Golf | Vijay Singh's 63 yields another victory

NORTON, Mass. — Another victory by Vijay Singh is turning the FedEx Cup into another snoozer.

Singh made three long birdie putts and closed with an 8-under-par 63 to win the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday, his second consecutive victory in the PGA Tour's playoff system. That gives him such a big lead that he has a chance to win the $10 million top prize regardless of how he performs at The Tour Championship.

Positive thinking has helped Singh, who has long struggled with the putter. He convinced himself last week that he was the best putter in golf when he won The Barclays in a three-man playoff.

He made a few more believers on Labor Day at the TPC Boston.

Singh rolled in a 35-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole to stretch his lead to three shots and raised the belly putter like a trophy when he holed a 60-foot birdie putt on the next hole. He added a 35-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole.

Any doubters?

"It's nice to see them going in," Singh said. "When they start going in, they believe it."

Singh finished at 22-under 262 and earned $1.26 million. Third-round leader Mike Weir (71) settled for second, five strokes behind.

The top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings advance to the third round of the playoffs at the BMW Championship, which starts Thursday in St. Louis.

After that event, the top 30 in the standings proceed to The Tour Championship, which starts Sept. 25 in Atlanta. Tiger Woods, who is recovering from knee surgery and out for the season, dominated the FedEx Cup last year.

Ryan Moore of Puyallup, 87th in the standings, won't be in the third round.

Weir, who had a one-shot lead until a double bogey on the ninth hole, simply couldn't keep up with Singh.

Singh has 120,500 FedEx Cup points, giving him a 12,225-point lead over Sergio Garcia (72), who tied for fifth place Monday. Singh is assured of having the lead going into The Tour Championship.

"I'm going to go out and play really hard," he said. "If I have another win, it will be icing on the cake. But I don't take anything for granted."

Singh won for the third time in five weeks; he might rise to No. 3 in the world, behind No. 1 Woods and Phil Mickelson.

Azinger mulls picks for Ryder Cup team

Scott Verplank was a footnote in 2002 when he became the first American to be a captain's pick without previous experience in the Ryder Cup.

There might be multiple Ryder Cup rookies who get picked this year.

U.S. captain Paul Azinger announces his four wild-card selections this morning in New York, having asked for an additional three weeks to find the hottest players but getting a tepid response from candidates.

The final audition was the Deutsche Bank Championship, where the only American to finish among the top six was Tim Herron — who hadn't previously been among the top 10 this season.

The three-day Ryder Cup begins Sept. 19 at Valhalla in Louisville, Ky.

All indications were that Steve Stricker would be among the choices. J.B. Holmes also is mentioned frequently in speculation on Azinger's picks.

Verplank might be on the team again. Other candidates include Hunter Mahan, D.J. Trahan, Brandt Snedeker, Sean O'Hair, Woody Austin, Rocco Mediate and perhaps Heath Slocum.