PGA Deutsche victory lifts Singh to No. 1

Tiger Woods had held the top ranking for a record 264 consecutive weeks.
NORTON, Mass. (AP) -- As the son of an airplane technician in Fiji, as a teaching pro in Borneo, even as a plodding player on the PGA Tour early in his career, Vijay Singh could only guess what he could accomplish as a golfer.
"I never thought I would be sitting here, the best player in the world right now," Singh said after winning the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday to clinch the No. 1 spot in the world rankings that Tiger Woods had held for a record 264 consecutive weeks.
"It feels great. All of the hard work and all that I've come through, all of the people that have helped me -- I'd like to thank them. Obviously, it's been a journey and something that cannot be forgotten."
Singh shot 69 to beat Woods and defending champion Adam Scott by three strokes, birdieing three of the last four holes to earn $900,000 and pad his lead atop golf's money list.
It was Singh's sixth victory of the year -- four more than the tour's next biggest winner, and enough to convince the computers that crunch the numbers what many have known for months.
"Finally it's turned into my favor," Singh said. "I finally achieved what I wanted to do, starting at the beginning of the year."
Nice streak
Woods had been No. 1 since Aug. 15, 1999, under the rankings that consider performance over the past two years, factoring in the strength of field. Singh had winnowed Woods' lead to 12.09-11.91 heading into the Deutsche Bank, needing only to finish ahead of Woods to pass him.
Woods' second place was his eighth top 10 finish in his last 10 tournaments, and his sixth in the top five.
But the new numbers released Monday had Singh at 12.72 points to Woods' 12.27, ending Woods' five-year reign atop golf's ultimate leaderboard.
"That's not too bad, is it? I've had a good run," Woods said. "I'm not disappointed about the ranking; I'm disappointed in not winning. ... Winning takes care of the ranking."
Singh and Woods were tied at 13 under after Singh bogeyed the 13th hole, but Woods bogeyed the next one and Singh birdied No. 15 to pull ahead by two strokes.
The 41-year-old Fijian added birdies on the final two holes at the par-71, 7,415 TPC of Boston to finish 16 under, three ahead of Woods and Scott.
"It was a golf tournament to me. It wasn't about the ranking," said Singh, who has won the last nine times he took a lead into the final round. "It wasn't about going out there and trying to beat Tiger and beat the No. 1 player. I was out there trying to win the golf tournament and that was my goal starting out today.
"You know, Adam Scott nearly jumped up and took it away," he added, "but I was very focused."
Making a run
Scott started the day seven strokes behind Singh before making the turn with four consecutive birdies to get into contention.
He birdied the 18th hole to move into second place, and Woods' 69 matched him; John Rollins and Daniel Chopra were another two strokes back at minus 10.
Singh took a three-stroke lead into the final day and made it four when he dropped to 15 under with a birdie on the first hole.
But the lead withered over the front nine and disappeared when Woods chipped in for birdie on 12 and Singh went over the green with an 8-iron on 13, then missed a 7-footer to save par.
That left them tied at 13 under, with Scott one stroke back.
On 14, a 485-yard par-4, Woods and Singh were 6 inches apart on the green, about 9 feet from the pin. Singh sank his putt to save par, but Woods pushed his to the left for a bogey.
On the par-5 15th their drives landed 6 yards apart on the fairway but Singh put his approach within 4 feet, and Woods was 17 feet from the flag; Singh picked up another birdie to drop to minus 14 and Woods two-putted for par, leaving him two strokes back.
After making another birdie on 17 to expand his lead to three strokes, Singh smiled and seemed to relax.