Tiger dominates headlines on, off course (Yahoo! Sports)
December 27, 2009
Since 1996, when he won his record third consecutive U.S. Amateur and his first two professional events, Tiger Woods has been the No. 1 story in the game of golf. That was the case again in 2009, though in a way nobody could have anticipated.
Woods, however, was not the only story, even if it felt that way. As usual, there were plenty of intriguing subplots on the PGA and LPGA tours.
Following are the top 10 stories of the year:
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10. It’s only a game
It was a heartbreaking year in the lives of a number of figures in the golf community, most notably longtime tour pros Ken Green and Chris Smith.
In June, Green’s brother and girlfriend were killed when a blown tire led to an RV accident on a Mississippi interstate. The injuries to Green’s right leg were so severe that it had to be amputated below the knee. Yet, Green is not giving up the game he loves. He had a 20-inch prosthesis inserted into a golf shoe and is aiming to return to the Champions Tour.
Only two weeks later, Smith’s wife, Beth, was killed and two of their children were critically injured in a crash on Interstate 69 in northern Indiana.
9. Another dream team?
The news became official in October: The 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro will feature the world’s best golfers vying for a medal.
Many issues remain unresolved, such as which players will be eligible and which course will be used.
As for the potential field, Woods will only be 40 years old in 2016, while Phil Mickelson will be 46.
8. The economy, stupid
Although the full impact may not be felt until 2011, the tour may never be quite as profitable as it was before the downturn.
Several companies have cut ties with the tour, including U.S. Bank, which pulled out of the event in Milwaukee. Meanwhile, the event held each year at majestic Torrey Pines outside San Diego still doesn’t have a title sponsor.
With the tour’s six-year deals with CBS and NBC expiring in 2012, negotiations are expected to begin late next year for a new package. The state of the economy – and Woods, of course – will go a long way toward determining the final terms.
7. Michelle Wie comes through, at last
Many of her detractors became convinced that the day would never come when Wie would be in the winner’s – instead of the whiner’s – circle. She was making too many mistakes, on and off the course.
Those days seem long ago as Wie was a vital part of the victorious U.S. Solheim Cup team and captured the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in November for her first LPGA victory.
Her breakthrough could not have come at a more pivotal time for a tour that needs her to be this generation’s Nancy Lopez. And soon.
6. Phil Mickelson regains his form
Mickelson didn’t win a major, but his stellar play toward the end of the season – he captured the Tour Championship in Atlanta with a brilliant putting performance and outdueled Woods in China in November – served notice that Lefty’s best, as he approaches the big 4-0 next June, may still be yet to come.
Mickelson also showed plenty of class in how he responded when his wife, Amy, was diagnosed with breast cancer in May. His mother, Mary, received the same diagnosis shortly thereafter.
With Woods on the sidelines indefinitely, Mickelson will be relied upon to be the game’s leading man. He should be up to the assignment, especially if the putter keeps working.
5. Y.E. Yang pulls off the impossible
Sooner or later, Tiger Woods was bound to blow a major title after having at least a share of the lead after 54 holes (Woods was 14-for-14 going into this year’s PGA Championship). We just figured it would be later, and that it would be to a player most golf fans recognized.
Instead, it was the unheralded Yang who outdueled Woods during that memorable final round in the PGA at Hazeltine, just as Jack Fleck took down the mighty Ben Hogan in the 1955 U.S. Open at Olympic. “On any given Sunday” applies to golf as well as football.
The highlight was Yang’s magical 3-iron approach from 210 yards on the 72nd hole. The ball came to a rest 8 feet from the hole. The giant was slayed.
4. A tour in turmoil
Call it the “Dear Carolyn” letter because the letter, sent by a group of prominent players to the LPGA’s board of directors, paved the way for the end of Commissioner Carolyn Bivens’ controversial tenure. It stated that the “vast majority” of tour members were “extremely dissatisfied” with her leadership and called for her resignation.
In July, Marty Evans was named acting commissioner and the search began for a full-time successor. Michael Whan, a marketing executive, will take over in January.
His challenge can’t be overstated. The tour will stage only 24 events in 2010, down from 34 in 2008, with just 13 in the U.S.
3. Do you believe in miracles? Almost
If only Tom Watson’s eight-iron approach on the 72nd hole at Turnberry had stopped just a few feet short of its final unfortunate destination. He would have two-putted for a par and secured his sixth Claret Jug at the age of 59. It would have trumped Jack Nicklaus’ 1986 Masters victory as the greatest major triumph ever.
In four days of brilliant shotmaking, Tom Watson reminded us how big a star he was in the 1970s and ’80s.
Watson made us cry. He made Nicklaus watch an entire round on television. He made us believe again anything is possible.
2. A legend returns
Tiger Woods also did not capture a major title, but his reappearance inside the ropes at the Match Play event in late February and subsequent success on tour – he won six times – was a boost the game needed.
His signature moment (on the course) for 2009 came on the final hole of Arnold Palmer’s event at Bay Hill when, for the second year in a row, he made a birdie putt to seize the victory. Did anyone expect anything else?
Woods also won the FedEx Cup for the second time, though a year without a major is an unsuccessful one for Woods, who still needs five more to pass Nicklaus.
1. A legend falls
The call was made at around 2:25 a.m. on Nov. 27 from his home in Orlando, and the sport – and the sporting world – has not been the same.
There isn’t the space here to provide a comprehensive summary of the events over the previous five weeks, especially as the scandal keeps evolving. This much, however, is certain: Tiger Woods cheated on his wife, Elin, and disappointed the millions of fans who have admired him since he changed the game in the late 1990s.
No star in golf, perhaps in any sport, has ever fallen faster. How he recovers – if he recovers – will surely be the biggest story of 2010.
