World No. 5 Vijay Singh will compete in this week's Mercedes-Benz Championship before having knee surgery on Wednesday and missing the next four events on the PGA Tour.

The Fijian tore his meniscus before winning last month's Chevron World Challenge, the tournament in California hosted by Tiger Woods, and was advised to have it surgically repaired.

"It had to be done," Singh, 45, told reporters on the eve of the opening round at the Kapalua Resort.

"It's quite a big tear there. It happened during Tiger's tournament, I think going up and down those hills," he added, referring to the undulating Sherwood Country Club layout at Thousand Oaks.

"Either it happened that week or it just got worse that week, but it's feeling okay now."

Singh competed in Wednesday's pro-am on the hilly par-73 Plantation Course at Kapalua in Hawaii but rode in a golf cart for the entire round.

"It doesn't hurt much until I start walking, and it only hurts when I walk downhill," the three-time major winner said. "I'm going to have deal with that."

Singh, the highest-ranked player in this week's elite field of 33, hopes to be back on the PGA Tour for the February 12-15 Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily January 9, 2009)