Who could have known that Michael Campbell would take center stage this year?
Emerging from relative obscurity, New Zealander Michael Campbell has asserted himself as one of the finest players of 2005. His solid performance at the U.S. Open certainly put him on the map for many who didn’t know he existed. Time will tell if he can secure a long stay as one of golf’s elite.
Morgan Pressel is sure to be a part of an exciting group of women golfers in the coming years.
It is hard to understand what life must be like for someone like Morgan Pressel. We’ve watched her successful young career since she qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open at age 12 and the media and fan attention have become second nature to her. “You’ve still got to stay a kid as long as you can be a kid,” Pressel said in the days around the 2001 U.S. Women’s Open. “You’ve got to have a golf life, or whatever your sport life is, and you’ve got to have a normal life, too. Time to have friends and stuff.”
Fast foreword to 2005 and Pressel is on the verge of entering the professional golf ranks. Adulthood is approaching at a rapid rate as she moves toward her goal of professional competition.
A candidate for the PGA Tour’s Comeback Player of the Year, Billy Mayfair has put a lackluster 2004 behind him.
Since turning pro in 1988 Billy Mayfair has enjoyed steady success. For his first sixteen years on Tour he finished in the top-125 on the Money List and compiled five wins. 2004 was a disappointment as he finished 140th on the Money List. His “mere” $503,251 in earnings was plenty to live on but not enough to make it back for another year. Unsatisfied with finishing 254th in the World Golf Rankings, Mayfair used his top-50th all time earnings exemption to get back onto tour in 2005 and try to turn things around.
Arnold Palmer is certainly one of America’s most beloved sportsman. Join him here for a quick nine.
Somewhere between his successful career and lovable charisma Arnold Palmer became an American legend. He has enjoyed the respect and admiration of several generations of golf fans for his passionate play, sportsmanship, and respect for his admirers.
With a work ethic that pushes him past normal limits, there is no doubt that Vijay Singh is one of the Tour’s elite.
Getting to know Vijay Singh is much like cozying up to a porcupine: unless you’re in the family, it’s tough to get close.
While we might not be able to step into Singh’s world, his clubs have done plenty of talking since he joined the Tour in 1993. He won his first ever PGA Tour event in a playoff over Mark Wiebe and subsequently captured the 1993 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year award. His winning ways have accelerated during the past several years and he has earned himself a permanent place in golf history.
Chris DiMarco has improved his game tremendously in the past five years but must now prove his worth when tournaments are on the line.
Chris DiMarco’s showdown with Tiger Woods in the third and fourth round of the Masters was one of the 2005 season’s defining moments. DiMarco earned the respect of golf fans the world over when he refused to knuckle under and hung with Woods till their playoff ended and Tiger edged him out. That final round pairing of DiMarco and Woods did a lot for DiMarco’s image and proved that he had the heart to win the biggest events.
While proving he could take heat in a Major without shooting a 76, DiMarco’s next few years will prove whether he gets a chapter or a footnote in golf history.
Kenny Perry has quietly build one of the most successful games on the PGA Tour. He is a man who has not only made a place for himself, he’s made a place for others as well.
Kenny Perry looks like he’d be more at home in the front seat of a big rig than he would on the many golf courses he visits on the PGA Tour circuit. Despite his unassuming nature, Perry has made a place for himself in the world of golf. Golf fans have become accustomed to seeing Perry stroll fairways on weekends but Perry remains the same guy who people have come to appreciate in his home town of Franklin, Kentucky.
Perry’s steady work and persistence have secured him a top spot on the PGA Tour. He is currently 10th in the World Golf Rankings (still a whopping 12.8 points behind Tiger Woods) and 6th on the 2005 money list with $3,282,605. His current career earnings total $19,404,890.
Phil Mickelson is finally living up to his potential. He’s always been a sportsman, now he’s a multiple-major winner.
By the end of the 2003 PGA season Phil Mickelson was tired. Tired of facing the media and his own tortured soul over his lack of major championship victories. He was the poster child for underachievers and the unfortunate recipient of a clichéd label the media and masses had become accustomed to associating with all things Mickelson. He was “the best player to have never won a major.” He had been walking around with that pebble in his shoe for a long time and has finally shaken it out. Twice.
It is nearing the end of another season but this time Mickelson will be entering the off-season from an entirely different vantage point. No longer does he have to struggle to explain why he hasn’t been able to close a deal at the majors because he owns not one, but two major championships. Both of them came with what were golf’s equivalent to walk off home runs. Two seasons, two birdies on two final holes, and two majors in the bag. Phil Mickelson isn’t a one hit wonder.
Goosen isn’t the chattiest Tour player. Most of the time he lets his game do the talking.
Retief Goosen has the perfect demeanor for both golf and poker. Getting a read on him is not unlike looking at a book written in Sanskrit. His emotions don’t run too high or too low. His steady-as-it-goes approach that has paid him dividends in golf.
Currently ranked 5th in the world he has just come off a victory at the International proving again to himself and the world that he can win. Any doubt about his ability to win would have never entered the picture, had he not stumbled in the final round of this year’s U.S. Open. Goosen, after all, is Mr. Clutch.
