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The talent is so immense, the expectation so outsize, that it has often seemed easy to accuse Tiger Woods of underachievement. But in 1999 Woods buried those charges in a sand trap. After months of honing his swing, Woods went on a rampage the likes of which had not been seen in four decades. He won eight tournaments, including the PGA and Tour championships; during one stretch he won four consecutive starts, becoming the first player to do so since Ben Hogan in 1953. In September he helped propel the U.S. to a dramatic victory in the Ryder Cup. For the year Woods earned more than $6.6 million--$1 million more than Jack Nicklaus made in his entire PGA Tour career--and cemented his status as the world's most marketable athlete. The son of an African-American father and a Thai mother, he remained the most visible symbol of America's multihued society. Through it all, he showed a newfound maturity, the quiet assurance of a performer in full command of his abilities. "It's just going to get better," he said. "I'm not that old. I'm not over the hill yet." At 23, Tiger hasn't even finished his ascent.
Jiang Zemin
His is the most delicate--and harrowing--balancing act on earth. Jiang Zemin finished the year with one monumental triumph: by cutting a deal with the U.S. to secure membership for China in the World Trade Organization, he opened his country's markets to a flood of foreign goods and investment. And yet the WTO agreement--like Jiang's imperial affectations at the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Maoist revolution--only masked his dilemmas. While he steered China into the global economy, Jiang remained at odds with the West on issues ranging from Kosovo to Taiwan. Inside his borders Jiang awkwardly tried to silence members of Falun Gong, the banned meditation cult. The world waits to see how well Jiang can maneuver on the high wire.
Queen Noor
She never left the king's side during his final days, accompanying him on the plane from the Mayo Clinic back to Amman and keeping vigil at his bed as he lay dying. She remained there even at his funeral, shrouding herself from view so as not to defy Islamic custom. In the hours after King Hussein's death, she comforted hundreds of distraught countrywomen, and won the affection of her adopted nation. It came amid rumors that the Queen had tried to engineer the ascension of her 18-year-old son Hamzah over that of the King's brother Hassan. Abdullah, the King's eldest son from his first marriage, eventually climbed the throne, but the Queen saw Hamzah named crown prince. And the former Lisa Halaby retained her royal title, still the picture of lightly worn radiance and grace.
J.K. Rowling
The idea came to the aspiring author in 1990 during a train ride from Manchester to London. It involved a young orphan who discovers he is a wizard, then is whisked away from his cruel aunt and uncle to be schooled in the use of his magical powers. This year that inspiration produced a publishing wonder: three novels about Harry Potter that keep crowding the top three spots on the fiction best-seller lists. Movie directors with the pick of projects are jostling for the right to bring Harry to the screen. J.K. Rowling, who lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, has four more Harry Potters planned. Her readers, young and old, are clearing more bookshelf space now.
Steve Jobs