The Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Vijay Singh leaned back in a chair and flipped through a 13-page news release the PGA Tour puts out each week, containing all the vital data.

It didn't matter that most of the information was outdated. Singh knows exactly where he stands.

No. 1 on the money list.

No. 1 in the all-around ranking that combines all the key statistical categories.

No. 1 in PGA Tour victories this year.

All he has to do now is climb one more rung to get the ranking that matters the most to him: No. 1 in the world.

"I'd like to get to the No. 1 spot. That's been my goal for a long, long time," Singh said Wednesday after his pro-am round at the Wachovia Championship.

"If there was any chance I was going to get to No. 1, it will probably be this year."

Indeed, there is a sense of urgency at Quail Hollow Club.

The second-year tournament, already regarded as a can't-miss stop on the PGA Tour, features the strongest field since the Masters with only Ernie Els (No. 3) missing among the top six players in the world.

That means more world ranking points are available this week, and that means everything to the top two players.

Tiger Woods, No. 1 in the world the last 247 weeks, is assured of keeping his top ranking no matter what happens this week. He also recognizes that the gap has never been more narrow, and that Singh is not letting up. If the Fijian continues to play better, he will overtake Woods after the U.S. Open.

To some players, the gap doesn't even exist.

"He (Singh) was definitely the best at the end of last year," defending champion David Toms said. "To me, he would be the guy to beat this week."

Even Woods conceded Wednesday that his ranking is vulnerable.

"It's a fact I won't be No. 1 forever," Woods said. "Either someone flat-out outplays me, or I might not play at the same level, or old age takes over."

A year ago, Woods had such a commanding lead in the world ranking that the points between No. 1 and No. 2 were equivalent to the points between No. 2 and No. 126. Now, the difference is the about the same as No. 2 to No. 5.

LPGA: Michelle Wie will have major championship experience at her side this week on the LPGA Tour.

Wie, who finished fourth at the Nabisco Championship, has hired Mike "Fluff" Cowan as her caddie at the Michelob Ultra Open.

"Michelle was so happy to hear the news when I picked her up at school," her father, B.J. Wie, told the Los Angeles Times.

Cowan worked for Tiger Woods when he won the Masters in 1997. He has worked the last five years for U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk, out indefinitely after wrist surgery.