Associated Press
Wednesday, August 23

AKRON, Ohio -- Shortly after firing his caddie, Masters champion Vijay Singh withdrew from the $5 million NEC Invitational on Wednesday because of a strained muscle in his left forearm.

Sutton vows to play

Despite limping his way through the second round of the PGA Championship, Hal Sutton is playing the NEC Invitational this week and described his foot and lower back as "better." Sutton has been hampered by an Achilles problem, and found he was shifting his weight to alleviate the pain. In turn, that caused sharp pain down his right leg, and he was lucky to finish his two rounds at Valhalla. Asked how he felt, Sutton replied, "Somewhere between not good and feeling perfect." "It's not 100 percent, but it's so much better than last week," he said. "It's good enough to go." Sutton is supposed to play in a Shell's Wonderful World of Golf match on Tuesday in Jamaica against Vijay Singh, but The Masters champion withdrew from the NEC because of a strained muscle in his forearm. "If I'm not playing nobody, I'm winning, I can tell you that," Sutton said.

Clarke Jones, his agent, said the strained muscle was causing pain at impact but it should be fine after a couple of weeks of rest.

The injury occurred sometime between the British Open and the International, and it flared up again at the PGA Championship last week, where Singh missed the cut for the first time since the 1999 British Open.

Singh will not be replaced in the field of players from the U.S. Ryder Cup team, both Presidents Cup teams and the top 12 Europeans from the European tour money list.

David Duval withdrew Tuesday because of a bad back, while Steve Elkington had to withdraw earlier because of hip surgery.

Meanwhile, Dave Renwick, a caddie in four major championship victories, was canned by Singh after he missed the cut in the PGA. The split came four months after they won The Masters. They were also together for Singh's 1998 PGA Championship win.

"He's a great caddie. They had a great run, but Vijay was ready for a change," Jones said. "They weren't having any fun."

Singh used his friend and former tour player Paul Tesori during the Buick Open.

It shouldn't take Renwick long to find another bag. Along with working for Singh during his Masters and PGA wins, he caddied for Jose Maria Olazabal in the 1994 Masters and Elkington in the 1995 PGA Championship.