By Doug Ferguson
Associated Press
Wednesday, December 27

Tiger Woods was a repeat winner Tuesday as The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year. Like so many of his amazing victories, it was no contest.

	There was plenty of fist-pumping in 2000 for Tiger Woods, who set scoring and earnings records for the PGA Tour.

Fresh off his incredible season of nine victories, three straight majors, the career Grand Slam and shots that had to be seen to be believed, Woods joined Michael Jordan as the only three-time winner of the AP award since it began in 1931.

He received 47 first-place votes and 160 points from sportswriters and broadcasters to easily defeat back-to-back Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

Woods became the sixth player to win the award in consecutive years. The others were tennis great Don Budge, golfer Byron Nelson, track star Carl Lewis, quarterback Joe Montana and Jordan, who won it three years in a row.

"It's very humbling," Woods said. "It's a great honor to be in the presence of such great names. I didn't realized that Jordan was the only other three-time winner."

Armstrong had eight first-place votes and 72 points, while St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner was third with 34 points. Points were awarded on a 3-2-1 basis.

Rounding out the top 10 were Pedro Martinez, Shaquille O'Neal, Rulon Gardner, Jason Giambi, Derek Jeter, Josh Heupel and Marshall Faulk.

In a sport where two strokes is considered a comfortable victory, Woods won the U.S. Open by 15 strokes, a World Golf Championship by 11, the British Open by eight and two other tournaments by at least four strokes.

It was a year in which he kept raising the bar, and sailing over it. The higher the expectations, the better Woods played.

Five straight wins on the PGA Tour piqued a nation's interest. Then, Woods made it six in a row by coming from seven strokes behind over the final seven holes at Pebble Beach.

Winning the U.S. Open wasn't enough. Woods challenged history and whipped that the way he did the rest of the field -- a 15-stroke victory, the largest margin in the 140 years of major championship golf, a 12-under 272 on a course where no one else broke par.

Could he complete the Grand Slam at the home of golf? No problem. He won the British Open by eight strokes, set another major-championship record with a 19-under 269 and never once set foot in any of the 112 bunkers at St. Andrews.

	Best of 2000
	Here are the top 10 finishers in voting for The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year: 1. Tiger Woods 2. Lance Armstrong 3. Kurt Warner 4. Pedro Martinez 5. Shaquille O'Neal 6. Rulon Gardner 7. Jason Giambi 8. Derek Jeter 9. Josh Heupel 10. Marshall Faulk

He made it three straight majors at the PGA, the first player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to do that. He broke Nelson's 55-year-old scoring record with an unadjusted average of 68.17. He didn't have a round over par after May 7.

When asked at what point in the season he thought he was capable of winning three straight majors and half of all the tournaments he played, Woods replied, "On the first day of the year."

"My goal is to go out there and win every time," he said. "Obviously, it's not going to happen, but my goal is to compete and win everything. I did think this was possible. And I think it's possible in the future."

Woods transcended his sport like few others. His name alone -- Tiger -- became a new definition for the highest level of performance in sports, politics and on Wall Street.

"He is something supernatural," five-time British Open champion Tom Watson said. "He has raised the bar to a level that only he can jump."

Woods does things like no one else, and not just some of the outrageous shots he produces at some of the most crucial times in tournaments.

He became the first player to finish under par in every tournament he played, and he has not finished over par since the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie, a streak of 25 starts. His record streak of 47 rounds at par or better included three majors, and he went 64 holes in a major championships without making a bogey.

"Cut him open and I'll tell you what you'll find -- a bunch of wires and levers, and a big heart," Rocco Mediate said.

When Woods first rose to the top of golf with his 12-stroke victory in the 1997 Masters, some believed he did not have the patience or control to ever win a U.S. Open, that his game was suited to only certain styles.

Woods proved this year he has a game for every course, every condition, every occasion.

He never made worse than par over the final 26 holes in the U.S. Open, the toughest test of golf that puts the ultimate premium on par. He won the British Open with four rounds in the 60s. He owns scoring records in all four majors, thanks to his 18-under 270 at the PGA Championship, which he won in a thrilling playoff over Bob May.

Typically ho-hum about everything he does, Woods admitted his three straight majors were indeed something special.

"The reason is, they're played on three different types of venues, three different settings, three differing feelings, three different everything," he said. "Winning a major in and of itself is so difficult. And when you factor in the pressures of people coming at you on Sunday, career Grand Slam, all of those, it's a pretty impressive feat."