Twenty-five years after one of golf’s most quietly dominant champions slipped on the green jacket at Augusta National, Vijay Singh’s 2000 Masters victory has been allowed to drift into the background — and the man himself wouldn’t have it any other way. The 63-year-old Fijian missed last year’s Masters entirely due to a severe back injury that left him unable to walk, but he’s back at Augusta in 2025 for what will be his 32nd start at the tournament. No fanfare, no silver anniversary celebrations — just Singh, doing things his way, as always.
It’s a story that says as much about the man as it does about the sport. Singh has never courted the spotlight, and his complicated relationship with the media has long shaped — and arguably distorted — public perception of his legacy. In his prime, he was known to turn down interview requests even while leading tournaments, preferring to clock extra hours on the practice range rather than play the media game. When asked directly this week about his relationship with the press, his response was characteristically blunt: “No comment.”
That attitude has cost him in the court of public opinion, but it hasn’t dulled the respect of those who played alongside him. Two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw summed it up simply: “What a talent. He sees things other people don’t.” And 1987 champion Larry Mize didn’t mince words either — “Vijay is a great player; a great champion.” These aren’t throwaway compliments. They’re assessments from men who know exactly what it takes to win at Augusta.
Singh came under fire earlier this year when it emerged he’d used a PGA Tour one-year exemption — available to players ranked in the top 25 on the career money list — to enter the season-opening Sony Open in Hawaii. Critics argued he was occupying a spot that could have gone to a more competitive player. But as it turned out, his reasoning was straightforward: he won that tournament in 2005, and with the revamped schedule potentially dropping it by 2027, he wanted one more crack at it. He made the cut, tying for 40th, and moved on without apology.
Vijay Singh’s Masters Legacy Deserves Far More Recognition Than It Gets
At the peak of his powers, Vijay Singh was arguably the best golfer on the planet. In 2004 alone, he won nine times on the PGA Tour — a staggering haul that saw him dislodge Tiger Woods from the world number one ranking, a position he held for 32 weeks. Over his PGA Tour career, he accumulated 34 victories and banked $71,312,738 in career earnings, placing him eighth on the all-time money list. On the Champions Tour, he’s added five more titles, including the 2018 Players Championship — a senior major.
His record at Augusta in the early 2000s is equally impressive. After winning the green jacket in 2000 — his second major, following the 1998 PGA Championship and preceding a 2004 PGA Championship — he finished in the top eight five consecutive years from 2001 to 2006. His two closest shots at a second title came in 2002 and 2006, the latter seeing him lead after an opening 67 before fading to a tie for eighth. It’s a body of work at one of golf’s most demanding venues that most professionals would trade their entire careers for.
Singh himself remains unfazed by any sense of being overlooked or forgotten. Asked whether he felt underappreciated as a Masters champion, he didn’t flinch: “I don’t care what anyone’s opinions are anymore,” he said. And when asked if he regretted missing last year’s 25th anniversary of his win, he was equally direct — “No, absolutely not.”
At 63, Singh is the second-oldest player in this year’s Masters field, behind only the ever-popular 66-year-old Fred Couples. The only other player teeing it up in 2025 who was also in the field when Singh won back in 2000 is Sergio Garcia — a striking illustration of just how long ago that chapter was written. After a full 18-hole practice round on Monday, Singh was visibly slowing as the back nine wore on. Asked how he was feeling physically, he gave perhaps his most poetic answer of the week: “I’m here.”
For a man who has spent a career proving his worth through action rather than words, that might just be enough. Vijay Singh has never needed the game to celebrate him — he’s always let the scorecard do the talking, and at Augusta National, that scorecard tells the story of one of the most underrated champions the Masters has ever produced.