Singh Is the Man to Beat at Kapalua

Vijay Singh is on top of the golf world, but it’s getting crowded at the top. And although the season-opening Mercedes Championships at Kapalua on Maui offer the most spectacular views on the PGA Tour, a snapshot of the elite in golf also is breathtaking.

A new season has rarely looked this ripe with possibilities.

Singh is the undisputed No. 1 player, coming off a season in which he won nine times, added his third major championship and shattered the PGA Tour record with nearly $11 million.

Tiger Woods and Ernie Els are capable of replacing him quickly if the 41-year-old Fijian can’t keep up his amazing pace. Masters champion Phil Mickelson and U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen are poised to make a move, and some believe Sergio Garcia is ready to join the elite.

“This year is going to be exciting,” Goosen said. “There will probably be a No. 1 player a few times this year.”

It all begins to unfold today when the Mercedes Championships get underway on the Plantation Course at Kapalua with an elite 31-man field of PGA Tour winners from last year. The only one missing is Mickelson, who elected not to play.

Singh won six of the last eight tournaments he played on tour, and he finished out of the top 10 only once over the final three months.

“Vijay is the man at the moment,” Els said.

Along with becoming only the sixth man in PGA Tour history to win at least nine times, Singh ended Woods’ five-year reign at No. 1 in the world ranking.

Woods showed up at Kapalua on Monday, the earliest he has ever arrived for the Mercedes because heavy rains in California kept him from practicing.

Woods ended his most troublesome year -- one PGA Tour victory, not in contention in any of the majors -- by winning the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan and his Target World Challenge in December against a 16-man field in the silly season. But he found the swing key he had been working on with coach Hank Haney, and expectations are high.

Asked whether it was similar to 1999, when he finally figured out his swing changes, Woods said, “No. It’s better.”