Top 2009 stories from the golfing world.

What a year 2009 has been. Here's a quick look at the world of golf from the past year.

5. Phil Mickleson

Lefty had to have one of the roughest seasons he's ever faced. And I'm talking off the course. Phil's wife, Amy, was diagnosed with breast caner in May. Players and fans showed their support for Amy by wearing pink at Colonial, a class move by all that were involved. Lefty's year took another twist in early July when it was revealed that his mother also had the disease. You wondered if we would see Phil on tour again in '09. When Lefty came back, it was for the betterment of the tour as he won the TOUR Championship in late September and followed that with a win at the HSBC Championship in China.

4. Wie wins first title

This picture says it all. Just when a lot of golf fans were wondering about the fate of American golfers on the LPGA, Wie broke through with his first tourney win at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. The win more soldified Wie as a threat to win every week. A couple of things I'll add to this. Having Wie play on the Solheim Cup team helped. Wie found more confidence than she has ever had. Also, not concentrating on making PGA events has forced Wie to gear her game more for the LPGA tour. I sincerely doubt this will be the last we see and/or hear of Michelle Wie winning.

3. Y.E. Yang tames Tiger for PGA at Hazeltine

Some things you just never see coming, and Y.E. Yang's victory at Hazeltine has to rate as the biggest surprise win in 2009 (yes, even ahead of Lucas Glover's U.S. Open win). What made Yang's feat more amazing is that he was paired with Tiger for the final round. Yang stared the world's #1 in the face and left with the prize. You can count on one hand the number of players that have achieved that feat. A surprising stat. Over the first 23 holes, Yang was +5 while Woods was -4. The last 49 holes tells a different story where Yang was an incredible -13 and Tiger could only manage a -1. Seems Yang found his game just into his second round to shock the world.

2. Tom Watson's run at the Open Championship

Time has a way of cycling through just like everything else. And no tournament exhibited that more than the Open Championship. Tom Watson became front and center at the venue, Turnberry in Scotland,  that produced yet another duel. The opponent this time was Stewart Cink. Last time, the Golden Bear. Watson missed a par putt on the 72nd hole that would have given him the most incredible win of his storied career. Instad, Watson left Scotland second after losing the playoff to Cink. Oh, I forgot to mention that Watson was 59.

1. Tiger

What else can be said? After a single car accident, Tiger's world came tumbling down. That accident lead to speculation that Woods had a number of affiars. How it spiraled that direction, I'll never really know. Something about a golf club around the scene of the crash, I guess. Tiger later posted on his website that he had made such mistakes and the ball still keeps rolling like the shot on #16 at Augusta. When I first started to compile this list in mid-November, this story was non-existant. Amazing what a holiday can do. Look at this, too. Tiger was booed by the Stanford crowd as he was inducted into Stanford's Hall of Fame. Maybe they already knew something.