Tee to green, no one hit the ball better in the 2005 Masters Tournament than Vijay Singh. Once on the greens, no one putted worse.

Vijay Singh won the 2000 Masters Tournament and has two PGA Championships to his credit. In 2004 and 2005, Singh spent 32 weeks as the world's No. 1 player, a position he hopes to regain. (Annette M. Drowlette/Staff)

Singh, the 2000 champion, led the field in greens hit in regulation. He hit 58 of the 72, or four more than anyone else.

"I was really pleased with how I struck the ball," said Singh, who also finished second in driving distance with an average of 292.9 yards.

He wasn't pleased with leading the field in a dubious stat - number of putts. Of the players who made the cut, Singh had more putts than anyone (129) by three putts.

"I just couldn't get the feel of it; I couldn't get the feel in my hands," Singh said. "I couldn't get the pace. I tried everything."

Put it all together, and Singh still finished tied for fifth place. With rounds of 68-73-71-72 for 4-under-par 284, he was in the top six after each round.

Had Singh putted better, he would have given chase to champion Tiger Woods and Chris DiMarco, who lost to Woods in the sudden-death playoff. DiMarco tied for first in putting with 110. Woods had 115.

Had he putted like he normally does, would Singh have won the 2005 Masters?

"Probably; I couldn't say for sure," he said. "People say that about a lot of tournaments. There is no guarantee that one could do that. But probably, yeah.

"Now I'm putting really well and feel like I can make putts. It's coming together."

Singh spent 32 weeks as the world's No. 1 player during portions of 2004 and 2005. He was No. 1 when the 2005 Masters started, but Woods regained the top spot with his victory.

"Sure I'd like to get back to No. 1," Singh said. "It (granting interviews) wasn't a hassle at all. I never minded it. It was a great time of my career. Hopefully, I can get back up there. I'm leading myself to get back up there."

At age 43, Singh is halfway to the career grand slam. In addition to his Masters victory, he has won two PGA Championships.

"Sure it is important," Singh said when asked whether the next few years are crucial." But there is no urgency, absolutely no urgency at all. I don't care about a (career) grand slam. If I just win another major I'd be happy."

Singh had four victories in 2005 and finished second on the money list after being the top earner the previous two years. But he didn't win after the Buick Open in late July.

"On paper it looked really good, but I was disappointed," Singh said. "I thought I played a lot better than I scored. I scored poorly. Towards the end of the year, I think, was one of the most disappointing things that I've done in a long time, missing two cuts in a row in tournaments that I've won and finished second in previous years, so I don't want to do any of that anymore."

It was a step down from the 2004 season, when Singh won nine times and set a tour record for earnings in a season with $10,905,166, a mark that still stands.

"(In 2004) I had a one-track mind, and just nothing was going to interfere between me and my golf," Singh said. "And last year, I started off like that, but you have obligations to a lot of other things. I can still do it and do my workouts and do my practice, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

"And somewhere along the way, I lost my way," Singh said. "But it's a good experience, it's a good lesson to know that if you want to play the best game of golf, you have to focus on what you're doing. And I did not do that. I missed winning golf tournaments, and I want to start doing that again."

Singh finished no worse than 20th in eight PGA Tour starts this year.

He took a break in early March by skipping the Honda Classic to work on his swing. Singh, who lives in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., spent some time on the practice range at the TPC at Sawgrass.

"I think he's a serious person when he's working," said fellow Ponte Vedra Beach resident Jim Furyk, who also practices at the TPC at Sawgrass. "He practices hard, he works very hard; I respect that. I see the work that he puts into it at home. I think he's always got a very serious, kind of intimidating way about him, and maybe it's hard for some people to relate to that."

Reach David Westin at (706) 724-0851 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.