Thanks to a “committee” decision, Vijay and Qass Singh were not placed in the final grouping of Sunday’s final round of the PNC Championship, despite finishing earlier than the team they shared second place with.
That team was, of course, Tiger and Charlie Woods.
But the Singhs ended up as the last team standing Sunday. Vijay and 32-year-old son Qass fired a second-straight 59 to edge defending champions John Daly and John Daly II, and Justin and Mike Thomas, by two strokes. They’re the first team in PNC history to shoot two sub-60 rounds in the tournament.
“It’s about time, yeah, so I’m thrilled,” said Qass, who works in the insurance business. “I’m so happy. This is already the best week, so this is just making it just, you know, no words can describe. It’s going to be a memory I’m going to have forever.”
PNC Championship purse, payout breakdown and winner’s share
Team Singh opened the round with seven straight birdies, but they really took control of the tournament thanks to Qass’ approach on the par-5 14th when he took dead aim at the flag from 251 yards. The ball settled about 10 feet below the cup and the younger Singh jarred the eagle look without the need for his three-time major-winner father to give it a go.
They survived a little drama on the 18th hole when Qass got too aggressive on his tee shot trying to cut the corner on the par-5 and found the water. But Vijay’s tee shot was just enough to carry the right fairway bunker. The duo made birdie to secure the win.
“Funny thing is we don’t really know what’s going on there until 18,” the 59-year-old Vijay said. “Whoever is looking should put some scoreboards out there so we have some idea what the hell we are doing out there.”
The win is the first in 16 tries for Vijay and Qass, who finished second three times and third three times in the event. Like the Woodses and Dalys this week, the Singhs also dealt with their own injury woes. Vijay was dealing with a sore foot that forced him to wear running shoes this week, as opposed to golf shoes.
Team Woods looked to challenge for the lead early in the final round after making eagle for the second day in a row on the par-5 5th. But the pair didn’t make a birdie the rest of the front nine and a bogey at the 7th took them off the pace and they weren’t able to gain enough ground on the back nine.
The Thomases also lost momentum on the back nine as well, making just four birdies on the back nine in the two-man scramble format. Both teams even flipped their playing orders, having Tiger putt before Charlie and Justin putt before Mike, trying to jump-start something, but the air was out of the sails.
The Thomases’ 63 was good enough to tie them with the defending champion Dalys, who eagled the last. The Woodses unceremoniously three-putted 17 and came home with a 65 to finish tied for 7th.