I was playing good enough golf to finish well but not to win. I have worked on what I need to work on and I am now really looking forward to next year and this week,” added Singh.

Singh has been paired with Davidoff Tour Order of Merit leader Charlie Wi of Korean and England’s Ian Poulter in the first two rounds.