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Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Phil Mickelson are the top five golfers in the world in the final computerized ranking of 2004.

The Official World Golf Ranking issued Monday shows Singh with 12.79 points to 11.60 for Woods and 10.98 for Els. Goosen has 7.47 and Mickelson 7.

The ranking, which is endorsed by six professional tours, is based on how players finish in tournaments and other factors, such as strength of field. Points are accumulated over a two-year period.

Singh, who won nine tournaments this year, took the top spot from Woods in September. Woods had fallen to No. 3 behind Els before moving back up to No. 2.

Rounding out the top 10, in order, are Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, Mike Weir, Davis Love III and Stewart Cink.

The Final Official World Golf Ranking for 2004 was published following the completion of the Asia Japan Okinawa Open on Sunday and Vijay Singh will close out the year as the World No. 1.

Singh overtook former No. 1 Tiger Woods thanks to a stellar campaign in 2004 that saw him win nine times on the PGA Tour, including his second PGA Championship. Woods meanwhile completes 2004 as the second-ranked player in the world, 1.19 points behind Singh.

Ernie Els held onto the third spot followed by U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen and Masters winner Phil Mickelson. Padraig Harrington remained at No. 6 as the top-ranked European player in the world.

Sergio Garcia was next at No. 7 while Mike Weir, Davis Love III and Stewart Cink rounded out the top 10.

Adam Scott came in at No. 11, followed by Miguel Angel Jimenez, who won five times in 2004. Stuart Appleby was next at No. 13 with Darren Clarke and Chris DiMarco at No. 14 and No. 15, respectively.

British Open champion Todd Hamilton was 16th while Stephen Ames, Kenny Perry, Chad Campbell and David Toms filled in the rankings from 17-20.

Kiyoshi Miyazato of Japan won the Asia Japan Okinawa Open and in the process moved up to No. 301 in the world.

World number one Vijay Singh of Fiji has been named the player of the year on the European PGA tour despite not winning a title in Europe.

Earlier this month Singh was named US PGA Tour player of the year after winning nine titles there and becoming the first player to earn more than US$10 million (NZ$14m) in a single campaign.

Spain�s Miguel Angel Jimenez, who won four European tournaments on the 2004 calendar, was second in the vote taken by European golf writers. He also helped Europe win the Ryder Cup against the U.S.

Singh played in nine tournaments on the European Tour, winning 1.46 million euros (NZ$2.6m). Singh won the US PGA title this year which is included on the European Tour calendar and on the US tour, but he did not win a regular European Tour event.

In the British Open, the only major tournament in Europe, he finished 11 shots behind the winner, Todd Hamilton of the US.

“Obviously it was disappointing not to win on European soil in 2004, but this award makes amends for that a little,” Singh said in a statement.

“I spent several happy seasons learning my trade on the European Tour in the late eighties and early nineties and to be recognised by this Tour gives me immense personal satisfaction.”