---

Singh-ing
a No. 1 tune

Top-ranked Vijay Singh knows
he has his work cut out if
he wants to stay No. 1

ASSOCIATED PRESS Vijay Singh; Has 24 career PGA Tour victories, including the Masters and PGA Championship, and has won 22 international tournaments. The No. 1-ranked player finished last week's Mercedes Championships at Kapalua, Maui, in a three-way tie for fifth with Adam Scott and Stewart Cink.

Vijay Singh is the newest No. 1 on the golf hit parade, but holding the top spot for a record 334 weeks as Tiger Woods once did seems unlikely for the 40-year-old from Fiji.

At the beginning of 2004, most folks figured Singh's quest to supplant Woods would take at least two years. And yet, thanks to nine wins, including a major at the PGA Championship, that produced nearly $11 million in tour earnings, Singh needed only nine months to run down a struggling Woods and become the best worldwide.

But really now, do you believe Singh is better than Woods? After last week's head-to-head matchup at the Mercedes Championships, the 29-year-old Woods began his 10th year on the PGA Tour in Tiger-like fashion.

True, he wasn't able to dethrone defending champion Stuart Appleby, finishing in a tie for third with Ernie Els two shots off the pace. But he was the only golfer to shoot four rounds in the 60s and had his putter arrived on time from the mainland, there may have been little drama coming down the stretch.

Woods returns to the PGA Tour next week looking for his first win of the season, putting pressure on Singh and defending Sony Open in Hawaii champion Els to land at least in the top 10. The latest rankings released Monday had Singh No. 1 with a score of 12.69. Woods remained in second at 11.21, with Els holding onto third at 10.65.

Last week, the world's best golfers gathered at the Mercedes Championships believed there were five kings of swing, with South African Retief Goosen and lefty Phil Mickelson capable of competing with golf's Big Three. So what does that mean for Singh? Will he remain No. 1 throughout the year or will Woods and Els draw near enough to topple him by the Masters in April?

"I think you can never rule out Tiger," said Appleby, who climbed three spots to No. 11 with his one-shot win over Jonathan Kaye. "He had an average year by his standards and he finished third on the money list. I mean, the guy has power to burn. When he's playing near his best golf, it doesn't look good for the rest of the season."

Woods feels, as do most of his fellow professionals, that the current situation is good for the game. True, he enjoyed his record run, but conceded competition brings out the best in everyone. Els was fairly easy-going last week, but when a reporter commented that Singh appeared ready to run off with the title, Els wiped off his patented grin and went grim for a moment.

"I think it's great for the game of golf," Els said. "There are a lot of challengers for the No. 1 spot. Vijay deserves where he is, but, there are a lot of guys chasing him and trying to do what they can. I think it's much better now than it was five years ago when Tiger was so far ahead of us. But we can all play this game."

Els has demonstrated how well he can play at Waialae Country Club with two wins in two years. He can become the only golfer in the 40-year history of this PGA Tour event to win it three times. But even so, tracking down Singh will take more than that. Winning the first major at Augusta, Ga., could do the trick for Els, who will likely drop off the tour until the Florida swing.

That leaves Singh and Woods on the West Coast swing with Mickelson joining the fray as well. As usual, Mickelson skipped Hawaii, opting to open on his home course in San Diego next week. He is not exactly in the world No. 1 neighborhood, but if he gets hot, it won't take him long to shoot up the leaderboard.

"There are a lot of guys out there trying to be the best," Singh said. "All I can do is go out there each week and do my best. It's a great feeling to be No. 1 in the world. It shows what a lot of hard work can do. But I can't stop doing what I did to get here or I won't stay there long."

The Ones to Watch

---

ASSOCIATED PRESS Chad Campbell: Won three times on the Nationwide Tour before joining the tour, where he has won twice

ASSOCIATED PRESS Retief Goosen: His victories on the PGA Tour last year included the U.S. Open and the Tour Championship

ASSOCIATED PRESS Jonathan Kaye: A relative newcomer who made a statement in last week's Mercedes Championships by finishing second to Stuart Appleby

ASSOCIATED PRESS Jim Furyk: The 2003 U.S. Open champion has played in four Ryder Cup competitions

ASSOCIATED PRESS David Toms: Pocketed $165,000 for his eighth-place finish in last week's Mercedes Championships

---