Decade's greatest players stand in line behind Tiger

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Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson defined the decade in golf, combining for 106 PGA TOUR victories and 17 major championships.

Before delving into the greatest players of the 21st century thus far, it's interesting to take a look back to the best of decades' past. If anything, makes Tiger Woods' recent success look more impressive.

With that, it's on to the list for the 2000s. No. 1 was a no-brainer, the next three were easy picks, but the rest of the field for the top 10 players of the last 10 years proved a tough selection. How much weight do major championships receive? How does consistency and longevity get rewarded? What about dominance during a short period? Here's one analyst's breakdown.

1. Tiger Woods (PGA TOUR wins: 56; Majors: 12). He's undoubtedly the golfer of the decade, and he's one of the favorites for athlete of the decade along with good friend Roger Federer, Lance Armstrong, Tom Brady and Michael Phelps. As far as golfers go, fans may have witnessed the greatest decade in the history of the sport. It began with the Tiger Slam, four straight majors stretching from a domination at the 2000 U.S. Open to the 2001 Masters. He repeated as Masters champ in 2002 and followed up with another U.S. Open at Bethpage two months later. He didn't win a major in 2003 or 2004, but did take the PGA TOUR Player of the Year honors in the latter.

Returning in a big way in 2005, he won his fourth Masters and his second British Open. But the run didn't come without adversity. Tiger lost his father, Earl, in 2006, leading to an emotional British Open triumph. The creation of the FedExCup in 2007 gave Woods another trophy to shoot for. He won the points competition in its first year and again in 2009. Tiger missed the second half of the 2008 season -- following his third U.S. Open title -- after undergoing knee surgery. Woods returned to win six times in 2009.

In all, he won the PGA TOUR Player of the Year eight out of 10 times in the 2000s and played in every Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup he was healthy for. He won 14 World Golf Championships events, a PLAYERS Championship and a TOUR Championship. Tiger has held the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking every week for the last four years and for most of the decade overall. Need we go on?

2. Phil Mickelson (PGA TOUR wins: 24; Majors: 3). Lefty heads the list of players who would have far bigger trophy cases if not for one Tiger Woods. Still, his decade is nothing to laugh at. Mickelson came into the 2000s as the best player never to win a major and finished the decade as a proven champion and a bona fide Hall of Famer. His breakthrough came in 2004. Mickelson captured his first major title at Augusta National, his 72nd-hole jump for joy etched in golf history. As if the weight of the world was lifted from his shoulders, Mickelson went on to win the 2005 PGA Championship and the 2006 Masters.

Heartbreak struck at the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, where Mickelson collapsed on the final hole with a one-shot lead to give Geoff Ogilvy the title. That led to one of the most famous and most endearing quotes in golf history -- "I am such an idiot." In typical Mickelson fashion, he battled back and won the 2007 PLAYERS Championship. In 2009, both Mickelson's wife and mother were diagnosed with breast cancer. He returned late in the year to win THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola and the first World Golf Championships event in China, beating Woods both times.

3. Vijay Singh (PGA TOUR wins: 26; Majors: 2). The Fijian defied the odds by excelling well into his 40s during the decade. He captured the 2000 Masters and the 2004 PGA Championship, the 2004 PGA TOUR Player of the Year and the 2008 FedExCup. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2005. Everybody anticipated a Tiger triumph in the 2000s, but Singh actually won the decade's first major at Augusta in 2000. He went winless in 2001 but won multiple events in 2002 (two), 2003 (four), 2004 (nine) and 2005 (four).

Nobody could touch Singh in 2004. His nine wins included the PGA Championship, which he won in a three-man playoff against Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco. Singh bagged the money title for the second straight year with a record $10,905,166. At 41 years old, he took over the No. 1 world ranking from Woods, who had held it since the outset of the decade. Although losing that ranking early in 2005, Singh didn't fade. He won seven more times from 2005 to 2007. In 2008, Singh returned to the top of the TOUR by winning the FedExCup.

4. Ernie Els (PGA TOUR wins: 9; Majors: 1). Rounding out golf's "Big Four" from the mid-2000s was the Big Easy, who enjoyed most of his success early in the decade. Els barely missed out on a banner year in 2000. He finished in second place at the Masters, the U.S. Open and the British Open. He won seven PGA TOUR events from 2002 to 2004, including his third career major championship at the 2002 British Open. There he outlasted Thomas Levet, Stuart Appleby and Steve Elkington in a playoff.

The South African went on to win the first two events of the 2003 season in Hawaii. Els finished a career-high second on the money list in 2004 thanks to wins at the Sony Open, the Memorial and the World Golf Championships-American Express Championship. It took almost four years for Els to win again on the PGA TOUR, but give him credit for continuing to play well overseas. He nabbed 20 international victories during the decade and captured the 2001 World Cup with Retief Goosen. He was also an integral part of four Presidents Cup teams.

5. Retief Goosen (PGA TOUR wins: 7; Majors: 2). The South African made a name for himself at the U.S. Open, winning two of them to join the TOUR's elite in the last decade. In his rookie year on TOUR in 2001, Goosen broke through at the 2001 U.S. Open at Southern Hills. Though Stewart Cink gave away the title by making double bogey on the 72nd hole, Goosen still had to beat Mark Brooks in an 18-hole playoff. It also bears mentioning that Goosen won the European Tour's Order of Merit and teamed with Ernie Els to win the World Cup that year.

Proving that year was no fluke, Goosen captured at least one PGA TOUR and European Tour event every year from 2002-05. In America, he won the 2002 BellSouth Classic and the 2003 Chrysler Championship as he finished 10th on the money list both years. Goosen garnered more glory at the U.S. Open in 2004, where he bested Phil Mickelson by two shots at Shinnecock Hills. He came back from injury to win the season-ending TOUR Championship and finish sixth on the money list. After winning The INTERNATIONAL in 2005, it took Goosen four years to find the winner's circle again at the 2009 Transitions Championship. Through it all he remained consistent, never missing more than five cuts in a TOUR season from 2000-09.

6. Jim Furyk (PGA TOUR wins: 9; Majors: 1). That funky swing brought a lot of success for Furyk the last 10 years, namely victories in all but two seasons and his first first major championship at the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields. A model of consistency, Furyk played in at least 23 events and finished inside the top-20 on the money list every season but 2004, which was cut short because of wrist surgery. His first multiple-win season came in '03 with that U.S. Open title followed by a triumph at the Buick Open. He tied the 36-hole U.S. Open scoring record (133), broke the 54-hole mark (200) and tied the 72-hole record (272). After the Buick Open, he moved up to a career-high world ranking at No. 3.

Furyk showed no ill-effects from the wrist surgery with four victories from 2005-07. He hasn't missed more than three cuts in a season since while playing one of the more demanding schedules of the world's elite players. The advent of the FedExCup in 2007 provided another platform for Furyk's week-in, week-out strong play. He and Mickelson are the only players who finished in the top 11 of the final FedExCup standings in its first three seasons. Furyk managed that without winning in 2008 or 2009, though 20 top-10s certainly helped his cause.

7. Kenny Perry (PGA TOUR wins: 11; Majors: 0). Only three players won more PGA TOUR events in the last 10 years than Perry. They're Nos. 1, 2 and 3 on this list. Beginning the decade at 39 years old, Perry recorded a handful of the best seasons of his career. He won multiple events in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2009. Perry failed to win a major, but as he inched closer to Champions Tour status, he became even more of a threat to win every week he teed it up.

The surge began in 2001, when Perry secured his first TOUR title in six years at the Buick Open. Two years later, he won three times with 11 top-10s while finishing sixth on the money list. Perry posted victories in back-to-back weeks at the Bank of America Colonial and at the Memorial and made it three wins in four starts at the Greater Milwaukee Open. He won at Bay Hill and again at Colonial in 2005, finishing sixth in money. Following a mini winless drought in 2006 and 2007, Perry got hot again starting in 2008. He won five times in the last two years and came agonizingly close to taking home his first major at the 2009 Masters. Perry will tell you that being a part of his first Ryder Cup teams in 2004 and 2008 were also highlights, especially winning in front of a home crowd in Kentucky in the latter.

8. Padraig Harrington (PGA TOUR wins: 5; Majors: 3). Harrington had perhaps the steadiest rise of any golfer in the decade. He entered 2000 on the fringe of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking and finished the 2009 season ranked fifth. Coming over from the European Tour, he didn't play a full PGA TOUR schedule until 2005. Still, he won twice that first year in dramatic fashion. He erased a seven-stroke deficit in the final round to capture the Honda Classic. Then at the Barclays Classic, he drained a 66-foot eagle putt on the final hole to beat Jim Furyk by one shot.

The Irishman won his first major championship at the 2007 British Open at age 35, topping Sergio Garcia in extra holes. He lifted two more major trophies in 2008, the best year of his career. Harrington repeated as British Open champ at Royal Birkdale and went on to win the next major at the PGA Championship and wrap up Player of the Year honors. Swing changes hampered Harrington from continuing his major streak in 2009, but he put everything together late in the season with six straight top-10s and a career-high FedExCup finish of seventh.

9. David Toms (PGA TOUR wins: 9; Majors: 1). Like Retief Goosen, Toms made his big splash at a major championship in 2001. The LSU grad fended off Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club, highlighting a breakthrough season. He won three times (second only to Tiger Woods), tallied nine top-10s and finished third on the money list. Toms never duplicated that '01 season, but the next eight years weren't too shabby. He posted 12 top-10s in '02 and finished fourth in money despite not winning. In '03, he recorded victories at the Wachovia Championship and the FedEx St. Jude Classic, the first of back-to-back Memphis titles.

The second-biggest win of Toms' career came at the 2005 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, where he dominated Chris DiMarco, 6-and-5, in the finals. The 2006 Sony Open in Hawaii marked his last victory. Toms managed three runner-up finishes in '09 and finished a career-high 19th in the FedExCup.

10. Mike Weir (PGA TOUR wins: 7; Majors: 1). Many players deserved mention for the final spot on this list, but Weir gets the nod because of his memorable moments over the last decade -- highlighted by his 2003 Masters victory. In 2000, he won the World Golf Championships-American Express Championship and became the first Canadian to play in a Presidents Cup. A year later, he won the 2001 TOUR Championship, his third straight year with a victory.

The Masters victory capped a three-win season in 2003. He also captured titles at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and the Nissan Open before outlasting Len Mattiace in a playoff at Augusta. His countrymen will remember the 2007 Presidents Cup in Montreal, where Weir beat No. 1 Tiger Woods in Singles. To top it all off, Weir was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame just last week.

Honorable mention: Justin Leonard (eight wins), Sergio Garcia, Davis Love III and Adam Scott (seven wins each).