PGA Tour: Top Five Most Shocking Stories Of The 2008 Season

The 2008 PGA Tour season is nearly 3/4th of the way complete and has thus far been filled with events, performances and stories that have left golf fans and analysts alike scratching their heads.

Here are the top five most surprising stories of the 2008 season.

5) Rocco Mediate Duels It Out With Tiger Woods At The US Open

If you had predicted that the US Open would have ended in a playoff, fair enough: With 156 of the World’s top golfers, a playoff to decide the winner is not all that unlikely.

But, if you had predicted that the playoff would have contained Rocco Mediate, then you might want to go out and purchase yourself a lottery ticket.

Most people didn’t even know that Rocco Mediate was playing in the US Open, and if they did, they would have most likely placed him in their list of the top 20 players that were least likely to win at Torrey Pines.

Tiger Woods had to make an extremely tough, sliding, left-to-right put on the 72nd hole just to force a playoff with Mediate. 

Mediate’s carefree, "I’m so thrilled just to be here" attitude captured the attention and the hearts of a nation. 

Even with the outpouring of support for Rocco and a knee that was clearly causing Woods more and more pain with each additional swing, most thought that Woods was going to chew Rocco up and spit him out in an 18-hole playoff to decide the US Open.

But, halfway through the back nine, Rocco was leading and Woods was in the fight of his life to obtain his 14th major. 

Woods managed to claw his way back and tie Rocco on the 90th hole to force a sudden death playoff, where he won on the first hole. 

Woods managing to return from knee surgery and win the US Open while clearly in a great deal of pain was shocking, but the fact that this unlikely journeyman gave Woods the fight of his life was even more shocking.

4) Phil Mickelson’s Performance At The Majors

After another terrible performance at the British Open, golf analysts might finally stop touting Phil Mickelson as a top contender heading into every major.

Prior to each major, Mickelson’s preparations are followed like the paparazzi follows Toni Romo and Jessica Simpson.

There are photos and news clips of Mickelson scouting and breaking down courses several weeks before the majors.

Each and every press conference sees Mickelson speaking intellectually about his preparations and why he is so prepared for the upcoming major.

And then the tournament begins…and Mickelson performs, well, terribly.

Mickelson’s breakthrough win at the 2004 Masters was proceeded by wins at the 2005 PGA Championship and the 2006 Masters, and his career appeared to be on a high speed elevator heading straight up, not the roller-coaster he has been on the past two years.

At the 2006 US Open, Mickelson provided us with arguably the biggest meltdown in golf history which was followed by a wrist injury last year that clearly affected his play.

But the 2008 season presented Mickelson a clean slate.

He has a new swing coach; he has finally taken on a fitness regime which has at least gotten rid of some of that extra weight he was carrying around the course, and he has taken on a tireless preparation routine for the majors.

Most thought that a healthy, fitter Mickelson would again make his mark on the 2008 majors, but he has instead gone in the other direction, which is very surprising to everyone, and particularly to Mickelson himself.

3) Greg Norman Leads The British Open With Nine Holes To Play

Fifteen years removed from his last major victory, 53 year old Greg Norman led the British Open with nine holes to play.

Norman captured the hearts of everyone who is even remotely interested in the game of golf, and he did so at a time when the game needed it most.

The first "Tigerless" major of the year drew more attention for who was not there rather than who was there.

At the start of the British Open, the big story was about how Tiger Woods was not present and how uninteresting this tournament would be without Tiger.

As Norman made the turn on Sunday leading the tournament, Tiger Woods was all but forgotten. 

Norman was unable to hold on to win the British Open.  Age, nerves, physical ability, and probably a combination of the three finally caught up to the shark on Sunday evening. 

But the fact that Norman was even in that position was shocking in itself, and the fact that of all people, 53 year old Greg Norman was the one to step up and get the masses once again interested in golf, was astounding.

2)  Kenny Perry

At the start of the season, if you had asked 100 of the world’s most knowledgeable golf analysts who would be the best player on the PGA Tour this year (other than Tiger Woods) I venture to say that not one of them would have mentioned the name Kenny Perry.

At 47 years old, Perry has had a quality professional career.  He has 13 professional wins, and has been a member of three Presidents Cup and a Ryder Cup Team. 

But more or less, Perry has been a glorified journeyman; one of those guys you never hear much about but that winds up walking away with several million dollars in earning each year—thank you Tiger Woods.

Perry entered this year with one goal in mind—to make the 2008 US Ryder Cup team and represent his country in his home state of Kentucky. 

Although Perry has worked hard to get his game to a level that would give him a legitimate chance of making Paul Azinger’s Ryder Cup team, his performance has far surpassed his wildest expectations and has shocked fans, tour players, and the media alike.

Other than Tiger Woods, Perry has the most wins on tour this year, and when he doesn’t happen to leave a tournament victoriously, he still seems to finish near the top of the leaderboard. 

This outstanding play has led Perry right to the top of the FedEx Cup standings and into fourth place on the US Ryder Cup Point standings. 

Sure, Perry has gotten a lot of bad press for his decision to skip both the US and British Opens; but, Perry is a 47 year old journeyman who has been more or less dominating the PGA Tour this year. 

Winning a PGA Tour event, whether that be the John Deere Classic or the US Open is a monumental feat for just about anyone other than Tiger Woods, and Perry has managed to win three of them this season.

Perry’s relentless drive to make the 2008 Ryder Cup team has been both inspirational and remarkable.   

1) Tiger Woods Has Season Ending Knee Surgery

Sure, Tiger Woods winning the US Open on one leg was amazing, one of the greatest moments in the history of sports, but I don’t believe anyone was as shocked when Woods won the Open as they were the following day when Tiger Woods announced that he would be having season ending reconstructive knee surgery. 

Woods announcement was breaking news on ESPN, was on the front cover of every sports section in the country, and had about a weeks worth of Golf Central dedicated solely to this announcement. 

Woods announcement first produced shock; shock that this athlete that seems larger than life, invincible, and at times even other worldly, was having a major knee surgery.

Then we thought about it for a few moments and put two and two together and realized that yes, he really did win the US Open on one leg. 

We rode that thought for several days, reading all the articles, watching all the news clips that portrayed Woods in a Paul Bunyan-like manner, and discussed this colossal news with whoever would listen.

As the dust settled we began looking at the larger picture; a darker picture that contained half of a PGA Tour season, two majors, and a Ryder Cup without Tiger Woods.

Some looked even further into the future, examining what life would be like if Woods was unable to return to his top form, or unable to return at all. 

This painted an even darker picture for the game of golf and the PGA Tour. 

Tim Fleishman, PGA Tour sponsors, and television network executives most likely made several trips to the emergency room complaining of chest pains and shortness of breath, as everyone from the PGA Tour commissioner to the average fans knows that a Tigerless PGA Tour would be only a shadow of the tour we know today.

Five weeks removed from Woods’ announcement and his name still appears in every golf article, is mentioned in every golf telecast, and is still on the minds of anyone who has even the slightest interest in the game. 

Woods announcement that he was having season-ending knee surgery was by far the most shocking story of the 2008 golf season, and depending upon how things play out regarding Woods recovery, it could be one of the most shocking moments in the history of the game.