The New Vijay

At the same time, Singh has cranked up his training regimen, hiring Fronk last July after working with Diovisalvi since 2000. Singh and Fronk meet six days a week, and sometimes seven. When Singh is home, their routine is two 90-minute sessions a day. At tournaments they typically do 45 minutes in the morning and an hour after the round. Fronk, 41, also studies Singh on the range and in competition to evaluate which exercises are best. "It's a lot harder than what I used to do with Joey," says Singh.

It's definitely hard. In the large aerobics room of the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, Fronk directed Singh through a program of stretching and floor work, followed by high-intensity intervals that employed dumbbells, medicine balls, isometrics, plyometrics and jump-ropes, several of the activities performed on the unstable base of physio balls to build core strength. There was rarely more than 15 seconds of rest between exercises, and Singh breathed heavily and often grunted with effort.

"As far as work ethic, Vijay reminds me of Curtis Martin," says Fronk, referring to the Jets' retired running back. "The guy has no quit in him." As Singh was leaving, Jesper Parnevik showed up wearing very short swim trunks and a tight T-shirt with a deep neckline that looked as if it had been borrowed from Mick Jagger. "Jesper," Singh said, pausing a beat before adding, "Nice pants." After delaying his laugh until he was out the door, Singh said, "One thing about working out: You always feel better after."

With such a regimen, Singh says he'll be winning PGA Tour events until he's 50. A player who has done just that, Fred Funk, thinks Singh can take it even further. "He has so much natural size and strength along with the determination to retain it, that he's going to be able to play the power game longer than anybody else," Funk says. "I could see him staying a top-five player and contending for majors into his 50s."

Singh is well aware that the next major he wins will give him four, one more than Mickelson and Ernie Els, the contemporaries he'll be measured against as the second-best player of the Woods Era. Perhaps with an eye on that prize, the former iron man -- who last year suffered nagging injuries to his elbow and ankle -- is talking for the first time about playing fewer tournaments and shortening his ball-hitting sessions.

"Vijay has always been about quantity, quantity, quantity," says Funk. "It's time to focus on quality."

To Singh, that also means more time with his son, Qass. Now 17 and as tall and even more broad-shouldered than his father, Qass [pronounced Kass] often hits the longer drives when the two partner in the Father/Son Challenge.

Although Singh admittedly was never close to his father, a good golfer who gave him some initial instruction, he clearly longs for an increasing bond with his only child, through golf.

"My whole goal is to get my son playing a little more," says Singh. "He's got more potential than I ever had, more than anyone I've ever seen. He's my life right there, that kid. He's at that critical stage at the end of high school, so I've let him go his own way, and he really works on his game only to prepare for the Father/Son. But I'd love to give all this knowledge I have to my son. Just for him to harness all that and go out and play. I think golf is always in the back of his mind, and if he wanted to play and I wasn't competitive enough, I'd quit and just teach him, you know. That's how much I want him to play well. He'll be my legacy."

Catching himself, Singh takes a broader view.

"I just want him to be happy," he says. "I had to gain happiness, because I didn't always have it. But again, that's experience. When you're unhappy, you have to recognize it, because if you don't you're going to be unhappy the next day, and it's just going to snowball into something that doesn't stop. You can't think, I'm stuck; what choice do I have? You always have a choice."

Singh's latest choice with his game has been a bold one. If it pays off in time for Augusta, he'll be back in the conversation.