By Vijay Singh's standards, 2006 was an off year. After nine wins in 2004 and four more in 2005, he had only one victory in 2006.

Vijay Singh, 44, has won 19 times since turning 40, breaking Sam Snead's record. Still, the 2000 Masters champion, who already has won twice this year, thinks too much attention is paid to his age. "I'm out here to try to play the best golf I can play," he says. (Rainier Ehrhardt/Staff)

"Pretty average," said Singh, who already has won twice this season.

As he struggled with his driver last year, one thing didn't change. The 2000 Masters Tournament champion played well at Augusta National Golf Club.

With an opening 67, Singh was the first-round leader. He eventually tied for eighth place, four shots behind Phil Mickelson.

It was the fifth consecutive year Singh finished no worse than eighth in the Masters.

In that run of 20 rounds, Singh is 15-under par.

Singh had no problem with the 155 yards that were added to Augusta National in 2006. Yes, the 7,445-yard course favors the bombers, but it doesn't rule out medium-length hitters.

"People say Augusta is really tough and long. Two years ago, (Chris) DiMarco almost won, and he's not the longest," Singh said. "Last year, look who finished second (Tim Clark). He's not even in the top 60 in the driving stats (Clark ranked 183rd in driving distance on the tour in 2006).

"Yeah, it's a long golf course, but it's a very fair course," Singh said. "If you hit the fairway and get in good position with your second shots and make some putts, anyone can win... It's tough, but you can play it."

After his "pretty average" season, Singh said he wanted to commit himself to playing better this year. That's saying something since Singh is considered one of the hardest-working players on the PGA Tour, both on the course and in the gym.

His primary focus in the off-season was his driving distance, which dropped from 301.1 yards in 2005 to 293.7 in 2006.

The work paid off immediately. Singh led or shared the lead after every round en route to winning the season-opening Mercedes Championship. Eleven weeks later, he rallied with a final-round 67 to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

"Obviously, it gives me a lot of confidence," the 44-year-old Singh said after his victory at Bay Hill. "It gives me the belief that I can still win out here with the best of them, and not only once; I can keep winning. I think that's a belief you want."

Maybe he'll have a reprise of the 2004 season, when he was the tour's player of the year, ending Tiger Woods' five-year reign.

Singh's latest win gives him 31 career victories on the tour. His first win came in his rookie season in 1993, when he was 30. His accomplishments since then include three major victories and supplanting Woods as the world's No. 1 player for 32 weeks during three stints in 2004 and 2005.

Singh admits the path his career has taken is the stuff of fiction.

He's from the South Pacific island of Fiji, where he learned the game from his father, an airplane technician. Singh went on to work as a club pro in Borneo and played various tours around the world before making it to the PGA Tour.

"Not too many times a guy can come from an island as small as mine, that barely has a half-million people, and produce somebody like me," Singh said. "It is incredible. I have done an incredible thing. And I'm really, really amazed by it."

Nineteen of Singh's wins have come since he turned 40. His Mercedes victory broke the record he shared with Sam Snead at 17 for most wins on the PGA Tour after age 40. Singh turned 44 on Feb. 22.

With Singh's strenuous workout program, he could break Snead's record of being the oldest winner on tour. Snead was 52 when he won the 1965 Greater Greensboro Open.

"I'm not out here to break Sam Snead's record or anybody's record," Singh said. "I'm out here to try to play the best golf I can play. If it takes me to the age of 50, I will deal with that.

"My goal is to play to the best of my ability. If it's good enough to win tournaments, I'm all for that."

Singh points out that Fred Funk won on the tour at age 50 (the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico this season) and joked that "I'm a lot bigger and a lot stronger than Freddie Funk.

"The media really makes it a big deal that someone wins at 43, 44 or 45," Singh said. "Who cares? Look at Jay Haas' record at 49 (in 2003). He played really, really well. He made the Ryder Cup (in 2004). That was an incredible feat. Did anyone say he was old? No. Why would anyone start saying I'm old?

"Forty-four is not old. Life begins at 40, don't they say that?"

Reach David Westin at (706) 823-3224 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.