"Unluckiest Shot of the Year" can only go to Tiger Woods for his extraordinary misfortune in hitting the pin on the par-5 15th at Augusta on the Friday of the Masters. It spun back into the water, probably costing him two shots and then of course he was docked another two shots the next day for taking an incorrect drop. Those four shots may well have cost him his fifteenth Major title. While we are on the subject, The Masters Rules Committee earns "Bum Decision of the Year" for the way they handled that incident.
Any caddie who has to move to Monaco for tax reasons, and then buys a HK$1.5 million Ferrari, must have done quite a lot right, so the "Caddie of The Year" is Gareth Lord who carries Stenson's bag. Arguably a deaf and dumb monkey could have done the job just as effectively, but that may be sour grapes on my part.
"The Most Tear-Jerking Winner" is a close call between two Australians. Adam Scott became the first Aussie to win the Masters in emotional style, with memories still fresh of his collapse in The Open at Royal Lytham in 2012. But surely Jason Day's individual (and team) win in the World Cup at Royal Melbourne just days after eight members of his family had been killed by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, must earn him the trophy.
Simon Dyson is a popular member of The Tour, but sadly he earns "The Biggest Dope" award for apparently tapping down a spike mark on the line of his putt at the BMW Masters in Shanghai. Whatever it emerges he was doing, it was pretty stupid in full view of the cameras.
The "How to Get the Year All Wrong" trophy goes to Rory McIlroy. Enough said!
Aussie Andrew Dodt is "The Luckiest Golfer of the Year" for making two holes-in-one in the same round at the Scandinavian Masters; a one in 60 million chance.
And so - drum roll please - to the "Golfer of the Year". Tiger Woods returned to number one in the rankings, and won five big tournaments on the PGA Tour. BUT, there have been a number of incidents in which he's been involved that have left a sour taste in the mouth.
Adam Scott earns a "Best in Class" for his Masters win, ditto Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson for the US Open and The Open respectively. I was tempted to nominate my wife for her extraordinary success in the Bassett Homes Bath and North East Somerset Premier League during our summer holiday in England, but there can only be one winner. Hopefully one day soon Henrik Stenson will win a Major, it is the only thing missing from his CV. He has without question been the best golfer in the world over the past six months, and is a thoroughly good egg to boot. Having once lost millions to the crooked Allen Stanford, there is no need for Santa to divert via the Stenson mansion chimneys this Christmas.
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