Gearing up for the 2009 PGA Tour season? Golfweek.com is your one-stop shop.
This week, we go bold and make predictions about what we think ’09 will
be all about. Some you’ll agree with, some you’ll disagree with.
So go ahead and vent. Or are you backing down? Let the debates begin.
A lot happens during a season on the PGA Tour, but we're going to help you sift through it all. Here are the things you'll want – and need – to follow in '09. Without further adieu, our Top 10 storylines of 2009.• • •
1. Tiger Woods returns to action.Go ahead, admit it. You miss watching Tiger Woods on TV from your cozy living room sofa on weekend afternoons. (It’s OK. So do we.) Well, it won’t be too much longer until he’s back.
Woods, who has been rehabilitating his surgically-repaired knee since last summer, began taking full swings with short irons in December and should be ready for tournament action by the end of February around the time of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.
But returning at such a fickle event as the Match Play doesn’t make sense. Plus, Elin is due with the couple’s second child a week or two before the event. That’s why we’ve got our Tiger Return Radar locked on the WGC-CA Championship at Doral March 12-15. A nice tune-up there, followed by a week at Arnie’s Place will give Woods plenty of time to shake off any rust heading into the Masters.
2. Padraig Harrington goes for the “Paddy Slam.”In case you haven’t heard, Padraig Harrington has won three of the last six majors, including the last two. He tied for fifth at Augusta last year, so a run at three in a row is not out of the question. One hiccup in the equation: Tiger wasn’t in the field at Royal Birkdale or Oakland Hills last year, and all indications point to Eldrick lacing ’em up at the Masters this year. Hold on to your lucky clovers.
3. Sergio Garcia pursues first major title . . . again.Wasn’t Garcia supposed to have won a couple of these by now? Whatever the reason – from a balky putter to a nauseating canary suit on Sunday at the ‘06 British – El Nino has yet to break through. His victory at the Players last year was a nice first step, and four top-fives in the Grand Slam events over the past three years prove he’s right on the brink. But more is expected from Garcia. Lord knows we’re sick of asking him why he hasn’t won one yet.
4. Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas represent for the 20-somethings. Not a bad duo for the Tour to bank on in 2009 and beyond. They’re both young, bold, energetic and exciting. Plus, each won twice last year. But the bottom line will be results. Can either challenge Woods when it counts? So far, not so good. Villegas has finished higher than Woods in a PGA Tour event only once, and Kim never has.
5. John Daly does Europe.Hopefully J.D. can find some peace across the pond. He won’t be playing any PGA Tour events for six months after commissioner Tim Finchem suspended him for conduct that brought unwelcome publicity (i.e. public intoxication, jail time, golfing shirtless on television, etc.). Daly plans to play in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Dubai early in 2009 and some other European events the first half of the year. “This is the lowest I’ve ever been,” Daly said. “There’s always light with me. Right now, my home tour is probably Europe. And I love the European Tour. I always have. But my home is the United States. That’s where I would rather play.” Here’s to Big John making a big turn in the right direction in ’09.
6. Can Vijay stay one of the best at age 46?Just a few years away from senior circuit age, Vijay Singh, who turns 46 on Feb. 22, continues to defy age while proving work ethic and conditioning can conquer Father Time.
The Big Fijian captured the FedEx Cup last year, posted eight top-10 finishes and finished first on the PGA Tour money list. However, Singh has not posted a top-10 finish in a major since the U.S. Open in 2006 (T6). He also missed the cut at the British Open and PGA Championship last year.
Singh suffered a slight tear of the meniscus in his right knee at the Chevron World Challenge in December and pulled out of this week’s Sony Open. He’ll have surgery soon and hopes to return for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Feb. 12-15. It’s tough to judge whether the Vijay train is running out of gas, or still picking up speed.
7. Parity persists on PGA Tour.Think fast: How many players won their first PGA Tour title in 2008? That would be 13, a pretty hefty number, and a stat that points to the growing talent on Tour. This year’s number of first-timers should be no different. Players to keep an eye on: Tim Clark, Jay Williamson, Steve Marino, Harrison Frazar, Jeff Quinney, Colt Knost and Webb Simpson.
9. How will the slumping economy affect the Tour?Visible effects we’ll see are fewer corporate hospitality tents at events, the majority of which have been used by financial institutions. Tournaments will be scrambling to secure courtesy cars for players after Buick announced last year it would be scaling back its commitment. And when the Tour begins renegotiations with title sponsors – many of which have contracts that expire in 2010 – we may see some of the biggest effects of the slumping economy. One bright spot: Prize money will be up slightly in ’09 because tournaments had increases written into their contracts.
10. Will the FedEx Cup become exciting?In an attempt to go from snoozefest to must-see-TV, the PGA Tour unveils the third installment of the FedEx Cup, this time giving players fewer points during the season and quintupling the points in the playoffs. Then, instead of resetting points before the playoffs start – as had previously been done in 2006 and ’07 – points will be reset before the Tour Championship. This will give the top five at East Lake a shot at winning the FedEx Cup while mathematically keeping the rest of the field in the hunt. Sounds good on paper. Whether it delivers is another question.
Posted: 1/12/2009
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