Vijay Singh of Fiji won his fourth Barclays Classic title on Sunday after beating Spain's Sergio Garcia and American Kevin Sutherland in a playoff.

Singh birdied both playoff holes at Ridgewood Country Club on the way to snaring the title.

A three-times winner of the event when it was played across the Hudson River at Westchester Country Club, Singh matched Garcia's birdie on the first playoff hole (18th) while Sutherland was eliminated.

Singh, a Fijian-Indian, also wins the first event of the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs and picks up his second victory of the year.

The 45-year-old Singh then birdied the par-5 17th to close out world No 4 Garcia, who hit his tee shot into the left rough, punched out into the right rough and narrowly missed a birdie chip.

"I convinced myself I'm the best putter in the world," said Singh. "I came out here with a different attitude, and I putted great this week."

The three players finished locked at 8-under 276, a shot better than Australian Mathew Goggin, 2003 British Open winner Ben Curtis and his fellow-American Kevin Streelman, the overnight leader.

Singh shot a final-round of 70, as did Garcia. Sutherland posted a 68 to join the playoff.

"What can you do?" Garcia said.

"You can't take it the wrong way. I think the most important thing about it is that I keep putting myself in a good position. Unfortunately somebody just seems to be able to come up with some spectacular playing."

Singh collected $1.26 million for the win and took the points lead after this opening event of the four-tournament, PGA Tour FedExCup playoff series.

Tied at 6-under-par 278 were Britons Paul Casey and Martin Laird, Canada's Mike Weir and Americans Justin Leonard and Nicholas Thompson.

Singh seized a share of the lead for the first time on the 17th when he two-putted from 20 feet for birdie.

"It was a tough day," said Singh, who also won this month's WGC-Bridgestone. "Nobody had a two-shot lead at any point. It was a tough day, but it was a great playoff. I enjoyed that.

"I love New York," he said about playing in the metropolitan area. "It's a great place, great tournament and hopefully I can top it off again next year."

It was another disappointing loss for runner-up Garcia who battled Padraig Harrington down the stretch before losing to the Irishman in the PGA Championship earlier this month.

With Tiger Woods recovering from season ending knee surgery, Singh posted his 21st win since turning 40. He leads in the FedEx Cup points race with 109,500. Garcia is now in second with 104,375 points.

(Agencies/AFP via China Daily August 26, 2008)