Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
It has been quite a year in the world of golf with so many exciting tournaments, new stars emerging, major champions crowned, the Ryder Cup changing hands and all this with Tiger missing for six months of the year.
Even so, the great man still left his mark on the 2008 season by completing a remarkable victory at Torrey Pines in June - how much that victory may cost him in the future only time will tell, but his playoff with Rocco Mediate was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the year.
After a rather low key, uneventful Masters back in April the golfing year burst into life at the US Open. You can't take anything away from Trevor Immelman who won at Augusta with a display of superbly controlled golf, but crowds want excitement, they want birdies and bogey's and leaderboard changes well into the back nine on Sunday.
Woods and Mediate provided us with drama to the end in the closest climax to a major championship for years before finally, at the 91st hole an exhausted Tiger, who could hardly stand let alone swing triumphed in a display of determination not often seen in modern sport.
Last season gave us new stars aplenty with the emergence of the likes of Martin Kaymer, Ross Fisher, Anthony Kim, Camillo Villegas and Oliver Wilson. Established stars had a mixed season with the likes of Colin Montgomerie and Ernie Els struggling for form.
The European Tour belonged to Robert Karlsson who was amazingly consistent all year long, rounding off the year with two victories to put the icing on his Order of Merit cake. Vijay Singh returned to form with victory in the FedEx Cup in America, but the undoubted star of the year was the unbelievable Irishman, Padraig Harrington. With two more majors safely in the trophy cabinet, 2008 will go down as Harrington's year without question, but it could have been so different...
On the eve of the Open Championship, which Padraig was defending after victory at Carnoustie 12 months earlier, he sat in his Southport hotel his hopes resting on the damaged fibres of a strained tendon. He was relying on not just a golfing colleague, but a major rival in Phil Mickelson who was going to lend him a piece of kit to help heal the wrist injury that had restricted his practice to a mere nine holes.
Unable to physically practice, Harrington spent his time going through the challenges of Royal Birkdale in his head. This was the only way he could prepare. Thankfully Mickelson's light laser device got the defending champion to the first tee on Thursday morning and the rest as they say, is history! In the following four days the Irishman retained the Claret Jug and within three weeks had made it back-to-back majors with victory at the US PGA Championship after just edging out an in-from Sergio Garcia.
Undoubtedly Harrington has been the prime mover in the absence of the injured Woods and his challenge is to sustain that momentum when the world number one returns. He has done what Mickelson, Els, Singh (and many more) were unable to do. He fully capitalised on Woods's absence.
Heading up that elite group just behind Woods along with Padraig is the aforementioned Garcia.
Another nearly year for the vastly talented Spaniard, who captured the Players Championship (the unofficial 5th Major), but missed out again on one of golf's major prizes. His time must surely come in 2009.
September brought with it the Ryder Cup. Three days of the toughest, most intense, dramatic golf you can witness. For those involved, emotions ran high as Europe set out to defend the cup they had retained so brilliantly at the K Club two years previously. The American team were driven on by a passionate Kentucky crowd and when it came down to the Sunday Singles they moved up through the gears and left the Europeans for dust. The standard of golf throughout the week was incredible and the Americans deservedly take possession of the trophy for the next two years.
The announcement of the Race to Dubai, Tiger's return and many new emerging stars makes the promise of a vintage golfing year in 2009 a distinct possibility but the final words I have saved for one of the saddest moments of 2008.
The great Severiano Ballesteros was struck down by a brain tumor in early October after fainting at Madrid airport. Since then he has undergone four separate operations, including a 61/2-hour procedure to remove the tumour but I am very pleased to report that the 51-year-old, 5-time major winner has returned home to begin his rehabilitation and start a course of chemotherapy. We look forward to hearing of his progress early in 2009 and maybe see him return to the game in some way shape or form in the future.
This year belonged to Padraig and deservedly so. Next week in Golf Scene I have canvassed the opinion of the Royal Golf Club's PGA Professionals to find out their predictions for 2009, please join us and see if you agree with our choices.
Merry Christmas to you all from all of us here at the Royal Golf Club.
