Golf146;s Gatecrasher

For an Indian born in Fiji, where the community is intrinsically disadvantaged, and honed in Malaysia, where it struggles at the bottom of the heap, Vijay flaunts his Indianness and the batting gloves that go with it. He loves his cricket. He adores Kapil Dev. And he can8217;t stand the polite hypocrisy that has become associated with a game that once prided itself on good manners.

The man has returned to New Delhi for a Skins8217; game and many of his new-found friends 8212; they come with the world8217;s top ranking 8212; will try to convince you that he is also the World8217;s Most Misunderstood Golfer. The truth is that the man whose caddy once poked fun at Mr Woods by wearing a cap that asked 8216;Tiger Who?8217; simply does not feel the need to be politically correct or to explain himself to those he has offended.

Last year, when the world8217;s greatest woman golfer, Annika Sorenstam, was handed an invitation to play in a Tour event, Vijay bluntly said: 8216;8216;I hope she misses the cut.8217;8217; Even he was stunned by the outrage that followed.

Tiger Woods, still smarting from the cap episode, piously remarked that 8216;8216;Vijay shouldn8217;t have said that8217;8217; while Dean Wilson, whose only claim to fame was that he was paired with Sorenstam, leapt to the defence of the lady. Vijay8217;s own friends tried to explain that he had nothing against Sorenstam but was only concerned about fringe players 8212; like Vijay himself had once been 8212; who would lose out on the berth that was going to Annika Sorenstam.

That is a plausible explanation but long after the storm had died Wilson ran into Vijay Singh practising with a new driver. 8216;8216;How heavy is that club?8217;8217; he asked Vijay. 8216;8216;Too heavy for your girlfriend to swing,8217;8217; replied the man from Fiji, who does not forgive in a hurry. Nor does he readily admit he was wrong.

Interestingly, that is a trait he shares with Tiger who, beneath his air of sophistication, is one of the most obstinate men on the PGA Tour. When his caddy spoke to a journalist, Tiger sacked him. When his swing coach Butch Harmon started claiming credit for Tiger8217;s success, Woods parted ways with him 8212; even though it hurt his game. When he started missing the fairways and others started outdriving him, Tiger hinted that they were using illegal equipment and that he was merely in the process of remodelling his game. Not once did he accept that something was wrong. He just practised harder.

Vijay, who trains so hard that he once broke a rib on the practice range, has the same cussedness, the same unshakeable belief in himself. But while Tiger, with his Thai-Black American parentage and his Swedish wife has deliberately downplayed his minority status to become an advertising icon, Vijay has emphasised his roots. And his defiance.

The Augusta Masters, which till some years back did not admit Blacks and still does not allow women members, has embraced Tiger as its own. But Vijay has not been swayed by its charms. In 2000, after he had won the Masters8217;, he was overheard telling his agent: 8216;8216;Kiss my ass, everybody.8217;8217;