ESPN.com - Golf Online - US Open Men 2000 - Singh focused on another major

By David Kraft
ESPN Golf Online
Thursday, June 15

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- "Vijay Singh! You've won the PGA. You've won The Masters. You're among the favorites at this year's U.S. Open! What are you going to do next?"


	Vijay Singh is seeing things differently after laser eye surgery and his second major championship.

Have laser-eye surgery. And break in a new putter for good measure.

Not exactly page 1 in the manual on how to prepare for the Open, is it?

But that's the approach the only man with a chance to win this year's Grand Slam has taken.

First new eyes. Then a new wand. Now, attack the Pebble Beach Golf Links, with its narrower and harder fairways, its 4½-inch rough and its slick greens.

"I'm excited," he says, more relaxed than usual on Tuesday afternoon. "I really am."

Singh himself smiles at the seeming recklessnes of his situation. Two weeks ago, he had his vision corrected with laser eye surgery, allowing him to play without glasses for the first time as a professional. Last week, he traded in the 36-inch putter he won The Masters with for a 45-inch model that he sticks in his belly button when he putts.

Is this any way to prepare for a major?

"I've been really trying to get used to two different things: Looking at the greens differently, and putting," Singh said. "Last week was a good test for all that, and I think I came out ahead."

Singh tied for 24th last week at the Buick Classic, shooting a pair of 70s in the process. He arrived at Pebble Beach on Monday and played a practice round. Tuesday, he teed it up with Greg Norman, Nick Price and Ernie Els. He'll play 18 more holes Wednesday.

"I'm quite focused this week," the man's who's vision is closing in on 20/20 said, no pun intended. "A lot of attention has been with the other players, which is fine by me. I just like to go in and do what I do best: concentrate on the game."

Nothing new there. Singh, aside from being one of the game's legendary workers, has always been a patient thinker. He won two of the last six majors on courses that test the mind, starting with his PGA Championship victory on the tree-lined fairways of Sahalee in 1998. He then tamed some torrid weather conditions, not to mention Augusta National's undulating greens, to win The Masters in April -- a win that elevated him to a status he'd never known before.

"I've enjoyed all that attention since The Masters," Singh says. "You have to go with the program, take what you get. And I've enjoyed it and it's fine."

But Singh has struggled since his win at Augusta and a third-place finish a week later at Hilton Head. He was 24th at New Orleans, 41st at both the Byron Nelson and Colonial. He was 33rd at the Memorial when, after talking with Paul Azinger, he decided to try a new putter.

"The last four tournaments I played? I struck the ball from tee to green better than anybody out there," Singh said. "But I just haven't been scoring well."

So he tried Azinger's putter. He liked it and ordered his own. It gets its first major test in the first round Thursday, when Singh plays with Loren Roberts and Steve Stricker at 4:20 p.m. ET.

In Singh's favor is the fact that he's played well in the AT&T, which plays two of its four rounds at Pebble Beach. He tied for second at the AT&T in February and was tied for 10th two years ago. And his length will help offset some of the wind that traditionally whips the course.

But he says the course is different, much faster than it is in February, when the PGA Tour makes its annual stop in Monterey. He'll be hitting different clubs into greens, trying to avoid the rough that has crept into the fairways.

And trying to adjust to his new eyes and putter.

"Ever since The Masters, I've been looking forward to this week," says Singh. "I'm eager to play, and play well. I like the golf course. I like the way they set up the golf course. We just have to wait and see how I do."