Thursday, November 10, 2005

Tiger's 2005 golf year

Here's SI's Chris Lewis in Inside Golf ... The Year In Review: The Tour season's over, so time to hand out awards. He gives Tiger Woods 6 "awards" in 20 categories.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Annika Sorenstam and Tiger Woods (tie)
There's no arguing with two majors in a single year, but in 2005 two players got it done. Annika had three more total victories (9 vs. 6), but Tiger balanced the scales by virtue of the resurgence factor, bouncing back from his worst-ever season.

MOST MEMORABLE SHOT OF THE YEAR: Surprise! Tiger's chip-in at the 16th at Augusta
My favorite thing about the videotape is how the picture shudders after the ball drops in. Folks, that camera was fixed to the ground. The usually reserved Augusta patrons went so bonkers that the earth actually moved.

HAIRDO OF THE YEAR: Tiger's Presidents Cup leopard spots
Which leads directly to another category -- Unasked Question of the Year: Tiger, if you lost that bet, who won it?

UNSHAKEN LEGACY OF THE YEAR: Tiger's 2000
Watching how hard Woods had to work to earn two majors this year made the idea of winning three virtually inconceivable -- and therefore made his 2000 season even more mind-boggling. Woods hates it when we compare him to his old self, but he shouldn't blame us -- he's a victim of the magic he made five years ago.

FREAK OCCURRENCE OF THE YEAR: Notah Begay and Tom Pernice throttle friends (and playing partners) Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh at the Funai Classic
It was like Robin beating up Batman twice in the same comic book.

TOURNAMENT OF THE YEAR: The Masters
It wasn't just the pairing of the game's best player (Woods) and the only guy who rivals him in the category of Refusal to Give Up (DiMarco). It was the depths they rose from --Tiger putting off the 15th green on Thursday, and DiMarco finishing his third round on Sunday morning with a slew of bogeys. But most of all, it was the way it ended, with Tiger's tearful dedication of the victory to his ailing father. It was the most emotional we may ever see Woods, and retroactively seated the entire event in a more profound, almost mythic context.

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