According to Gary Van Sickle, Senior Writer for Sports Illustrated, 2009’s award as the worst golf year ever was sewed up by Tiger Woods’ fall.
Here’s an excerp from his article:
“This year was scary bad. Every golf tour in the world is downsizing, some at alarming rates, along with advertising and sponsorship dollars. More courses are closing than are being built in America. Golf equipment makers have been forced to cut jobs. Golf real estate values, like most real estate values, have plunged. Golf hasn’t seen a dip like this since the Great Depression, not counting Charles Barkley’s swing. In fact, that’s how bad 2009 was — a show featuring Barkley trying to fix his spastic Mr. Roboto swing was one of the year’s guilty pleasures. We could all relate to Sir Charles.
The men’s major championships, while thrilling to watch, were ultimately bastions of buzzkill. If Kenny Perry, Phil Mickelson and Tom Watson had won the first three majors, and if Woods had finished off the PGA Championship, we might be talking about one of golf’s all-time storybook seasons. With no disrespect to the champs — Angel Cabrera, Lucas Glover, Stewart Cink and Y.E. Yang — the winners we had were less compelling than the stories of the nearly men.”
(I don’t want to sound like a pessimist either, but I agree with him. This no-name decade ended with a golf year that left a lot to be desired. This was a banner year for my naps in front of the golf on TV. I’m hoping 2010 will be less restful and provide us some real golf entertainment.)
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