5 Things that Struck me in 2009

5. Golf's inclusion in the Olympics
I've always enjoyed watching the Olympics games on TV. I remembered watching Carl Lewis blitzing past his competitors in the 100m finals. I also remembered cheering on Michael Gross, as he beat the Americans to win gold at the swimming pool. Because of them, I got inspired to take part in my school's track and field and swimming meets. Well, I won some plastic trophies, which wasn't too bad. :)

Upon hearing golf's inclusion in the Olympic games, I got really excited. It'll be interesting to see golfers of various nationalities competing for gold. Tiger Woods (if he ever comes back) will be 41 years old and I reckon that he will be one of the favorite for the top prize. I'll also be watching out for our youngsters Joshua Ho and Marc Ong, who will be their mid 20s in 2016. Hopefully, their game will peak by then and perhaps, they'll become instant millionaires by winning an Olympic gold medal for Singapore.

 

4. Tom Watson nearly becoming the oldest major winner
In all honesty, I'm not the biggest golf nut who watches every golf tournament on Golf Channel. Sometimes, golf on TV is simply boring. However, at The Open Championships this year, the indomitable spirit of Tom Watson kept me glued to the television set. Will he or won't he win The Open Championship at 59 years old? Going into the fourth round, he looked very confident and steady, well, until the very last putt of his last hole. All he needed was to sink an 8-feet putt to become the oldest major winner in history. Alas, he missed it and subsequently got totally outplayed by Stewart Cink in the playoffs. Regardless, I will always remember The Open as the one that Tom Watson lost, instead of the one that Stewart Cink won.

 

 

3. Asia's first major winner Y.E Yang
Tiger was leading the field during the final round of the PGA Championship. In second place, was a Korean named Y.E Yang. Statistically, all signs point to Tiger winning his 15th major in his career. I too, totally dismissed the Korean dude, switched off the TV and went to sleep. The next morning, cheesy headlines such as "Y.E.S" and "Yang can cook" started appearing at news websites. Then I realized that the stocky, understated Korean beat Tiger to become Asia's first major winner. It was a real surprise indeed, a pleasant one. As an Asian, I'm proud as hell!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Michelle Wie finally wins!
Michelle Wie has been in the golf scene for so many years and it may come as a surprise that 2009 is her first year as a professional. I'm a fan of hers when she came into the scene. She adds lots of style onto the fairways and somehow, has a x-factor that attracts plenty of attention from everywhere. Previously, she received plenty of flak for competing in the men's tournament, for faking an injury, and the fact that she's got plenty of sponsorships without achieving anything significant. But his year, she finally won over her critics. She won points for the victorious US team in the Solheim Cup, she finished top-10 many times and most importantly, she finally won a tournament - the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. She would have won rookie of the year, if not for the heroics of Shin Jiyai. Go Michelle! Come next February, I'm most looking forward to seeing her in the flesh at the HSBC Women's Champion at Tanah Merah CC.

 

 

 

 

 

1. Tiger's Transgressions

What else can I say? Our hero is one horny fella. I still admire him for his consistently high standards of golf and I hope that he'll return in 2010. The golf industry will definitely be worse off without Tiger Woods - less eyeballs to the TV, less sponsors and eventually less money for everybody. What a story it'll be, if he returns at The Masters and win it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

 

 

 

 

 

Photos by swamibu, keithallison, Curiouser*Curiouser, geckoam

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