Ask for a show of hands from those willing to seriously challenge the reign of Tiger Woods, and you'd see more hands raised at an auction for a signed K Fed CD. But one man is willing to accept the challenge. And, according to our Grant Boone, don't doubt that he'll give it all he has.

By Grant Boone, Special to PGA.com

I was asked to begin this week's GMT with the following apology:

Due to my inability to orchestrate anything resembling a rival to Tiger Woods, you'll have to settle for the next best thing: a villain. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Vijay Singh. We now return to your regularly scheduled column already in progress.

Yours truly, Christof

Ed Harris' aforementioned character pulled the strings on Jim Carrey in a land of make-believe in The Truman Show. Golf doesn't have such a puppet master; otherwise we would've been presented with someone to consistently challenge Tiger Woods over the last 10 years and either:

a) push Woods to an even greater degree of excellence

b) keep him from laying waste to Jack Nicklaus' (and everyone else's) records.

Reality bites for those who dreamed of dominating professional golf but instead found themselves here, hopelessly drafting behind a decade of Tiger's greatness. Vijay Singh, who won the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship Sunday, is one of the few to bite back.

Since Woods zoomed to No. 1 in the World Golf Rankings in 1997, only Singh and David Duval have displaced him and each only for a few weeks. Best I can tell, Singh and Duval had four common denominators in their respective runs:

1) Home. Both hung their hats in Ponte Vedra, Florida.

2) Fear Factor. Neither had it and both were arrogant enough to believe they could dethrone Tiger, which they did. For a time.

3) Timing. Each man took advantage of the performance downturn Woods experienced both times he overhauled his swing.

4) Skin. Different tint, same density. Neither Duval nor Singh particularly cared what people thought of them. That's an enormously liberating quality for a player dealing with the requisite extracurricular activity associated with being golf's main man.

It's that last characteristic that makes Singh the perfect candidate to play villain to golf's conquering hero. And he's not afraid to be cast in that dubious role.

Listen to some of the things Singh has Sungh through the years and tell me if you think he has a PR man on his payroll:

"Kiss my a--, everybody ... " -- April 2000, upon leaving the premises at Augusta National after winning the Masters (HINT: it starts with "a" and ends with "ss.").

"TIGER WHO?" -- October 2000, via caddie Paul Tesori, who -- as a joke -- wore a cap with those words stitched onto the back during Singh's Presidents Cup singles match versus Woods (Technically, Singh never spoke those words, but I'm guessing Tesori would've removed the cap had his boss ordered him to. By the way, Tiger didn't get the joke, but he did get the better of Singh, 2 & 1.)

"I hope she misses the cut ... She doesn't belong out here. If I'm drawn with her, which I won't be, I won't play ... She's the best woman golfer in the world, and I want to emphasize 'woman.' We have our tour for men, and they have their tour. She's taking a spot from someone in the field." -- May 2003, to Associated Press golf writer Doug Ferguson about Annika Sorenstam's then-imminent participation in the Colonial (Singh went on to win the Nelson the following week, then skip the Colonial, saying he promised his family he'd take a week off if he won.)

"Fred Funk won a golf tournament when he was 48, and I'm a lot bigger and a lot stronger than Freddie Funk ... Anyone who says 43 is old, they can go to h---." -- January 2007, after winning the Mercedes-Benz Championship on Sunday ((HINT: starts with "h" and ends with double hockey sticks. And for the record, that particular line was uttered with Singh's tongue planted firmly in cheek.)

In addition to the bulletin board material, consider that Singh has also:

-- endured a reputation as a cheater given him by some fellow players in his early years on Tour based on a disputed incident in Asia 20 years ago

-- mixed it up with America's Sweetheart, Phil Mickelson, in the champions locker room at Augusta National over the length of Lefty's spikes

-- once said to Tiger's wife, Elin: "Hey, woman! Hey, woman. Listen here. Since your old man ain't got no heart, maybe you wanna see a real man. I bet you stay up every night dreaming you had a real man, huh? Bring your pretty little self over to my apartment and I'll show you a real man." (Actually, that was Mr. T's Clubber Lang to Adrian Balboa in Rocky III. Just wanted to see if you're still there.)

Still, Singh's created a public persona that has all the warmth of Donald Trump after a colonoscopy. And if you were Singh's PR rep, you'd be in danger of getting The Donald treatment. Here's why:

Singh's actually a good guy. Seriously. Been with the same woman for a quarter century, his longsuffering wife, Ardena, about whom he once told golf writer Bob Verdi, "She's either crazy or she really loves me." They have one son, Qass. The family has a charitable foundation to benefit women and children who are victims of domestic abuse. He's a good guy.

Singh's seemingly unceasing sessions on the practice tee are the stuff of legend. But one of the reasons he's there so long is because he's constantly working with other players at their request. He's a player's player. After Singh won the first of his three majors, the 1998 PGA Championship at Sahalee, Nick Price said, "You can't begrudge success to someone who's worked that hard."

In fact, Singh's story -- rising penniless from the sugar canes of Fiji, enduring a decade of inconsistency, then outworking everyone else to become a Hall of Fame member and the second-best player of his era (yes, ahead of Mickelson) -- is an ABC After School Special waiting to happen.

But bad reputations are harder to shake than the 10 pounds of flab Santa left on your waistline. Especially in golf. About the dustup in Asia, it wasn't uncommon to hear other Tour players say, "Once a cheater, always a cheater."

To many golf fans, Singh's boring at best. An a--hole at worst. (HINT: rhymes with Qass.) Think of it this way: if he had a litany of indiscretions half as long as John Daly, we'd have run him back to Fiji on a rail. JD aw-shuckses his way through one mess after another (sincerely, I believe), and we beg for more. Singh gives straight answers (if not blunt ones), helps his fellow player, loves his family, racks up cash and trophies ... and we change the channel.

So, Singh goes on playing the villain. And doesn't care. He doesn't have time to. There are balls to beat, shots to practice, putts to be holed. More than that, though, Singh remembers from what and whence he came. He well remembers what it's like to have nothing, who was with him when he had it, and who loved him anyway.

There's a scene in The Truman Show when Truman -- unaware that he's the star of a reality show in a fictional town with fictional friends and family -- tells his buddy, Marlon, during a round of golf that he's thinking about getting out of Seahaven to see the world. He specifically mentions Fiji.

Marlon: Where's Fiji? Near Florida? You can't drive there, can you?

Truman (pointing to golf ball): See here?

Marlon: Yeah.

Truman: This is us... (moves his finger halfway around ball) ... and all the way around here ... Fiji. You can't get any further away before you start coming back.

Indeed. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Vijay Singh.

Grant Boone is a husband, father, golf broadcaster, and sports journalist based in Abilene, Texas. His column appears on PGA.com each Wednesday and every day during major championships and other big events. He can be contacted at pgagrant@hotmail.com.

The views and opinions expressed here do not reflect those of PGA.com or The PGA of America.