Tiger's bullish about staying at No1

Tiger Woods confirmed the high esteem he has for his own abilities today when he revealed he voted for himself in last season's ballot for US PGA Tour player of the year.

To be fair, a third US Masters and victory in the US Open took his career tally of majors to eight. Now, however, Woods is facing a dilemma. Can he vote himself as player of the year for a sixth time in seven seasons?

Going into the first round of the American Express World Championship at the Capital City Golf Club, the runners in the race for peer approval - only the players have a vote - are: US Open champion Jim Furyk; Davis Love, winner of the the Players Championship; Vijay Singh, leader of the Order of Merit with prize money totalling £3.75million; Canadian left-hander Mike Weir, who won the US Masters, and Woods, winner of four tournaments victories but without a major for the first time since 1998.

"So far I've had a pretty darn good year," Woods said. "I guess anytime you can win that many events you're going to be in the running. This event is a big tournament and if you can do well, you can sway some votes."