KAPALUA, Maui — Vijay Singh dropped the hammer on his Mercedes-Benz Championship frustration and all golf opposition yesterday, winning the opening event of the PGA Tour season by two shots over Adam Scott.

Singh blew through the Kapalua Plantation breeze for a final-round 70 and a four-day total of 14-under-par 278. No one could touch him in a week of such extreme conditions golfers were hitting 5-irons 255 yards downwind in 40-mph gusts, and the island of Moloka'i disappeared into the clouds yesterday.

He birdied the first two holes to make his intentions clear. By then his advantage was a gaping six shots. No one really scared him again, as previous years of persistence, and persistent disappointment, were erased.

Singh has finished in the Top 10 in all eight starts at Kapalua — top five in his last six. He was second to Stuart Appleby in 2004, lost to Appleby in a playoff last year and led for 66 holes two years ago before taking triple-bogey on the 13th. He faded to fifth that year, sharing that spot with Scott, then 24 and making his first appearance at the winners-only Mercedes.

Yesterday all was forgotten and forgiven on Maui. Singh, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame last year, won his 30th tour event and became the second golfer (after Tiger Woods) to go over $50 million in earnings.

All 30 wins have come since he turned 30 and yesterday's victory was his 18th since turning 40, surpassing Sam Snead in that bit of golf trivia. Singh will be 44 next month. His age and passing Snead are blips on his radar. Winning at Kapalua, after so many close calls, meant more.

"I wasn't nervous, but in the back of my head there was always a concern how I'm going to go out there," he said. "How you guys are going to write about me tomorrow if I don't win ... 'There he goes again, Mercedes?' I went out there really, really focused to do well ... I started off beautifully birdieing the first two holes and nobody was going to catch me then."

Free spirit Will MacKenzie gave it a shot early, crawling into second four shots back with birdies on three of the first four. He would have just three pars on the front nine and finish at 72.

Davis Love III, 42, and the winner of the last Kapalua International here in 1997, made a charge with a 68 but started too far back.

Same with David Toms, who will defend his Sony Open in Hawai'i title this week at Waialae Country Club. He closed with a tournament-low 6-under-par 67, but could only grab a share of eighth. He, Singh and Rod Pampling (69) played without a bogey yesterday — the only bogey-free rounds of the blustery week.

That left it to Scott, an Australian who played in the final group with Singh and went into the final round three back.

Their gap was seven after four holes, then Scott put together the only serious charge, finishing at 69—280. "I thought I had a chance just because it was windy," Scott said. "One poor shot, and in that long grass, you never know. You might make a big number. As quickly as it came to seven it could go back to two or three."

He did cut his deficit to two with his sixth birdie, at the 16th. It was the only dramatic moment all day and it was over before the 17th hole ended. Scott's 36-foot birdie putt rolled over the left edge and stopped four feet beyond the hole. He missed the comebacker for par, and any chance of catching Singh.

"He knows what he's doing in that position," Scott said. "It would be up to me to go out there and make something happen. I tried on 17. I really thought I had to give that first putt a run."

Scott's rally was admirable, but this was Singh's tournament to lose and he did not come close. He kept his swing in rhythm through the crazy gusts, hit the ball as pure as he ever has and ranked second in putting while using a "belly" putter for the first time in an official tournament. Singh led from Day 1 and was not caught after eagling the fifth hole Friday. He did not have a bogey his final 29 holes.

Two weeks of practicing in Kona's wild winds — he has owned a home there for three years, he said — was precisely right for preparing for Kapalua. Singh, the tour's hardest worker, pounded 400 balls a day uninterrupted on the Big Island, went through intense physical workouts and "crawled" into bed.

"It's so easy to fall off the top," said Singh, who was ranked No. 1 in the world in 2004 after winning nine times and is now No. 7. "Once you're sliding down, you've got to have something to hold onto. My physical condition probably kept me there. If I wasn't strong enough, once you mentally get a little frustrated you can just slide off so quickly."

Singh was back on top yesterday and the fact that Woods and Phil Mickelson passed on paradise this year could not have meant less. The $1.1 million first prize was his. The Mercedes-Benz GL450 was not.

"This week was for my son (Qass)," Singh said. "He's home and this is for him. He wanted this car and he got it."

It was a long way from Fiji, where Singh was born, learned the game from his airplane technician father and ultimately traveled the world to create a game that could compete with the best. Yesterday, his time as a club pro in Borneo was long forgotten.

"Coming from Fiji, it's not easy to do what I've done," Singh said. "It's a miracle to win one golf tournament coming from Fiji, but to do what I've done, and being in the Hall of Fame, is a big thing as well. That's never going to go away. Those are great things I remember. I want people to remember that as well."