2010

2010
Butler Cabin, Augusta National (c) Burgh Golfer

Friday, December 31, 2010

2010 Professional Golf Year in Review: Transition

2010 was quite a year in professional golf and it certainly had its interesting moments. I thought I would provide a recap of my favorite moments and things that stood out for me as an average fan watching from the outside.


I am calling this year’s recap Transition for several reasons. For the record, I realize that the Kenny Perry, Trevor Immelman Transitions Lenses commercials were on TV quite a bit, but that’s not the reason I chose the word Transition.

Here are some transitional memories from 2010.

• Tiger Woods did not win a single tournament in 2010, which is the first time since he was a small child that he did not win some type of an event in a single season.

• Tiger Woods lost his number one world ranking to Lee Westwood of England.

• Tiger Woods changed coaches from Hank Haney to Sean Foley (or maybe he got fired by Haney - not really sure but either way it is a big deal).

• Rory McIlroy won his first PGA tournament in Charlotte. This is the first of many potential wins. As a side note, my personal prediction is that he will be the dominate player in the world within 5 years.

• The US lost the Ryder Cup to the Europeans. I never thought that Corey Pavin, knick-named The Bulldog would be such a passive captain. He brought new meaning to the phrase California Laidback.

• Dustin Johnson lost not one but two Majors in dramatic fashion.

• The rules officials were quite active this year. Remember Dustin Johnson in the bunker on the 18th hole of the PGA. Or, Ian Poulter dropping his ball mark and losing the playoff in Dubai.

• Who can forget Graham McDowell, quite possibly the Global Player of the Year. He wins the US Open at Pebble, wins the Ryder Cup for Europe, then stares down Tiger to win in a playoff at the Chevron.

• Phil Mickelson won the Masters with quite possibly the greatest shot in Masters history off the pine straw on the par 5 13th. It was absolutely amazing and a career defining shot.

• The 59’s shot by Appleby and Goydos. Who would have ever thought Goydos could shoot a 59? It goes to show how good they ALL are on their best day.

• Who can forget Ryo Ishikawa shooting a 58 in Japan? I don’t care where you are playing, a 58 anywhere is unreal at the age of 18.

• Paula Creamer winning the US Open; great to see an American win our national open.

What were your favorite moments of the 2010 golf season?

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