Congratulate Ernie Els. Of his five second-place finishes in 2000, three were in majors and four were to Tiger Woods, earning Els the sole golf superlative still worth playing for: world's best human golfer. With all due respect to the Chinese calendar, Woods made this the second straight Year of the Tiger: He became the first golfer to win nine PGA titles in a year since Sam Snead won 11 in 1950; the second ever, after Ben Hogan in 1953, to win three professional majors in a single season; and, at 24-years-old, the youngest of five golfers to complete a career Grand Slam. Woods's all-around brilliance was blinding -- he set records in eight statistical categories, including breaking his own single-season earnings mark of $6,616,585 by an amount ($2,571,736) that was more than all but four other golfers made this year -- but he did his best work when the stakes were highest. By finishing 12 under par at the U.S. Open (a major-record 15 ahead of his closest pursuer), 19 under at the British Open and 18 under in four rounds of the PGA Championship (before smoking Bob May in a three-hole playoff), Woods, with his 18-under win at the 1997 Masters, holds or shares the scoring record at all four majors. Scarier still, with his 25th birthday on Dec. 30, not only does he drive a Buick, but also he can finally rent one.

--Jamal Greene