The Player

Tiger Woods: On the Saturday, he and Mark O'Meara wondered whether the individual title could be treated as a serious, 72-hole…

Tiger Woods: On the Saturday, he and Mark O'Meara wondered whether the individual title could be treated as a serious, 72-hole tournament, given that they helped each other as partners. All such misgivings were forgotten, however, when Woods shot a closing 65 for a personal aggregate of 21 under par in the World Cup in Kuala Lumpur.

It would become the 10th of an astonishing haul of 11 tournament victories this year. They were: Buick Invitational, Deutsche Bank Open, Memorial Tournament, Western Open, USPGA Championship, NEC Invitational, Walt Disney Tournament, US Tour Championship, American Express Tournament, World Cup Individual and the Grand Slam of Golf.

In the process, Woods captured four-in-a-row, from the NEC to the American Express event. At 23, he became the youngest player to win eight US tournaments in a season, since Horton Smith also won eight as a 21-year-old in 1929. And his 16 top-10 finishes were the most in a single season since Payne Stewart also recorded 16 in 1986.

Not surprisingly, he is Player of the Year in the US. Indeed, Woods is the world's indisputable player of the year.