This past golf season was rather anticlimactic on all of the major Tours. Think about it for a moment. By the end of August, it was apparent that Vijay Singh would win the Vardon Trophy, Player of the Year, and the Money List title. Certainly, few would have expected him to have an opportunity to have 10 wins at the end of the year, but it was not out of the realm of possibility. After the collapse by Ernie Els at the U.S. Open and then the playoff loss at the Open Championship, it was obvious that one man stood above all on Tour.
Still, though, the performance of Els, as well as that of Masters champion Phil Mickelson, gave the golfing community hope for a potential Ben Hogan-esque season. Phil did not finish out of the top six in any of the four majors. Ernie held the lead for a time in each of the four majors, but was not able to seal the deal in any of them. In a purely subjective count, it seems that Els was no more than eight shots away from winning the single season Grand Slam.
Following three heartbreakers on Sunday in a row in the majors, it was no surprise that Els would finish just one shot out of the PGA Championship playoff.
Last year, the gender-bending appearances by Michelle Wie, Suzy Whaley, and Annika Sorenstam raised serious questions regarding the place of gender segregation in golf. The performances of Wie and Sorenstam left many wondering how far off a woman playing full-time on the PGA Tour was. No such debate existed on the PGA Tour this year as no woman competed in a sanctioned event all season.
In Europe, though, a new sort of debate prevailed on the Ladies European Tour (LET). A woman who was male before gender reassignment surgery was allowed to play in the Tour's qualifying tournament and secured her card for the year. The player in question opened the debate of a new sort in the sport and one most likely Walter Hagen never would have seen coming.
The LPGA Tour in the United States was as dramatic as it has ever been. For what seems like the billionth year in a row, Annika Sorenstam was by far the best player on the tour. Winning eight times on the season, Sorenstam secured the money list title a month before season's end and finished $1 million ahead of nearest competitor Grace Park. Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, Annika will most likely have to retire from the Tour before speculation can begin about the future dominator of the Tour.
The Ryder Cup, too, proved to show no deviation from the current norm. Sure, the pounding the United States received on home soil is disconcerting, but it has not been out of the ordinary. Europe is four out of the last five in the series and has been tremendously wherever the event has been staged. Until the United States finds a way to play the pairs matches better, they will continue to be crushed at the hands of the "underdog" Europeans.
Even the mighty Tiger Woods could not wow the golf world this season. The end of his time as number one in the world was inevitable. He has now not won a PGA Tour stroke play event in more than a year. Woods, for the second consecutive season, has claimed that he is getting closer to swing success. While most are more inclined to believe him in the present, this season still failed to prove that he is ready to become any semblance of the Tiger of Lore.
Despite the predictability and stability of the golf season, it was one that I enjoyed thoroughly. To watch Tiger Woods hit shanks worse than mine was encouraging. To watch Phil Mickelson win his first major and then almost win them all was energizing. To see John Daly and David Duval make significant comebacks was inspiring. So perhaps familiarity can breed contempt, but not in this case in this golf season.
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