The biggest winner

TAMING TIGERIf you8217;ve gotta win, win big. And few won bigger than Vijay Singh in a year that saw him knock off Tiger Woods from the No....

TAMING TIGER

If you8217;ve gotta win, win big. And few won bigger than Vijay Singh in a year that saw him knock off Tiger Woods from the No. 1 slot after five years. Singh won 9 events in 29 starts, including a run of 5 out of 6, and earned a record 10 million for the season. Enough for him to be named both PGA and European Player of the Year.

POMS HIT PEAK

Who8217;d have thought England could do it? Eight wins in a row, home and away, and 11 out of 12 wins for the year, not a single defeat. The key has been a settled team, a potent attack led by Steve Harmison, the emergence of Andrew Strauss whose first 8 Test matches have all been wins and the maturing of Andrew Flintoff. 2005 will be their biggest Test: Australia, home.

AFTER GOD, HIM

Why would anyone want to leave the security of coaching a small club that had just won the Champions League to work in a big-ticket, habitually underperforming side owned by a billionaire of dodgy agenda? That8217;s the confidence of Jose Mourinho who, after crowning Porto champions of Europe and Portugal, opted for Chelsea and the billions of Abramovich. As the year ended, the Blues were five points clear at the top of the Premiership; stranger things have happened, but8230;

FEDEX FIRST

He began the year by winning the Australian Open, then won at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows to become the first player to seal the year-end No. 1 spot in September. Indeed, it seemed Roger Federer broke new ground every time he stepped on court. His 74-6 win/loss record included 11 titles, the most in nine years. Back-to-back Masters titles without losing a match made him the first player since Ivan Lendl in 1986-87, and he also had a 18-0 record against top 10 players

TOP GEAR

Next season, onwards, Michael Schumacher can only break his own records because he8217;s already broken everyone else8217;s. 2004 saw him winning his seventh F1 title; he won 13 of the 18 races with 148 points, beating his own record of 2002 11 wins, 144 points. Actually, there is one record left to break: He needs three more pole positions to better Aryton Senna8217;s magical figure of 65. Who8217;s going to be against it happening in 2005?