golfrewind.com

Best and Worst of 2006

The Best

Number 1
Padraig Harrington
Winning the Order of Merit from not been considered a contender. Having spent much of the season on the pga tour, he came back to Europe and won the 3rd last event before putting on a remarkable performance at the Volvo Masters to snatch the Order of Merit title from Paul Casey.
Then he headed to Japan and tamed the Tiger. There are not many players who have beat Tiger down the stretch and it is probably that Padraig was the first to beat him from 3 strokes back with 6 to play.
Padraig’s excellent play even brought some mistakes out of Tiger under the pressure of a player who was actually willing to stand up to him.

Number 2
Michelle Wie
More excellent performances. Contending in 3 of the 4 ladies majors, as well as having 6 top 5 placings in 8 starts. Earning over 700,000 on the ladies tour in just 8 events, and meaning she had earned more money than players like Morgan Pressel and Natalie Gulbis who played full seasons on tour. Also some breakthroughs in mens events as US Open qualifying and on the Asian Tour.

Number 3
Colin Montgomerie
Showing that he is still a major contender.


The Worst

Number 1
Monty Losing a Major
He had the US Open in his hands. One bad shot took it away from him. It was also annoying that Geoff Ogilvy got lucky with a chip in, but the fact remains that Monty should have won the victory himself. He did so well right up to one particular shot.

Number 2
Wie at the Lpga Championship
Perhaps her best chance of 2006 to win a major, and an offline pitch shot at 16 that should have been a probably birdie hole with a wedge in her hand, but turned into a bogey.

Number 3
Leaguegolf’s bermuda shorts which were displayed on golf rewind boards.

Is this a joke? :-o

Only the bit about leaguegolf's shorts.
Many posters have commented to me that leaguegolf mentions my username in more posts than I mention Wie in, so I decided I should give leaguegolf a mention.

Can I make a list with my favorite 3 players now?

Exactly! X 100!

The best Of 2006
1. Geoff Ogilvy's season has to be up there with the best of em, a World Match play win and a US Open win.

2. as we are allowing Lpga into this, ill give with Lorena Ochoa's season, Mainly the win where she beat Annika from 3 shots behind going into sunday is the highlight.

3. The Europe Ryder cup team performance (are we allowing this), mainly the comeback by Darren Clarke is the most impressive story within this story.

4. Darren Clarke's chip out from the rough after his lie was improved over night at the Irish Open, this is there just for the good sportsmanship.


The Worst.

1. Monty and Mickelson's Blow up on 18 on sunday at the US Open when in strong contention, need i say more?.

2. Wie's Performances on the PGA (not the LPGA). Sorry Rodney, but i have to have this as one of the worst parts of 2006 in golf.

3. Sabbatini showing that he is still a baby (after the Ben Crane incident) when doing more than questioning Faldo about his slow play, this just sticks in my mind, it aint like it is the only time it has happened or the only person that question's slow play, but he went about it in the wrong way probably seeking attention.

It was a Bermuda shirt Leaguegolf was wearing. Leaguegolf in Bermuda shorts ??? Curse you Rodney ! Now I can't get that image out of my head.

I checked out your posts from a long time before I joined the boards and you were having quite long discussions about her long before I joined the message board.

Excellent choices.
Although I wasn't up for Ogilvy mainly because I liked all the other players in contention, I still admit he really grinded out there.
Clarke's certainly won sportsmanship honours.
And Lorena was great, can she win a major?
And the Ryder Cup.

Certainly, she isn't far away from being the World number 1 (when she is on form, she is a match for Annika, there isn't much between these two at the moment, with Ochoa edging it recently, look for a very competitive 2007).

The best Of 2006
1. Tiger Woods. Some people may not want to give him the #1 spot because he does it every year, but that's just not right. 8 wins in 2006, including 2 Majors. (British, PGA) He won 7 straight tournaments, and nearly 10 million dollars in earnings. His win at the British was one of the great moments of golf in any year. Some notable stats are 1st in G.I.R, eagle and birdie average, scoring average, and final round scoring. There are countless others, but we don't need to get into those. Some areas Tiger struggled with
is hit putts per round, 133rd on tour, and his scrambling from father than 30 yards, in the 160's. I predict a 3 Major and 8 win season next year.

2. Geoff Ogilvy- This man broke onto the season in a big way in 06, with two wins including the U.S Open. The Aussie was 5th on the money list, and made 8 straight cuts. Geoff has some areas to improve, as he was only 117th in Driving Accuracy and 156th in Greens in Regulation. (short game and putting folks) He was also only 103rd in scoring average. I can't wait to see Geoff steadily improve and pick up a few more wins in 07.

3. Aussie Explosion- We already addressed Geoff, but how about all the other Aussie winners in 06? There were a ton. John Senden, Aaron Baddeley, Stuart Appleby, Rod Pampling, and numerous others I'm forgetting. Great year for Aussies.

Notables:
1) Euro's in the Ryder Cup
2) Lorena Ochoa's great year
3) Chris Couch getting first win in amazing fashion

The Worst.

1. Monty and Mickelson's blow up's on the last hole of the U.S open. Both were devastating. Phil was on the verge of winning yet another Major, and Monty was on pace to winning his first. Both were hard to watch.

2. Wie's Performances on the PGA (not the LPGA) I love Michelle, but she did terrible this year. There's nothing good you can really say about her results.

3. Ernie El's depocle. No win's or runner up's in 2006 in 18 events played. He was 28th on the money list, a far cry from his usual top 5 days. Hopefully he'll get things together here soon.

Notables:
1) US in the Ryder Cup
2) Death's in the family. (Tigers Dad, Dimarcos Mom, Darrens Wife)

There is alot of players playing well on the lpga tour. Probably be 4 different winners of the 4 majors again, with Lorena to win 1 of them.

i mean no offense rodney, this is a joke, no tiger, the lucky oglivy mention, you mention a girl who finishes last on every men's event....... sorry man but i agree big time with dormie

i do know what you mean, but its all about personal opinion. there will be no two people with the same list.
i personally didn't mention Tiger because there was nothing new there (ok, i forgot to mention his season and his accomplishments ), but personally i think this was Tiger's best season, forgot record breaking scores in Major's and the like but i think his course management has improved so much this year. so many irons off the tee's, this could have been Tiger's biggest break through (not said as a joke either).
i would have mentioned Tiger, but he does the same thing every year that it must have slipped my mind.