Golf Review / Bill Elliott / 23 December 2008 /

Bill Elliott looks back on an odd, yet great, year in the grand, old game.

As we peer nervously into the doom and gloom that, apparently, 2009 is going to be - we've found a nice cave to rent so we will be okay - there are at least some warming memories to take with us as the long siege begins.

The past 12 months may not have been vintage with regard to golf but they have been reassuringly unpredictable and in at least one case absolutely without precedent. Having watched the old game for far too long now it takes something unusual to move me close to what my wife used to call a state of some excitement.

This, however, happened in 2008. Inevitably this judder of pleasurable tension was encouraged by the world's outstanding sportsman. If nothing else had happened in golf over the last 12 months other than the United States Open then it would still have been worth Sky's increasingly demanding subscription.

This was Tiger Woods' defining moment. Not just as a player, but as a man. What happened in San Diego last June was gobsmackingly impressive. Winning a major on what turned out to be a shredded knee joint on top of a broken leg defies proper description. This was golf as dangerous sport and this was as good as it gets.

Whatever else The Obsessed One achieves when he returns amongst us in 2009 he will never cap this achievement - totally wonderful, unmissable sport. Praise here too for the dogged performance of Rocco Mediate, a nice, slightly barking bloke who pushed Woods to a place even Tiger did not now existed. He even encouraged my personal Shot Of The Year out of his younger opponent.

Normally such shots are prodigious blows of one sort or another but not this year. This time it was a putt, the one Woods holed down 20ft of snaking green to force a play-off he was never going to lose (see YouTube clip below). Only two other players in my lifetime have had the apparent ability to force the ball into the hole and, illogical though this thought is, this is what Woods did in California that Sunday. These other two players, by the way, are Jack Nicklaus and Seve 'Bless Him' Ballesteros.

So to Tiger goes the Shot Of The Year. He is, of course, also my Player of The Year. This is unfortunate for Padraig Harrington, whose double major burst during Woods' absence normally would sweep all before it, but the Irishman will console himself with the thought that finishing runner-up to Tiger in this category is still a fantastic achievement. Now if only this amiable player could borrow a bit of charisma from the great man all would be set fair for next year.

He could even ask Greg Norman if he had a bit of personal excitement stuff to spare. Certainly my old mate illuminated The Open at Birkdale as he recaptured some of his youth and flair to strike a major blow for middle-aged blokes everywhere. To Padraig went the spoils, but Greg offered all the romance. This is what Chrissie Evert says anyway.

As did Sergio Garcia. Offer some romance that is. The Spaniard is now in danger of being officially declared mature after a man/child period that has lasted at least a decade. He will not be buying Padraig a Christmas present after being foiled by The Greatest Living Irishman for a second time as he tried to clutch his first major. But Sergio is still only 28, the median age for major breakthrough remains 34, and he has lifted himself to No.2 in the world rankings. There's much for him to look forward to in the next campaign.

As clearly there is for all of us who follow the game and try to win some money on it. Tiger's return offers the most tantalising tease for 2009. Will he come back at all? Will he return rejuvenated and better than ever? Or have we seen the best of him? Finding out the answers will be fun.

Fun is also a word I would like to see repasted on to the US Masters story. Let's face it, the last few Masters have been less than great with Trevor Immelman's snail-pace victory this year the dullest of my lifetime. Surely the Green Coats realise this? Surely they will reign back on the course set-up in 2009 and allow the birdies and eagles to flow again on Masters Sunday? We'll see.

Nothing is ever dull about the Ryder Cup of course. There never is. The Yanks thoroughly deserved this one even if Ian Poulter suggested there may well be much more to him than some natty trousers and a big mouth as he plundered points for Europe during a bravura display. My Silly Boys award goes to those journalists who tore into Nick Faldo for being self-obsessed, fidgety and occasionally incomprehensible through his week's captaincy. Fact is that he turned out exactly as expected for those of us who actually know him. The other fact is that the USA won not because his captaincy was inadequate but because they holed more putts than us. Good luck to them, the rest of you just get over it.

Meanwhile my quote of the year came early in 2008. During the Indian Masters in fact, which Shiv Chowrasia won. European officials worked long and hard to get this tournament set up in the sub-continent and everyone was delighted when a local man, and former caddie, won first prize. Except that when he was then interviewed on television and asked what it meant, Shiv smiled and said: "It means I can now try to realise my dream of playing on the US Tour."

Somewhere, George O'Grady, chief exec of the European Tour, was sliding to the ground at this moment, a blank look on his finely chiselled features. You have to laugh. Don't you? Have a great, and profitable, New Year. See you then.

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