Vijay Singh has completed his 2016 Fiji International and has immediately placed his course designer hat on.
Singh fired rounds of 70, 75, 72 and 69 to be finished inside the top-20 and while it wasn’t the result he was looking for he was happy to be finished.
“It was a disappointing week. A bad second round kind of got me behind,” said Singh.
“I would have loved to have played a little better but I’m glad I’m out of this wind.”
Singh was also happy to have met Sam Lee, a Fijian Professional whose home course is Vijay’s designed Natadola Bay Championship Golf Course.
“He is a very nice player, a very neat player and he hits the ball really good. I guess he’s the best player in Fiji,” added Singh.
“I didn’t know he was from Fiji until they announced him but I was impressed with his game. It’s very good.”
There is no rest for Singh who tomorrow will start work on the re-design of the course, his aim to make it more playable in the winds synonymous with the area.
“I’m looking forward to redoing the golf course for the better I hope. It’s going to be good, it will be more playable,” said Singh, who has played the tournament each year since its inception.
“You won’t be kind of guiding your shots all the way around. You’ll be more free to hit whatever you need to hit and the green concepts are going to be better so I’m looking forward to it.”
Whilst he may not have gotten the result he was hoping for this week, it did give him the chance to experience the course a bit more.
“I’ve seen a few other things today playing it, knowing how much easier it would be if the tee was in different places, not easier but more playable.”
The course redevelopments will begin on Monday but Singh could not confirm when they will be completed.
“We’re going to do stage one first. We’re going to really do the greens that need to be changed and some of the tee boxes. Just doing those little things is going to make a big difference.”