Round 4: Northern Trust Open

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Vijay Singh led the field in birdies and putting en route to a second-place finish.

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — It’s not exactly a claw, but it’s hardly conventional, either.

No matter. Vijay Singh’s unusual new grip with his left hand low, coupled with a different belly putter, worked wonders at the Northern Trust Open where he finished second to Aaron Baddeley.

"I don’t have any name for it, but if it keeps going in, I don’t care what you call it," said Singh, who used just 27 putts on Sunday and ended up first in putting for the week.

Singh gave Baddeley a run for it on Sunday, closing with a 69 that moved him to 10 under but still shy of what would have been his first victory since 2008. He said the new "look" to his stroke was key and he saw the lines on the greens really well, too.

"It’s been a struggle for me all my career with putting," the World Golf Hall of Famer said. "I’ve had great spells and not so good ones, and I tried to get a grip where I feel really comfortable with, and hopefully this is the one. 

"It anchors my left hand pretty nicely, and I don’t have any play with my right. … The way I putted today I think that’s the best putting week I’ve had probably all my career. So putting four good putting rounds together, that’s something good."

Singh has battled injuries over the last couple of years and admits that he may have returned to competition too early on occasion. He’s fully healthy now, though, and already has two top-10 finishes — matching his total for all of last year — in just five starts.

Singh also tied for third at the Waste Management Phoenix Open last month. While he played well there, though, breaking 70 in all four rounds, the closing 66 moved him nine spots up the leaderboard. On Sunday at Riviera, Singh was in the hunt all day.

"It’s feeling pretty good," Singh said. "I was into it. The game is starting to come around, although I wasn’t hitting the ball as solid as I wanted to. I was driving the ball good, which was good, putting myself in good position, but my iron play was not very good. 

"But I’m putting well and I’m scoring well. … That’s a great, great thing to have when you’re putting well.  I haven’t done that for a long, long time. This is going to get me some places."

Singh, who briefly slipped out of the top 100 in the Official World Golf Rankings last month for the first time in 21 years, isn’t eligible for the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship next week.

Instead, he’ll celebrate his 48th birthday on Tuesday. Singh will be the first to tell you that aage is just a number, though.

“I’m feeling good, and I think I’ve still got it,” he said. – Helen Ross