New Delhi: The highest-ranked golfer ever to play on Indian soil, Vijay Singh of Fiji Islands, on Saturday said his immediate aim is to win the British Open and the US Open so that he may stake his claim for the number one spot in the game in the next couple of years.

Vijay, ranked fourth in all-time career earnings on the USPGA Tour and currently world number seven, is here to showcase his skills in the BILT Skins Golf Tournament which tees off at the DLF Golf Course, Gurgaon.

The prize money at stake is a staggering Rs 22,50,000 and along with Vijay those vying for the rich purse include amateur golfer Kapil Dev and top professionals Jyoti Randhawa and Harmeet Kahlon.

For the battle-hardened Vijay Singh, the event is just an "outing" as his eyes are set on the bigger goals that he will try and focus at in the coming season.

"The event here is not a major one. It is big though and I don't want to let myself down. I expect to win every event - that's how I play my game."

Vijay Singh, whose visit here immediately follows his win at the $ five million PGA Tour Championship in Atlanta last weekend, said his career was at its peak and he was keen to carry on his form into the next season.

Admitting it was quite late in the season that he struck form, he said, "It would help me go into the next season with a positive frame of my mind."

The 6-feet-2-inch tall Vijay Singh, born to parents of Indian origin in Fiji, said with his physique and the kind of work-out he followed, "I don't need much more to contend for the number one spot."

However, the biggest hurdle in his ambition is none other than Tiger Woods. But the 39-year-old Vijay Singh tried to downplay the threat that the current number one posed.

"Woods has produced golf that is unheard of in modern era. He has tremendous ability and has lifted the bar for everyone else.

"However, If I had to beat only Tiger Woods it is simple. But this year's USPGA Tour winners list contains as many as 18 first timers which shows the kind of competition that exists. I have 144 players to beat before I win any title."

The ace golfer said he had not changed his style of play to counter Woods but he had altered his work-out programme to stay fit. "I am getting older and I need to stay fit in order to play along with younger players on the tour."

Appreciating emerging Indian players like Jeev Mikha Singh, Randhawa and Arjun Atwal, Vijay Singh said he did not quite like the idea of starting playing in the USPGA Tour too fast. "If you do it too fast it will hurt your game. The Asian PGA Tour is quite great and the competition is very tough. You have got to have some sort of practice here before progressing to the USPGA."

PTI