COUNTING DOWN LPGA TOUR'S 13 TOP STORIES IN 2013: NO. 7

LPGA.com counts down to the end of 2013 with the LPGA Tour's 13 top stories of the year. Join us as we look back at the year's most memorable milestones. Read about Park’s historical 2013 season in Story No. 7.

In the matter of weeks, South Korea’s Inbee Park became not only the No. 1 player in the world, but the No. 1 story of the 2013 LPGA Tour season.

Coming off a 2012 season where she produced 12 top-10 finishes in the last half of the year, momentum was on Park’s side and she started the 2013 season off with a win at the Honda LPGA Thailand. From there, Park was unstoppable, notching her first major of the season at the Kraft Nabisco Championship which started a journey she never imagined she would be on.

Over the span of ten tournaments in the middle of the season, Park became the No. 1 women’s golfer in the world, captured five wins including three major championships and two additional top-10 finishes. But the most remarkable achievement through that stint was when she made her first mark in LPGA Tour history, becoming the second player – and first in the modern era – to win the first three majors of the season.

Park rounded out her season with three additional top-10 finishes in the final five events to solidify her top spot on the official money list with more than $2.4 million for the second-consecutive year.

It seemed only fitting for Park to end her historical season with yet another exclamation point. At the CME Group Titleholders, Park was presented with the coveted Player of the Year award, an award that no other South Korean has claimed in LPGA Tour history. 

“Unexpectedly, as soon as happiness became my goal, I achieved more than ever,” said Park in her acceptance speech. “This year I had my best season yet, with six wins, including three straight major championships. I think that makes for a great year, don’t you think?”

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Rod Perry repeats as PGA Pro Player of Year

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Reigning national champion Rod Perry of Port Orange, Fla., has won his second consecutive PGA Professional Player of the Year award.

Perry, 40, the PGA head professional at Crane Lakes Golf and Country Club in Port Orange, secured the honor by finishing tied for third in the final PGA Tournament Series event of the season at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Perry won his first national championship in June in Sunriver, Ore., and then added a seventh North Florida PGA Section championship and seventh Section Player of the Year title.

Perry earned 1,191.5 overall points to edge former national champion Bob Sowards of Dublin, Ohio, a three-time PGA Professional Player of the Year who had 1,107.5 points.

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Tiger kept No. 1 ranking despite strong opposition in 2013

Along with victories, money and scoring average, another way to measure the strength of a golf season is total Official World Golf Ranking points. Tiger Woods won that category, too, but just barely over Henrik Stenson. A closer look reveals it was not really that close.

Woods earned 488.75 Official World Golf Ranking points this year, only 3.65 points ahead of Stenson. Adam Scott was third, more than 100 points behind.

The difference, however, is that Woods played only 19 tournaments that awarded Official World Golf Ranking points. Stenson played 31 tournaments. Woods earned an average of 25.7 points for every tournament he played, compared with 15.6 points for Stenson.

This is nothing new for Woods. He tends to play the toughest courses against the strongest fields. He also helps to make the field strong as the No. 1 player in the world. And while he doesn't play often, he plays well when he does tee it up.

"Most of my events I play in the majority of my career have been on the more difficult venues, and against the better fields," Woods said this month. "And now that we have not just the majors and The Players, but we also have the World Golf Championships ... and also the playoffs at the end of the year, you're getting the top players to play together more often. And I'm very proud of my overall record, especially in the bigger events."

Here's another way to look at it -- the 19 tournaments worldwide Woods played this year offered an average of 72.7 points to the winner.

All of this made perfect sense to Ian Poulter, a student of the world ranking.

"How many events has he played, 19?" Poulter said. "So he's got four majors, three World Golf Championships (Woods skipped the HSBC Champions), four FedEx Playoff events. If you look where he plays, they are all the events where the top players are playing. You would theoretically say he's got a good chance to earn a lot of points. But he has to play well."

And that he did.

MORE ON THE RANKING: The top 28 players in the world ranking at the end of 2012 were PGA TOUR members this year, which made the gap between the PGA TOUR and the European Tour even wider in measuring strength of field.

The average reward for PGA TOUR winners was 56.2 ranking points, compared with 43 points on the European Tour. That includes the majors and World Golf Championships for both tours. Remove those eight big events, and the average was 47.3 points for PGA TOUR winners compared with 33.1 points on the European Tour.

Except for the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, which gets a bonus as the flagship event, the strongest field on the European Tour was in Abu Dhabi (54 points). The PGA TOUR had nine events with a stronger field. The Barclays and Deutsche Bank Championship led the way, offering 74 points each. That's to be expected because they start off the FedExCup Playoffs. Of regular events, the Memorial gave 70 points to the winner.

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Top 10 in 2013: Surprises

Be honest - did you ever see Phil Mickelson winning the claret jug? It's now his most prized possession, but it's not the No. 1 surprise this year. If you've already unwrapped all your presents this Christmas morning, have no fear - there are more gifts in store for you as GolfChannel.com counts down the top 10 surprises of 2013.

10. Guan Tianlang making Masters cut despite penalty

In what is believed to be the first slow-play penalty issued in Masters history, 14-year-old phenom Guan Tianlang was docked a shot in the second round at Augusta. The penalty turned his 2-over 74 into a 75, yet he still advanced to the weekend and became the youngest player to ever make the cut at the Masters. Oh yeah, and he handled it with grace and poise that far exceeded what anyone would have expected.

9. Solheim Cup upset

Since the biennial matches got their start in 1990, the U.S. team had never lost the Solheim Cup on home soil … until 2013. The U.S. squad fell to the Europeans, 18 to 10, at Colorado Golf Club in what was never really a close match. The victory also marked the first time Europe won the Solheim Cup in back-to-back events.

8. Tiger's major woes

Tiger Woods won five times in 2013, won the Vardon Trophy, was the top money earner, won Player of the Year and again ascended to world No. 1. So what didn't he do? Oh, that's right ... he failed to win a major for the fifth year in a row.

7. Stricker shining on abbreviated schedule

What good is being ‘normal,’ anyway? For Steve Stricker in 2013, breaking the mold – and significantly shortening his schedule – almost landed the 46-year-old his first major championship. What’s more is that he recorded four runner-up finishes in 13 starts, earned a trip to East Lake for a shot at the $10 million FedEx Cup prize, and he played his way onto the Presidents Cup team. Not bad for a semi-retired golfer.

6. Yani's demise

With 15 LPGA titles - including five majors - under her belt, it was widely believed that it would be only a matter of time before Yani Tseng returned to her winning ways. But that didn't happen in 2013. After holding the world No. 1 ranking for 109 weeks, Tseng was overtaken in March and has fallen as low as 32nd. She is winless on any tour, anywhere in the world since March 2012.

5. Stenson's dominating season

In 2012, Henrik Stenson had fallen to 206th in the world. But in 2013, amidst a lingering battle with a wrist injury, the strapping Swede made his second career comeback from obscurity. He posted 12 top-10 finishes worldwide in '13, including wins at two FedEx Cup Playoff events and the DP World Tour Championship. He also became the first player to win the FedEx Cup and the Race to Dubai in the same season. How Swede it is, indeed.

4. McIlroy's struggles

Rory McIlroy began the year ranked No. 1 in the world, had two majors under his belt and was voted Player of the Year on both the PGA and European tours the previous season. One mega-deal with Nike, trouble on lover's lane and some legal issues later, and McIlroy's year was clouded by doubt and despair. He capped off the year with a win at the Australian Open, but it was hardly any consolation for the Wonderkid's underwhelming campaign.

3. Park's major run

Inbee Park caused quite a stir in 2013. For starters, she won the first three majors of the season which sparked a heated debate - if she won a fourth would it be considered a Grand Slam? Seems like an easy answer, except that the LPGA added a fifth major to the schedule this year. She didn't go on to win either of the final two, but her feat is among some of the most impressive accomplishments in the history of the game.

2. Mickelson winning British Open

Be honest – no chance you saw Phil Mickelson winning the Open Championship before the U.S. Open. That is, if you had him winning either of them at all. When he finally learned to love links golf ('I used to hate it and now I love it,' Phil said in July), he secured the third leg of the career Grand Slam. Can anyone say 'Pinehurst in 2014?'

1. Spieth's year

From a boy on a college campus to the Big Man on the PGA Tour canvas, no one saw Jordan Spieth coming in 2013. He began the year with no status on any tour, but became the first teen to win a PGA Tour event in more than 80 years when he secured the John Deere Classic, racked up three runners-up, six other top 10s and nearly $4 million in earnings. He made it all the way to the Tour Championship and became the youngest ever to represent the U.S. at the Presidents Cup. Soooo ... what were you doing when you were 19?

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Newsmaker of the Year No. 4: Phil Mickelson

Within minutes of his unlikely victory at the Open Championship Phil Mickelson had already settled into his normal routine as the smartest person in the room.

Just as the media and masses were trying to digest Lefty’s Scottish Slam – victories in consecutive weeks on links courses – the man himself had already compartmentalized the claret jug and moved on to the next mountain.

“If I'm able to win the U.S. Open and complete the career Grand Slam, I think that that's the sign of the complete great player. And I'm a leg away (U.S. Open). And it's been a tough leg for me,” he allowed in the moments following his Open triumph.

“There’s five players that have done that. And those five players are the greats of the game. You look at them with a different light. And if I were able to ever win a U.S. Open, and I'm very hopeful that I will, but it has been elusive for me. And yet this championship has been much harder for me to get.”

That kind of instant perspective is why Mickelson is among 2013’s top newsmakers. The truth is it’s why he’s always among the year’s top newsmakers.

His on-course play aside – an eclectic card in ’13 ranging from his brilliant performances at the Open Championship and Waste Management Phoenix Open to relatively lackluster starts at the Masters and throughout the FedEx Cup playoffs – it is Lefty’s keen sense for the dramatic that defies the golf world to look away.

He lipped out for a 59 in Round 1 at TPC Scottsdale, signed for a second-round 79 at Bay Hill and arrived at the U.S. Open, albeit a tad delayed following a red-eye flight on the eve of the opening round to attend the eighth-grade graduation of his oldest daughter back home in Southern California, wielding a juiced up fairway wood and a dialed down game plan.

“I knew he wasn’t going to try to hit a driver, which as you know with Phil is a good thing because that means he doesn’t try to bomb the thing 400 yards,” swing coach Butch Harmon said as Mickelson set out on Sunday at Merion with a one-stroke lead.

Mickelson’s heartbreaking history at his national championship appeared to be headed for a new chapter when he holed out a wedge shot for eagle at the par-4 10th to take the lead. But he miss-clubbed at the 13th hole, failed to convert a birdie putt at the 16th and watched the award ceremony for the sixth time from the bridesmaid’s box.

There could have been a Merion malaise, an emotional lull after coming so close to the one championship he covets the most . . . again. And, to be honest, it’s not as though many outside Camp Lefty considered the Open Championship a viable option given the 43-year-old’s pedestrian record at the game’s oldest tilt.

In 17 trips across the Atlantic, Mickelson had just two top-10 finishes in the Open and before 2011, when he finished a distant second to Darren Clarke, the ancient links didn’t seem to be his brand of Scotch – all of which makes Mickelson’s fairytale fortnight in Scotland so significant.

He won the Scottish Open in a playoff and carded what many considered the most inspiring final round of the year – a 66 that was capped by birdies at the 71st and 72nd hole – at Muirfield to etch his name onto the claret jug.

“After you work with a guy for 21 years, it’s pretty cool when you see him play the best round of golf he’s ever played in the last round of the British Open,” an emotional Jim “Bones” Mackay said.

Who knew the man who was one good bounce away from an U.S. Open title at Winged Foot or Merion just needed the burnt and bouncy turf of Muirfield to put his career into a final approach to greatness?

Even as Mickelson’s play dropped off late in the season he continued to make headlines, announcing in September he was considering cutting his schedule by as much as 25 percent in future years “in an effort to play at a high level when I do play because I know that I’m not able to do it 25 weeks a year,” he said.

For Mickelson the scheduling makeover is an ode to the obvious. Next year’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst marks the 15th anniversary of Lefty’s first near miss at the event when he lost to Payne Stewart on the Donald Ross gem.

It’s why, with his signature flare for the dramatic, Mickelson’s mind immediately raced ahead even as he waited adjacent the 18th green at Muirfield to accept the claret jug.

“I never knew if I would be able to win this tournament. I hoped and believed but I never knew it,” he said.

Muirfield was more than a victory for Mickelson, it was a seminal moment; and as is normally the case with Lefty, he figured it out long before the rest of us.

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'Golfboard' aims to make golf a cooler sport with skateboard-like device

SKATEBOARDERS and golfers may not normally have much in common, but a US entrepreneur hopes to appeal to both sporting types with a new device that lets you "surf" the fairways.

The GolfBoard, demonstrated at a recent charity event in California, looks like a large motorised skateboard but can comfortably carry a golfer and his clubs around 18 holes, according to its makers.

The innovative device aims to replace the golf cart as the smart way to get around a course, speeding up the game and offering players a snowboard-style work out in between playing shots.

"It will do for golfing what snowboarding did for skiing," said Don Wildman, a 80-year-old fitness club founder and Malibu resident who came up with the idea, giving a stark assessment of golf's current appeal.

"It's an old man's sport. I know if I had kids, they would really like to come out and play golf if they got to ride around on... an electric skateboard," he said in the clubhouse of the Malibu Country Club.

Paul Hodge, who heads the company that makes the device, is even more blunt.

"If you really want the industry to grow, and to be accepted by the mass market, you need to kill that stodgy conservative attitude... and you need to make it fun... and attract the younger crowds," he said.

"Forward-thinking people in the golf industry right now realise you can't focus on what was the game like 100 years ago. You need to focus on, what's the game going to be like in the future?"

The board, 38cm wide with 9cm wide tyres, can ride up to 36 holes without a recharge.

It is designed so that, even for a heavy golfer weighing more than 110kg on a very hilly course, it can go at least 18 holes.

It can reach speeds of up to 19km/h, roughly the equivalent of a golf cart.

Not everyone is convinced, even though the device has yet to be widely available for people to test out.

"This is at best a gimmick, and I can't think of a single course I play at which would even allow such a thing on the course," said one user of online golf forum thesandtrap.com.

"Their liability insurance policies alone would prohibit it," he said, while another commented: "I'm not sure where you come from, but in NY most people can barely manage to get on an escalator without killing themselves and others."

But Hodge said he already has orders for 2000 GolfBoards, and mass production of the devices - which retail at $3500 ($A3920) each - will begin in January, with a capacity of 1000 a month.

"Now we're moving to mass manufacturing to fill the demand that we've created," he said.

The target users are aged 15-40, he said. "But we've had a surprising interest from golfers much older than that. The standup (handle) bar that we've added makes it easy for anybody to ride .. that's really opened up the demographic.

"So you don't need to have a really strong athletic background to be able to ride it but it's certainly more challenging when you take the bar off."

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Henrik Stenson is looking to break his major duck after a record-breaking year on tour

Henrik Stenson is looking to add a major title to his growing CV after a record-breaking year on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Swede dominated the sport from the summer, chalking up seven top 10s from his final nine events on his way to securing the Race To Dubai title and the FedEx Cup.

Stenson also topped up his bank balance to the tune of 1m euros with victory in the DP World Tour Championship at Dubai November but it his showing in the majors which gives him hope for the coming year.

Second to Phil Mickelson in The Open at Muirfield was followed by a third-placed showing at the USPGA and he believes he now has the game to see him break his duck in 2014.

"From the US Open onwards I was on a really, really good run," he told Sky Sports News.

"Obviously my game was in good shape but my attitude and state of mind was phenomenal and the success I have had is down to the mental state I was in over that period.

"But you have to have a good golf game to back it up as well, and it all came together for me in 2013.

"I took so many positives out of my second place at The Open and third at the US PGA and that is what I will be trying to build on for next year, try to up my game that little bit more to put myself right in the mix."

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