As Tiger Woods Rehabed Young Stars Took the Lead
Youth Made its Mark on The PGA Tour after Woods' Injury
Oct 2, 2008
The U.S. Open was remarkable. Suffering from the intense pain of his injuries, Tiger Woods managed to outlast Rocco Mediate, who simply wouldn’t give up and took his "fan favorite" status to a new level. It soon became known that Woods season was over. That left the question of who would step into the limelight. Although there’s room for disagreement, it wasn’t one player, but a class of player that would step up their game; the under-30 class.
A Breakthrough Year
It was only a matter of time before Camilo Villegas began to make his mark, and he did it by winning two of four Fedex Cup Playoff events. Sergio Garcia took a step toward winning a major championship with his Players Championship win. J.B. Holmes earned another FBR Open title and capped the season with a strong Ryder Cup showing. Anthony Kim began showing fantastic form and performance with two wins of his own. Villegas, Garcia, Holmes and Kim are but four of 12 golfers under 30 to win at least one PGA Tour event this year.
No one doubts that Tiger will return, and return with a bang, but his opponents will be tougher. Wins bring confidence, and big wins bring big confidence. Combine that confidence with youth and the lack of negativism that comes from being beaten by Tiger Woods and a new type of player is born. For example, the Ryder Cup was full of players that didn’t have the baggage from the last decade of losses to the Europeans. They played with emotion and confidence and performed well in clutch situations. The only player above that has some of that baggage is Garcia, after having chased Woods since 1999 and feeling he should have done more by now. Holmes was beaten by Woods early in the season at the World Match Play, but it could have easily gone the other way. The loss was probably more of a confidence builder than crushing defeat.
Woods, now 33, will return. He’ll still be Tiger, but the wins will be tougher and fewer.
Veteran Desire
Kenny Perry made no secret of the fact that this year was dedicated to his making the Ryder Cup team. Held at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Perry wanted to cap off his career with a big showing in his home state. He did just that. Great play all year, to go along with three more wins and the 48-year-old Perry got his wish. He was chastised by many in the media for skipping the Majors, and, given his age, he may not have too many competitive Majors left. Mistake or not, he fully accomplished his goal.
Vijay Singh came on strong in the Fedex Cup playoffs; sharing the four playoff events with Villegas. It capped off a year in which Singh, 45, dedicated himself to a new fitness routine, which showed in his look and performance. Unfortunately, he will have to sit for a couple of months due to tendinitis.
There are still a few weeks left in the fall season and several players are out there trying to keep there cards for another year. Even so, and even without Tiger Woods, it was a memorable year on the PGA Tour.
