Vijay Singh Offered to Pay $500K Toward Allen Stanford's Bail

Vijay Singh is currently at 3-under, T49 early in the third round at the Travelers Championship. And as has been the case since January, he's sporting a visor emblazoned with Stanford Financial, one of his sponsors.

One problem: in February, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Stanford with defrauding its customers out of $7 billion, and last week chairman Allen Stanford and three of his colleagues were charged.

Bail was set at $2 million and Singh, who continues to wear the Stanford logo despite the fact that he is no longer being paid to do so, offered to chip in a cool $500,000.

The professional golfer was one of three people who offered to sign for a portion of the financier's bail, his attorney said in court in Houston on Thursday, according to CNBC's Scott Cohn.

Cohn said Singh would have been on the hook for $500,000 if Stanford fled, but he was not allowed to help with bail because he is not a citizen of the United States.

Not to worry, though; some of Stanford's other rich friends ponied up the dough. Unfortunately, the conditions of Stanford's release set forth by the court -- he must live in Houston, submit to electronic monitoring and surrender his Antiguan passport -- didn't sit well with the government, they appealed the ruling, and while we wait for a decision, Stanford's in the can.

It's a start, although I suspect a few nights in county lock-up doesn't do much for the investors currently out $7 billion.

Either way, Singh's involvement is curious. Partly because he's so interested in helping a guy allegedly responsible for stealing billions of dollars (all while giving the financial group free advertising), but also because he's known for his mercurial, standoff-ish demeanor. He's not the first person who comes to mind when you think jailhouse philanthropy.

But as Dave Haggith of IMG, the agency that represents Singh, said recently, "Vijay's opinion is that Stanford has yet to be proven guilty and until then has chosen to act supportively."

And whether you believe that or not, it's an important point. No matter how indicting the evidence may be, Stanford deserves a fair trail. Until a team of high-priced lawyers get him off, anyway.