Close Isn’t Cutting It for Singh This Year

Vijay Singh had missed the cut twice in a row before the Tour Championship. But he is still having a good year statistically. In fact, his numbers this year compare favorably to those of his phenomenal 2004 season, which indicates that for an elite professional golfer, the difference between a great season and a good one is minuscule.

Singh, who will be in Southern California to play in the Target World Challenge on Dec. 7-11 at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, has had 17 top-10 finishes this year, compared to 18 last year. His average driving distance was 301 yards, compared to 300.8 last year.

Other comparisons: Driving accuracy, 60.8% this year, 60.4% last year; putting average, 1.768 and 1.757, and scoring average, 69.05 and 68.84.

The big differences: nine wins last year, four this year, and $10.9 million won last year, $7.7 million this year.

Trivia time: What was Tiger Woods’ average driving distance this year going into the Tour Championship?

Maybe vs. the Cards: “With quarterback David Carr on pace to be sacked a record 85 times this season,” wrote Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times, “couldn’t Houston’s O-line at least play a little Texans Hold-’Em?”

Best bet for that to happen could be when the Texans play host to the Arizona Cardinals on Dec. 18.

Political football: “Pundits beware,” warns the San Francisco Chronicle’s Tom FitzGerald in his syndicated column. “If the woeful 49ers draft Reggie Bush and he was added to a tandem with rookie running back Frank Gore, yes, there could be a Bush-Gore debate.”

Suite idea: The $600-million expansion project at the Maloof family’s Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas features a “hardwood suite,” a two-level, 10,000-square-foot room that includes a basketball court, complete with a locker room and scoreboard.

The suite, unveiled last week, goes for $15,000 a night during the week and $25,000 on weekends.

Sign of the times: The 10 races with purses totaling $1.325 million that make up the California Cup will be run today at Santa Anita. The first Cal Cup was held in 1990.

On-track attendance for the first years of the Cal Cup was 34,739, 39,435 and 40,876. On-track attendance the last three years, beginning in 2002, was 28,313, 18,092 and 24,450.

Looking back: On this day in 1993, Arcangues, a French horse with a bad back, rallied to beat Bertrando by two lengths in the $3-million Breeders’ Cup Classic before 55,130 at Santa Anita.

A 133-1 shot, Arcangues, ridden by Jerry Bailey, paid $269.20 to win, shattering the Breeders’ Cup record that was set by another French-trained horse, Lashkari, who returned $108.80 for his victory in the Turf race at Hollywood Park in 1984.

Trivia answer: 315.7 yards.

And finally: Grateful Dead fan Bill Walton, talking about the NBA dress code, told the San Diego Union-Tribune: “I have spent all summer sewing collars on my tie-dyed T-shirts.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at [email protected].