Akron, Ohio ? Tiger Woods already lost out on the majors. Next up could be his No. 1 ranking.

The top candidate is Vijay Singh, who showed up at Firestone just 18 hours after winning the PGA Championship acting as if nothing had changed and he was ready to play the next tournament.

“You see some guys win and they have a little lull for a week, or they don’t commit to the next week, or it’s tiring for them to win,” PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said. “I saw him (Monday), and he’s just … he’s just Vijay.”

The next time Finchem sees him, he might be looking at the No. 1 player in the world.

Singh’s playoff victory at Whistling Straits brought the 41-year-old Fijian to the brink of a goal not many thought possible two years ago.

Having closed the gap to a mere one-tenth of a point, Singh needs only to finish ahead of Woods at the NEC Invitational to end Woods’ record reign of 262 consecutive weeks atop the world ranking.

“I want to finish No. 1, and if I can do that, that would be great,” Singh said. “That will be the ultimate goal for me — to win a major, win the money list and player of the year, and at the same time be No. 1 in the world. I’m very close, but my focus this week is this tournament.”

Woods has stayed at No. 1 a record 332 weeks since turning pro eight years ago, breaking the record Monday that Greg Norman (331 weeks) had set over a 12-year span. The tough part is holding off Singh, who has won his last two tournaments, and protecting his No. 1 ranking. Woods also has to contend with Ernie Els.

The Big Easy can return to No. 1 — he was last there June 1998 for a total of four weeks — by finishing as low as third, provided Woods and Singh are out of the top 15.