singh and els

This year is really shaping up to be one of the best in recent memory -- "best" in the sense that the big guns seem fired up. Vijay Singh won impressively at Pebble Beach for his first of the year, while Ernie Els won (barely hanging on, though) the Heineken on the European Tour. Throw in Phil Mickelson (who has won once and placed third at Pebble) to the mix, and now we're talking.

Who's Tiger's most serious competition? Well, probably all three of these guys. Vijay's consistent play week in and week out dating back to last year (12 straight top 10s!) makes him the leading No.2.

UPDATE: vote in our new poll on this issue!

UPDATE 2: hear more about Vijay's amazing play in this article at cnnsi.com. His fellow golfers and the golf press are definitely taking notice!