Tiger's Historic Loss at PGA Concludes 2009 Major Tournaments

Kenny Perry. Phil Mickelson. Tom Watson. Tiger Woods. No, those are not the names of the 2009 PGA Major Championship tournament winners. Those four men, with a total of 25 major titles among them, were the runners-up in the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship. The names of the four major championship winners? Angel Cabrera, Lucas Glover, Stewart Cink, Y.E. Yang-raise your hand if you had any of them in your local betting pool and, if you did, please give me your Super Bowl pick for the upcoming season.

Rather than being bookmarked as a year in which three of the all-time great players won major tournaments, 2009 will go down in history as 'what could've been'. And what is more remarkable is that each second-place finisher had a championship in his grasp only to let it slip away.

Tiger Woods loses PGA Championship

The PGA Championship in Hazeltine, Minnesota, was the backdrop for the most shocking outcome of any of the 2009 majors-Tiger Woods was beaten on Sunday in a major tournament. Having won the previous two tournaments leading up to the PGA, Tiger looked unbeatable and was the clear betting favorite. Woods quickly set about to prove the odds-makers correct. He led after each of the first three rounds and entering the final round with a two-stroke lead, it was naturally assumed Tiger would coast to his 15^th major championship, but Y.E. Yang had other ideas. In what became virtual match-play over the final 9 holes, Y.E. out-dueled Tiger, the world's best player. He chipped in from the rough to eagle the 14^th and birdied the 18^th after nailing a 3-iron hybrid club to within 12 feet. Tiger, meanwhile, was his own worst enemy, missing putt after putt down the stretch to surrender a final round major lead, the first time that has happened in Tiger's wonderful career.

Looking back to Augusta, Kenny Perry led the Masters throughout the final round and held a two-stroke lead with two holes to play, only to card a bogey-bogey on holes 17 and 18, while Cabrera scrambled for a miraculous par on the 18^th hole to force a playoff. The outcome was predictable from there. On the second playoff hole, Perry whacked his second shot left of the green and was dead. Cabrera made an easy par to win the green jacket.

At the U.S. Open in Bethpage, N.Y., Mickelson came in as the sentimental favorite after it was announced that his wife Amy had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Torrential downpours on the first day of the tournament threw every round out of order, forcing players to play catch-up the remainder of the week and leading to a Monday finish. Mickelson carded a monumental eagle at the 13^th hole to tie for the lead and it seemed destiny was about to prevail. But, as has been the case for him before, he could not finish the job. He missed a short birdie putt on 14, three-putted for bogey on 15 and bogeyed 17 to finish second for the fifth time in a U.S. Open.

Then came a trip down Memory Lane in the British Open at Turnberry. Summoning up ghosts of the past, Tom Watson played magnificent golf for 71 and 1/4 holes. Needing only a par at the 18^th, Watson smoked his approach shot over the green into a thick patch of rough. He putted well-past the hole on his third shot and came up way short on his par putt. Like Perry at the Masters, the playoff was no contest. His heart broken and will defeated, Watson played the 4 playoff holes at 4 over par. Cink came in at 2 under par to win the Claret jug and crush the dreams of the over-60 set worldwide.

Armour, Nancy, "sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/news;_ylt=AhXpoYGJ7XJnKeefpXPu5q45nYcB", Yahoo Sports
Ben Dirs, "news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/golf/8157752.stm, BBC
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