PALM HARBOR, United States (AFP) - Vijay Singh shot a six-under par 65 to post a five-stroke victory at the Chrysler Championship and claim his ninth tournament win of the season.
"It's a great season. I know that," Singh said. "No matter how hard I try, it might be almost an impossible thing to do again."
Singh, who also surpassed 10 million dollars in season earnings, finished with a four-round total of 18-under 266 on Sunday.
His nine wins matches the total won by Tiger Woods in 2000.
"I'm not one for stats, not one to keep records," said Singh, who overtook Woods as the world's top-ranked player last month.
"I just feel it's been an incredible year for me. These wins, I just haven't really sat down and really thought about it, what I've done. I have not enjoyed it yet. It's a process."
Said Jesper Parnevik, "It's amazing. It's just as amazing as Tiger was four years ago."
Singh, a Fijian-Indian, began the day with a one-shot lead over American Tommy Armour at the Copperhead Course at the Westin Innibrook Resort.
On Saturday, Armour and Sweden's Parnevik stopped just short of admitting they were playing for second place.
That's where they ended up at 13-under 271 as Parnevik shot 68 and Armour 69.
He has done most of his damage in one of the best three-month spans in the history of the sport.
Since August 1, Singh has won 5.72 million dollars in eight events, winning six - including the PGA Championship - and settling for second in another. The wins and money just during that span would be enough to lead the tour in both categories.
Singh made sure no one made a serious move as he birdied the first two holes, draining putts of six and eight feet.
He kept the rest of the field at a good distance, adding five more birdies against a lone bogey.
"When Tiger was playing so well, everybody was wondering what he is doing or how far back is he and when he is going to show up on the leaderboard," Singh said.
"It's good to see my name up there and see people worry about me instead of me worrying about others.
"It's a great feeling. I'm enjoying it. I love it. Come and get me."
An exclusive field will get one last chance at him next week at the season-ending Tour Championship at Eastlake Golf Club in Atlanta, where Singh never has finished worse than third.
"I'm going to go there tomorrow and be focused," he said. "I like the golf course, and the way I'm playing, I feel like I have a good chance of winning again."
While no one can catch Singh at the top, there were a pair of chases further down the money list.
Rod Pampling, who began this tournament in 30th place and holding the final spot for the Tour Championship, shot 76-77 over the weekend and was bumped by Kenny Perry, who shot a 67 to finish tie for eighth at 275 and collect 145,000 dollars. He climbed from 31st to 29th, pushing Jay Haas to 30th.
In the scramble to finish among the top 125 and retain exempt status for 2005, Tag Ridings grabbed the last spot while Paul Azinger and Olin Browne were bumped.
Playing this year on a medical exemption, Ridings closed with a flurry.
He tied for second at Las Vegas earlier this month to collect nearly 300,000 dollars, then fired a 64 on Sunday to climb into a tie for 11th, good for another 120,000 dollars to push his season total to 623,262 dollars.
11/01/2004 - 15:48 GMT - AFP