Vijay Singh ended a three-year winless drought Sunday at the SAS Championship. He did it with a caddie he called up five days earlier.
Singh’s previous caddie “fired” him on Tuesday of tournament week. The 63-year-old phoned former looper Wayne De Haas, and the reunion paid off at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, North Carolina.
“Well, my caddie fired me this Tuesday. I think I was a little, I was getting onto him too much,” Singh said after the third round. “It’s good to have Wayne back.”
The departed caddie has not been publicly identified. Singh said the comfort of working with De Haas again made the week easier.
“We worked together for a while. Just comfortable,” Singh said. “Get on the tee, you don’t have to think about too much. And he’s doing most of the thinking, you just have to hit it.”
Singh entered Sunday in a three-way tie with Freddie Jacobson and Tim O’Neal. He made four birdies over a six-hole stretch and closed with a 69 to finish at 9-under 207.
That was two shots clear of Ernie Els and three ahead of Tag Ridings and Alex Cejka. Singh earned $345,000.
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It was Singh’s sixth PGA Tour Champions title and his first since the 2023 Ally Challenge. He is now the seventh-oldest winner on the PGA Tour Champions, and he also owns 34 PGA Tour wins and three majors.
The timing worked out for both men. De Haas had recently lost his job as a Korn Ferry Tour caddie.
“All a coincidence,” Singh said Sunday. “He lost his job on the Korn Ferry and my caddie fired me this week, and I just called up Wayne and I said, ‘Hey, are you ready?’ He said, ‘Yeah.'”
“You know, it was a good team because I missed him, I missed what he brings to the teamwork,” Singh added. “It was so much easier to play golf with somebody really knowing what they’re doing.”
De Haas is a South African former pro who made multiple DP World Tour appearances. He has also caddied for Els and Cameron Young.
He was on Singh’s bag at the 2026 Masters, where Singh missed the cut after rounds of 79 and 75. He called Tuesday’s phone call one of the best of his life.
The win carried extra weight for De Haas. “This one is a bittersweet one for me,” he said on the 18th green.
“Unfortunately, my dad passed two years ago,” De Haas said. “I was on the 8th tee box when I found out my dad had passed away. So this is for him.” He learned the news during the SAS Championship.
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Singh also credited a renewed commitment to practice. He said he had been working out but not practicing much.
“I think I kind of rededicated myself a little bit. I have been very lazy practicing,” Singh said. “So I think I have to start doing that, which I started doing that again and I think that’s why I won today, I guess. Just the extra work that got me through.”
He said the drought had stuck with him. “It’s always nice to win no matter where you’re playing, which tournament it is,” Singh said. “This one feels good right now. Hopefully it’s going to boost me up for the next few events to come and for next year.”
Singh moved 24 spots up the money list and sits 33rd in the Charles Schwab Cup standings. The three-event Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs begin this week in St. Louis.
