Abu Dhabi ChampionshipVijay Singh believes overhauling Tiger Woods at the top of the world rankings is a distant but achievable goal as he launches his bid for victory at the inaugural Abu Dhabi Championship in the United Arab Emirates today (live on Sky all four days, starting at 6.30am). The tournament launches the European Tour's Gulf Swing, worth $6.4 million in total.
The Fijian world number two is eager to put behind him a disappointing end to the 2005 calendar year, which had begun with him as the world's best. The gap to Woods (who plays in the Dubai Desert Classic next month) is just over 80 points and Singh recognises he will have to perform to the level which saw him displace his American rival after a terrific 2004, when he chalked up nine wins.
"If someone plays well enough, there's no reason he can't win nine events," said Singh. "I felt like I could have done it last year, the way I started the year anyway, and I think I'm in line to play as good or better than I did in 2004.
"It's a tall order to catch Tiger now, he played so well last season. I'm not going to worry about trying to catch him. But it's a long season with a lot of tournaments. The spread is so much right now that I have to win a lot. I'm going to play a lot this year and hopefully I'll win a lot. I don't know if I'm going to win in Abu Dhabi but I didn't come all this way to finish second."
Singh has admitted that frustration and tiredness got the better of him at times in 2005. And the 42-year-old revealed how fragile the psyche of a top sportsman can be, and how easily confidence can slip away when things go even slightly awry. He said: "The more pressure you put on yourself, the more damaging it is for your golf game. You get tension and you don't need that.
"Towards the end of last year, I felt really uncomfortable, I don't know why. Perhaps I was just trying too hard to stay where I was rather than just letting it happen."
Singh has been working hard on his game in the brief off-season and has regained some of the belief. He was not far off winning last time out at the Sony Open in Hawaii and now feels he is better prepared to take the fight to Woods.
"I don't need to raise my level, I just need to be more consistent," he stated. "I need to start winning again. It's a confidence level you reach where you go out on the course and feel like nothing can get into your world. "
Colin Montgomerie has revealed he goes into the tournament at his most confident in a decade. The 42-year-old is looking to build on one of the best years of his career with a strong showing at the event, which will also feature another member of the world's top 10 in Sergio Garcia.
Montgomerie will tee off with a world ranking of nine and an eighth European Order of Merit in his pocket. And the Scot drew parallels with his state of mind at the outset of the Dubai Desert Classic 10 years ago, which he went on to win.
"I had taken a few months out at the end of 1995 and I came to Dubai in 1996, the first tournament, and won," he said. "I hadn't played at all in three months, I picked up my bag, came out two days early to practise and won the tournament. I believed I was going to win and so I did exactly that. That was a very confident, very buoyant time. I'm not back to that level, but I do feel very confident.
"Success in this game is such a fine line, but I'm on the right side of that line now and the longer that remains the case the better."
The field of 120 includes Irishmen Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane and Gary Murphy, with Michael Hoey and David Higgins standing by as third and fifth reserves respectively.
