Top Five Moments of the 2009 PGA Tour Season

He’s Baaack

At just after 7am on a cool February morning in Arizona, Tiger Woods stepped onto a PGA Tour practice range for the first time in more than eight months.

He was walking a little slower, and he wasn’t attacking the ball with the same ferocity as he once did, but it was still Tiger Woods. 

And if you thought your eyes were deceiving you, the hundreds of cameramen and reporters out at 7:15am on a Wednesday morning would have been enough to make you believe.

Woods’ much anticipated return was cut short when he was defeated by South African Tim Clark in the second round of the Accenture Match Play Championship.

For a guy who had won 65 PGA Tour events and 14 major championships before going down with a knee injury, there was only one way for him to prove he really was back—and that was to win.

Less than a month after his initial return, Woods overcame a five-stroke deficit in the final round to defeat Sean O’Hair at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The sun had set, Arnold “The King” Palmer was looking on from just off the side of the green, and Woods was lining up his 25-foot putt in almost complete darkness.

As Woods went through his tedious pre-putt routine, one could not help but think back to the last time he faced a must-make putt.  It was on the 72nd hole of a little tournament known as the US Open, and we all know how that turned out.

The moment Woods struck his putt, the green was illuminated by the flashes of hundreds of cameras.  As the ball began closing in on the hole, Woods began slowly back peddling before unleashing one of his trademark fist pumps upon seeing his ball disappear into the cup.

He’d done it again.  

After an eight month hiatus, excitement had finally returned to the PGA Tour.

Woods vs. Michelson Showdown at Augusta

Although Angel Cabrera, Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell would compete in a three-way playoff, most golf fans began enjoying their Easter ham upon the conclusion of the Woods/Michelson showdown.  

Longtime golf announcer Jim Nantz later said that after watching Woods and Mickelson walk off the 18th green, he had to take a deep breath and remind himself that there was still a golf tournament going on.

Woods and Mickelson began the day well behind the leaders. But it didn’t matter.  These two heavyweights could've begun the day tied for last place, and their pairing would have still been the tournament’s main event.

Heck, television could have shown their final round on pay-per-view, and millions of households would have gladly accepted the charges.

After Mickelson birdied six out of his first nine holes and Woods was three-under-par at the turn, it was beginning to look as if one of these guys might actually pull off a comeback comparable to Nicklaus at the '86 Masters or Palmer at the '60 US Open.  

For Woods, it would have been yet another jaw-dropping accomplishment in a long list of jaw-dropping accomplishments.

For Mickelson, it would have defined a career.

But it was not to be.

Michelson double bogeyed the par-three 12th and then missed a short eagle putt on the 13th.

Woods on the other hand continued his charge by birdying the 13th, 15th and 16th before the greatest closer the game has ever seen inexplicable bogeyed the final two holes, which eliminated any hope of a fifth green jacket.

Mickelson’s final round 67 landed him in alone in fifth place while Woods’ 68 put him in a tie for 6th. 

Oh yeah, and Angel Cabrera won the Masters with a par on the second sudden death playoff hole.

The Twilight Zone (aka The US Open)

Lucas Glover and Ricky Barnes were battling it out for the US Open title; David Duval was right on their tails; Hunter Mahan was making a run of his own before his perfectly struck approach shot on the par-four 16th happened to ricochet off the pin and roll clear off the front of the green; and it began pouring rain every time Tiger Woods stepped foot onto the golf course.

Bethpage Black might as well have been the twilight zone during that memorable week back in June.

The only part of the 2009 US Open that didn’t come as a complete shock was Phil Mickelson finishing second for the fifth time in his career.

Glover played the back nine on Monday—yup, that’s right, on Monday due to the monsoons that swept through the New York area that week—in even par, which was good enough to give him a two-stroke victory over Phil Mickelson, Rickey Barnes, and David Duval.

During the trophy presentation, Barnes turned to Mickelson and told him that he could take the second place medal.  Mickelson calmly replied by telling Barnes not to worry about it...he already had four of them at home.

Y.E. Yang Slays the Tiger

Tiger Woods had never lost a major championship when holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead.

That’s worth repeating.

Tiger Woods had never lost a major championship when holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead…until he ran into Y.E. Yang at the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.

When Woods sent his tee-shot on the par three 17th, clear over the back of the green, thus virtually securing Yang’s victory, he put his hands on his knees and hung his head down in defeat.

It was a scene reminiscent of Rocky Balboa cutting the seemingly invincible Ivan Drago in Rocky IV.

Golf’s most dominant prize fighter of all time had been cut…and it was a bad cut.

Not since a driving range pro by the name of Jack Fleck defeated Ben Hogan in the 1955 US Open had golf seen a more shocking upset.

Yang, a former Korean power lifter, celebrated by hoisted his golf bag over his head on the 18th green, while the rest of the PGA Tour was undoubtedly hearing the voice of Tony "Duke" Evers (Rocky Balboa’s trainer in Rocky IV) screaming, “You see, he’s man!  He’s not a machine…he’s a man!”

Watson Comes Within a Hair

Every player at the 2009 British Open was competing against a field made up of the best golfers on the face of the planet.  Well, every player except one.

Tom Watson was not only competing against 157 of the top players in the world, he was also competing against a far more ruthless and unforgiving opponent—Old Man Time. 

And he came within a measly two yards of conquering them all.

All eyes were on Watson as he teed off on the 72nd hole at Turnberry holding a one-stroke lead.  After all, it’s not every day that you see a 59-year-old man about to win a major championship.

When Watson found the right side of the fairway, the excitement began to build as his win looked inevitable.

Inevitable because Watson is from a different era in the game, an era when professional golfers were more likely to win tournaments rather than lose them.

Exactly 30 years earlier on the same hole, Watson stuck his approach shot to five feet and then proceeded to sink his birdie putt to defeat Jack Nicklaus in what is now known as “The Dual in the Sun.”

However, things did not go as smoothly for Watson on this day.

With the pin placed on the back of the green, Watson’s approach shot landed towards the front of the putting surface and sprung clear off the back edge of the green.

He pitched to around six feet and began lining up his putt.

As Watson stood over his six-foot putt to win the British Open, one could not help but question the pure cruelty of the golf gods.

You see, Watson’s days of winning ended when he lost his ability to make putts from inside of 10 feet.

So, what’s standing between Watson and arguably the greatest achievement in sports history?

That’s right, a six foot putt.   

The massive crowds surrounding the 18th green at Turnberry uniformly winced as Watson’s putt came up three feet short.

He tapped in for a bogey five and began preparing himself for a three-hole playoff with Stewart Cink.

By then, however, Old Man Time had broken through the front lines and Watson appeared both physically and mentally broken.

Cink won easily, and golf fans will forever remember the 2009 British Open as another one of those “what if” moments in the game’s long and illustrious history.

Other Memorable Moments:

Henrik Stenson shoots a final round 66 to win The Players Championship by 4 strokes.

Phil Mickelson wins The Tour Championship while Tiger Woods wins FedEx Cup.

Ryan Moore finally breaks through at the Wyndham Championship.

Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker dominate the Presidents Cup.