Tiger's downfall overshadows historic year
by Jim SLATER
GOLF: WASHINGTON, Dec 26, 2009;- Tiger Woods suffered one of the
greatest falls from grace in the annals of sport in 2009, his sex
scandal rendering a year of historic golf achievements starkly
irrelevant by contrast.
From the one-vehicle crash in the early morning of November 27 that
touched off a gossip media firestorm through his admission of infidelity
and decision to take an indefinite leave from golf, Woods's guarded
privacy was shattered.
A year that featured such historic developments as golf's return to
the Olympics and South Korean Yang Yong-Eun becoming the first Asian man
to win a major title ended with the golf world wondering about a future
without Woods.
"The game of golf is bigger than anybody," Australian legend Greg
Norman said. "Golf is hurt without him in the field but the game will go
on." With reports of a dozen women claiming to have had affairs with
Woods, sponsors began pulling away. Accenture dropped him altogether.
Gillette yanked him from advertisements as others took a wait and see
approach.
Earl Woods, Tiger's father and mentor who died in 2006, once said his
son's biggest threats were injury and a bad marriage.
While Woods returned from a knee injury to contend for major titles,
his infidelity shattered his marriage barely nine months after wife Elin
gave birth to their second child, son Charlie.
Sponsors began vanishing from golf in 2009 due to the struggling
economy and losing Woods, who typically doubles viewership when he
plays, could lead to less prize money, fewer tournaments and diminished
fan interest.
"They always say there's nobody bigger than the game of golf, but
right now in these times it's him," US veteran John Daly said. "We need
him, probably more than anybody on the tour."
Woods - halts record pursuit
Woods, a 14-time major champion, decided to halt his pursuit of the
record 18 major crowns won by Jack Nicklaus, saying he wanted to focus
on becoming a better husband, father and person.
Whenever he returns, Woods will face a quest for redemption and the
challenge to recapture the form that made him a global sensation, what
figures to be the most compelling story in sport whenever it happens.
Golf can look forward to the 2016 Rio Olympics when the sport will
return after International Olympic Committee officials voted it back
into the lineup in October. Golf was staged in 1900 at Paris and 1904 in
St. Louis.
But the dizzying plunge of Woods from superstar athlete and marketing
juggernaut to ridiculed laughing-stock and sponsorship poison
overshadowed a dramatic season where 59-year-old Tom Watson almost won
the British Open.
Watson missed a tension-packed eight-foot putt on the 72nd hole at
Turnberry and lost in a playoff to US veteran Stewart Cink, but his
amazing performance in a bid for a sixth British Open brought thrills to
viewers worldwide.
"It is a great disappointment and it tears at your gut," Watson said.
"I put myself in a position to win but I didn't get it done at the last
hole."
Yang - first to defeat Woods
Yang won the PGA Championship a month later, outdueling Woods over
the last holes for the triumph. Yang became the first man to defeat
Woods when the superstar led or shared the lead entering the last round
of a major.
"I wasn't that nervous," Yang said. "I also have this mentality where
I try my best and leave no regrets. If I do have courage that's where it
comes from."
Woods, who turns 34 on December 30, helped the Americans beat Yang
and the Internationals at the Presidents Cup.
US veteran Phil Mickelson, likely to become the focus of attention on
the US tour in the absence of Woods, suffered his record fifth runner-up
finish at the US Open, losing out to countryman Lucas Glover at rainy
Bethpage in June.
Mickelson, who took his own hiatus from golf in 2009 to be with wife
Amy and his mother as they battled breast cancer, won the US Tour
Championship even as Woods took the overall playoff crown to crack one
billion dollars in earnings.
Angel Cabrera brought Argentina a long-awaited Masters crown 41 years
after countryman Roberto De Vicenzo made the greatest blunder in Masters
history, signing an incorrect scorecard to hand Bob Goalby a title
without a playoff.
Ochoa - LPGA player of the year
"De Vicenzo had bad luck. It's not going to change what happened to
him. But this win, to take a major back to Argentina, it's going to help
a lot," said Cabrera, who won for the first time since taking the 2007
US Open.
England's Lee Westwood fired a final-round 64 to win the inaugural
Dubai World Championship as well as the European Tour's Race to Dubai,
topping the Order of Merit for the second time in his career and the
first time since 2000.
Mexico's Lorena Ochoa edged South Korean Jiyai Shin to capture LPGA
Player of the Year honors. Shin led the LPGA money list and claimed
Rookie of the Year honors. The LPGA lost several events to sponsor
pullouts due to the economy.
AFP
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