The leaderboard didn’t pause for him. The noise didn’t either. Yet while the 2026 Sony Open moved on without a headline finish, Vijay Singh quietly authored one of the rarest aging benchmarks the PGA Tour has seen in two decades.
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Only four times in the last 20 years has a player aged 62 or older broken 70 three times in a single PGA Tour week. On Sunday at Waialae, Singh became the fourth instance. Not with a ceremonial appearance. Not with a missed cut softened by nostalgia. With four completed rounds against a full field.
Singh closed with a final-round 69, finishing T39 at five under after rounds of 68-70-68-69 at the Sony Open. The placement barely registered. The context did.
Golf statistician Justin Ray captured the significance succinctly: “Vijay Singh closed the Sony Open with a round of 69. Players to break 70 three times in a week on the PGA Tour at age 62 or older, last 20 years: 2013 Tom Watson, Greenbrier. 2014 Tom Watson, Greenbrier. 2020 Bernhard Langer, RBC Heritage. 2026 Vijay Singh, Sony Open.”
Breaking 70 once at 62 can be a good day. Breaking it three times across 72 holes is a different category entirely. That standard previously belonged only to Tom Watson, who did it twice at ages 63 and 64, and Bernhard Langer, who matched it at 62. Singh joined that group not through ceremony, but through sustained execution across four rounds where missed cuts eliminate sentimentality.
This wasn’t a nostalgia slot. It was a physical test.
Vijay Singh closed the Sony Open with a round of 69
Players to break 70 three times in a week on the PGA Tour at age 62 or older, last 20 years
2013 Tom Watson, Greenbirer
2014 Tom Watson, Greenbrier
2020 Bernhard Langer, RBC Heritage
2026 Vijay Singh, Sony Open— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) January 19, 2026
Context sharpened the result. Singh had not started a full-field PGA Tour event since the 2021 Honda Classic. His place in the field came via the Career Money Exemption, a one-time entry reserved for players inside the top 50 on the Tour’s all-time earnings list. Singh sits sixth at roughly $71.2 million.
That detail mattered because his presence drew criticism before the first tee shot. Some called the exemption outdated. Others questioned its place in a Tour ecosystem that has recently narrowed its exempt pathways. The implication was clear: opportunity without relevance. Singh never addressed it publicly. Instead, he answered it structurally.
His weekend rounds of 68 and 69 arrived precisely when attrition typically claims older players. Many exemptions fade after 36 holes. Singh moved forward. He did not borrow relevance. He validated it.
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The Longevity Comparison That Clarifies the Feat
Longevity in modern golf usually points to Phil Mickelson. Mickelson won the 2021 PGA Championship at 50 and remains the most visible case study in competitive endurance. In 2025, he finished 24th in LIV Golf’s season standings with multiple top-10s across a shortened schedule.
Visibility has sustained Mickelson’s relevance. Scorecards sustained Singh’s. At 62, one continues through presence. The other passed a test that most peers stopped attempting years ago. Singh’s achievement did not rely on legacy optics. It relied on four days of physical and technical execution.
This result was venue-specific for a reason. Waialae Country Club neutralizes the modern power advantage. It is flat, wind-exposed, and precision-driven. Distance matters less than discipline. Memory matters more than speed.
Singh has history here. He won the Sony Open in 2005, edging Ernie Els by one stroke with a closing 65 that included a 300-yard drive on the 18th to set up the winning birdie. That victory launched a four-win season during a three-year stretch where Singh collected 17 PGA Tour titles.
Two decades later, the same attributes carried him again. Precision. Patience. Institutional knowledge of wind patterns and green contours.
The pattern extends beyond Singh. Watson’s Greenbrier feats came at Old White TPC, a par-70 design that rewards shot-making over force. Langer’s 2020 performance came at Harbour Town, another venue built for architects rather than bombers. All four instances share the same blueprint. Vision ages better than velocity.
This finish will not change Singh’s schedule. It will not redefine the Tour’s exemption structure. It will not appear on highlight loops. Still, it settles a more specific question. The exemption earned him entry. The performance earned him history.
At 62, against a full field, Vijay Singh didn’t survive the week. He sustained it. And in doing so, he matched a standard previously reserved for legends who proved that elite ball-striking, when paired with the right venue, has no expiration date.
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