Vijay Singh was named the PGA Tour's player of the year today. That marked the first time in five years that Tiger Woods did not win the award.

Singh captured nine tournement wins including the prestigious PGA Championships and became the first golfer to earn over $10 million in one calendar year. Singh earned more than double his nearest competitor and no other golfer won more than three tournements in 2004.

The award is voted on by the tour players. Last year, Singh narrowly lost to Woods who won the award for the fifth consecutive year.

Singh said not winning last year did give him more inspiration to do well this year. 'My thought this year was to play hard and play good for the whole season,' Singh said. 'That was a fulfilling thing. I didn't have to wait for the votes.'

Singh became the first non-American to win the award since Aussie Greg Norman won in 1995.