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Alan L. Hammond, GolfersMD News
Aug 04, 2008
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Getty Images
With Tiger Woods injured, the call among the fans and media to pick up the slack on the PGA Tour has grown louder. One of the names most prominent on everybody’s list has been Vijay Singh.
Singh answered the call on Sunday, capturing his first World Golf Championship, and his first win since March 2007. His victory is owed, in part, to the remarkable shape he is in for a 45 year-old man.
The Fiji native renewed his commitment to fitness before the 2008 season. He changed personal trainers, replacing long-time friend Joey Diovisalvi with Jeffrey Fronk, a former assistant for the Jacksonville Jaguars and the New York Jets. “The changes have been a little hard because Paul and Joey went through a lot with me, but I want that feeling of winning back,” Singh said. Fronk has implemented a workout that emphasizes strength and weight loss. The new workout includes jumping rope, and something Singh calls, “The 300 Workout,” in homage to the buff Spartan soldiers in the movie of the same name. “If you look at my body, I've lost a lot of size, but I haven't lost weight, so that means I've put on a lot more muscle. I think I'm the same weight, but I'm slimmer. I feel good. I feel strong. I feel energized.”
Not that Singh was a couch potato before. His previous exercises emphasized flexibility, something he still has in spades. To gain that flexibility, Singh uses an exercise band for various workouts. Among those exerciese is “The Swing,” in which Vijay anchors the band six feet to his right, then pulls the band back, using his golf swing takeaway. He then returns slowly to his address position. Another is “The Twist,” where he anchors the band to his front and about sternum-high. Grabbing the band with both hands, he twists the shoulders 90-degrees to the right and left. In “The Half-Swing,” Vijay anchors the band hip-high and to his right. With both hands, he twists to his left and slowly returns to the starting point.
Singh’s fitness helped him hold off competitors like Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, and Stuart Appleby down the final stretch of holes at Firestone in Akron on Sunday. As he coaxed his final high-pressure putt into the cup in the 18th green, Vijay put himself back in the winner’s circle, and back on everyone’s radar.
Sources: Golf.com; WorldGolf.com
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