For 2010 I predict beans in Boston, Eskimos in Alaska and Tiger in divorce court. So much for the obvious. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of keeping count of how many women pass through the Tiger turnstile, but more than that, I hate the fact that Tiger’s off course shenanigans ended up being the number one story in golf in 2009. As I said a couple of weeks ago, I don’t care if Tiger is dating the entire cast of Momma Mia; however I do care that Tiger has stolen the thunder from so many great stories in 2009.
So, in no particular order, here is some well-deserved thunder.
Tom Watson and Stewart Cink
I loved watching Tom Watson trying to turn back the clock at the British Open. I hated that he looked like me when he missed the eight-foot putt on the 72nd hole, and somehow I knew that he had invested too much in the previous 71 holes to survive the playoff.
I felt sorry for the Open winner Stewart Cink. Even though he slept with the Claret Jug under his pillow that night, he knew that most of the people watching wanted Tom to win. Life is hard and 53 year-old guys don’t make that putt no matter how much we want them to.
Angel Cabrera, Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell
I enjoyed watching Angel Cabrera, Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell at the Masters. It seemed like some kind of manifest destiny when Cabrera survived two terrible shots on the first playoff hole and somehow managed to get up and down, and then, unlike Tom Watson, one hole later he was trying on a green jacket sized 44 stout.
This is Cabrera’s second major and he is rapidly becoming one of my favorites. Great talent, great power, and he looks like he is having a great time. I like that.
Lucas Glover, David Duval and Ricky Barns
It’s hard being the next big thing, but that’s what Lucas Glover has been for four or five years now. He had a great 2005 winning the FUNAI Classic as well as racking up six other top tens to boot. Since then he spent four years trying to figure out whatever happened to his game. Well, at the 2009 U.S. Open he figured it out. He also had second and third-place finishes, finished 17th in the FedExCup standings, was a Captain's Pick for The Presidents Cup team and earned more than $3.5 million.
There was a strange masochistic faction that wanted David Duval or Ricky Barns to steal Lucas’ thunder, but it was not to be. Still, even with the U.S. Open win, Lucas Glover is not a household name and for some reason I doubt that he ever will be, but as Rick said to Ilsa, “We’ll always have Paris” and Lucas will always be the 2009 U.S. Open Champion.
Y. E. Yang
Fellow Dallasite Y. E. Yang very unexpectedly became the first Asian-born player to win a major, and he did it with Tiger breathing down his neck, on one of the great golf courses in the world, Hazeltine. Here’s a guy that didn’t pick up a golf club until he was 19 years old and suddenly he’s holding the Wanamaker trophy. It’s the American dream with Korean sub-titles.
By the way, Yang’s victory marked the first time that Tiger Woods failed to win a major after holding at least a share of the lead at the end of 54 holes. Tiger was so disappointed that later that night it took twelve cocktail waitresses to console him.
Padraig Harrington
Imagine that you’ve won three of the last six majors, which I suppose also means that you have lost three of the last six majors. I can only assume that was the logic for this Irish lad to come to the conclusion that he should change his golf swing.
Starting the 2009 season with the rules for his new swing still taped to the side of his golf bag, Padraig promptly missed six cuts in his first 14 tournaments and had only one top twenty; still he persevered. Were this a movie Padraig would have then won his next 14 tournaments, and rode off into the sunset with the girl… yeah, right.
However, all was not lost. Padraig finished 2009 new swing still in place, with six-straight top-10s, including two runner-up finishes at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and The Barclays. I can’t imagine what Padraig would have done to his swing had he won four or five of the last six majors.
Anthony Kim
The biggest non-story of the year was Anthony Kim going winless in 2009. Anthony may not be the next big anything and if that turns out to be the case he will only have Anthony Kim to blame. The way I hear it was that Anthony’s first year was hindered by too much party and not enough practice. In 2008, with a new agent and new endorsements in the bank, Anthony turned it around to the tune of two wins and several million bucks.
I don’t really know if 2009 was a return to more party than practice, but hopefully there was a lesson in there somewhere for Anthony. However, I’m sure of one thing, the lesson is not to buy more diamond studded buckles.
I’ve heard it said that youth is often wasted on the young and sometimes we forget that being young and talented is not the same as being young and mature… just ask me. I’m also an expert on being young and ugly, young and stupid and young and talentless.
2009 was a great year for golf, and I may never forgive Tiger for making everyone forget that.
