2001 EMC Golf Skills Challenge

22 Oct 2001 - 23 Oct 2001
Naples Grande, Naples, Florida

Naples, FL.- Vijay Singh, won three of the nine skills to capture the 2001 EMC Skills Championship at the Naples Grande Golf Club. The native of Fiji won $121,500 plus received a $100,000 bonus for being the overall leader. Mike Weir finished in 4th place with $93,000 in earnings.

One of the highlights of the day was the trouble shot. 132 yards away from the pin, players had to shoot their way out of a small grove of trees from three boxes that were drawn on the ground. The first box forced the golfers to fade the ball around the left tree to get close to the flag. The second shot called for a hook around the right tree and in the third box players had to try and hit it between the trees.

Mike Weir nailed the tree from the third box sending his fellow competitors scrambling and forcing the rest of the players to bring out the umbrellas for cover.

"You had the umbrellas up because you knew somebody was going to hit it," Billy Andrade said.

Nick Price one of the straightest hitters of the ball, nailed the tree on his attempt. "I was very jumpy to say the least. It's a little narrow there. We weren't hiding behind those umbrellas for fun. We were doing it on purpose. Trust me."

After Vijay capped off the title with a great shot to 1'11" in the short iron competition, he grabbed Weir's left-handed 7-iron and hit another one to 3'1".

"Vijay and I, we kind of mess around and we hit right-handed and left-handed shots once in a while," Weir said. "I was going to try and hit one right-handed, but I wasn't going to follow that shot, that's for sure."

Skill Winners

Long Drive: Billy Andrade, 310 yards
Greenside Bunker: Billy Andrade, 6 inches
Chip Shot: Jesper Parnevik, holed out
Trouble Shot: Vijay Singh, 2 feet, 10 inches
Mid-Iron Shot: Peter Jacobsen, 8 feet, 2 inches
Pitch Over Hazard: Vijay Singh, 3 feet, 3 inches
Putting: Nick Price, holed out
Long Bunker Shot: Nick Price, 2 feet, 3 inches
Short Iron Shot: Vijay Singh, 1 feet, 11 inches

Purse Breakdown

1. Vijay Singh - $221,500
2. Jesper Parnevik - $106,000
3. Billy Andrade - $97,000
4. Mike Weir - $93,000
5. Jim Furyk - $89,000
6. Peter Jacobsen - $86,000
7. Greg Norman - $81,000
8. Nick Price - $80,500
9. Scott Verplank - $75,000
10. Lee Janzen - $71,000

The event was taped and will be shown on NBC on December 29 - 30 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.