Top 10: Couples in 2013

1. Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn

Tiger and Lindsey announced their relationship was official by posting photos to Facebook in March. For an obsessively private man, this represents a stark departure for Woods. Lindsey was seen at numerous events throughout the year supporting Tiger, and he was on-site to cheer her on at numerous ski competitions.

2. Dustin Johnson and Paulina Gretzky

The Great One's daughter was first seen following DJ around Kapalua. From there, there was hardly a day she wasn't seen with DJ either on the links or on social media. The two got engaged in August, but they have remained relatively mum about any wedding details. It's safe to say the wedding will certainly be, well, Great!

3. Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki

Are they or aren't they? Rumors ran rampant at numerous points throughout the year that the beloved Wozzilroy had called it quits. And everyone from Nick Faldo to Gary Player chimed in on the strain the relationship was undoubtedly putting on McIlroy's golf in 2013. For all these reasons, their love affair was front and center for most of the year.

4. Arnold Palmer and Kate Upton

The King was seen many times this year with supermodel Kate Upton. Should this really surprise us? From dinners to photoshoots, golf lessons and a staged smooch, the two were an unforgettable duo.

5. Jason and Amanda Dufner

With #Dufnering going viral and Jason winning the PGA Championship, he and wife Amanda were thrust into the limelight in a big way this year. And thank goodness for it.

6. Graeme McDowell and Kristin Stape

A year after McDowell proposed atop the 656-foot-high helipad at the Burg Al Arab Hotel in Dubai, he and Stape wed in an intimate ceremony in the Bahamas. The couple remains low-key most of the time, which is unfortunate for us because we can't get enough of the duo. When they're not traveling the world for golf, the couple can likely be seen at the restaurant they opened earlier this year, Nona Blue, near their home in Lake Nona, Fla.

7. Patrick and Justine Reed

When Patrick Reed won the Wyndham Championship in August with sweetheart Justine on the bag, the duo became the first husband-and-wife team to win on the PGA Tour in more than 17 years. Justine (who stands 5-foot-1) began caddying for Patrick in the spring of 2012, and has no plans of stopping.

8. Davis Love III and Sammy the Squirrel

Their relationship was fleeting, but the memories will last forever. Love rescued the baby squirrel for fear he/she was going to get run over by a cart at the Presidents Cup. Sammy - named to be gender neutral - soon became the U.S. team mascot, and was touted around the course. Alas, all good things must end, and Love released Sammy back into the wild the following day.

9. Phil and Amy Mickelson

What golf couples list would be complete without America's sweethearts? Amy was by Phil's side in 2013 through the ups (see: British Open), the downs (see: U.S. Open) and everything in between.

10. Keegan Bradley and Jason Dufner

These two go way back - like all the way back to the 2011 PGA Championship. They've been bosom buddies ever since, and their budding bromance blossomed even more this year, from exchanging barbs on Twitter to Bradley hugging Dufner after winning this year's PGA at Oak Hill. While playing alongside Dufner in the final round of the Tour Championship, Bradley holed out from the fairway then dropped to the ground and Dufnered.

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Punch Shot: Returning unwanted moments from the past year

It's that time of the year again ... to return your unwanted Christmas gifts. So that got us thinking, what moments from the past season would some of the game's biggest names want to exchange. GolfChannel.com writers offer up their suggestions.

By RYAN LAVNER

If Tiger Woods could have a mulligan in 2013, it’s a good bet he’d use it on his wedge shot Friday at Augusta National – the one that clanked off the flagstick, trundled into the water, and, in retrospect, altered the trajectory of his season.

Give him a redo, and Woods would play that zeroed-in wedge just a touch to either side of the flag. He would make that kick-in birdie. He would avoid the biggest controversy of the year, or being labeled as “a little cavalier with the rules.” He would take the lead at the Masters on his way to capturing his 15th major title.

He would play more aggressively at both Opens, knowing his major burden had been lifted, and maybe he wins one there, too. He would be named the clear-cut player of the year, no matter what Phil and Adam and Hennie Stennie all did.

That shot was a bad break for Tiger, no doubt. But it made next year even more compelling.

By RANDALL MELL

Phil Mickelson gets to return his tee shot at the 13th at Merion Sunday in this year’s U.S. Open for something he’d like better.

Mickelson lamented hitting pitching wedge over the green there on his way to his most heartbreaking loss in the championship, his sixth runner-up finish.

“I had too much club,” he said later. “I needed a gap wedge. It would have been a better fit.”

Isn’t that what most of the returns are all about on the day after Christmas? Something that fits better?

Yes, Mickelson made two double bogeys on the front nine in the final round at Merion, losing the lead he built through 54 holes, but his eagle at the 10th put him back in the driver’s seat. In the end he left heartbroken, thinking about the misses with wedges at the 13th and 15th holes, shots that led to bogeys.

“The two bad shots of the day that I’ll look back on where I let it go,” Mickelson said.

By REX HOGGARD

Pick a major, almost any major will do, and chances are Lee Westwood has regrets and a distinct desire for a cosmic mulligan. There was the Masters in 2010 (second) and 2012 (third), the Open Championship in 2009 (third) and 2010 (second) and the U.S. Open in 2011 (third).

You get the idea, but if the affable Englishman had one chance to trade in tragedy for triumph it would likely have been at this year’s Open Championship.

Westwood began the final 18 holes looking like a man poised to end a confounding Grand Slam drought. He was two strokes clear of the field and cruising. Perhaps even more telling was his confident tone on the eve of the final round at Muirfield.

“I'm not in a high-pressure situation, because I'm going to go have dinner, and I'm so good with a knife and fork now that I don't feel any pressure at all,” he joked following the third round.

Whether it was pressure or simply fate that led to a closing-round 75 and a distant tie for third doesn’t really matter. Not when eventual champion Phil Mickelson carded perhaps the round of the year (66) on his way to victory.

There were birdies to be had on Sunday on the ancient links, just none for Westwood.

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Opinion: Park's place on 'Female Athlete of the Year' list baffles

It is as much a slap in the face to women’s professional golf as it is to Inbee Park.

Park just fashioned a history making year, becoming the first woman since Babe Zaharias in 1950 to win the first three major championships of the year, and yet Park didn’t even finish among the top three in the Associated Press voting for Female Athlete of the Year in 2013, as announced on Christmas Day.

Park is among just three women to win three majors in a single season in the history of golf. She joins Mickey Wright (1961) and Pat Bradley (1986) as the only players to do so. Park went to the Women’s British Open in August with a chance to become the first man or woman to win four professional majors in a single season. Though her historic march fell short at St. Andrews, it’s baffling that her efforts were not considered among the top three in women’s sports this year.

Tennis star Serena Williams easily won the voting among sports editors, claiming 55 of 96 votes. WNBA rookie Brittney Griner was second with 14 votes and swimmer Missy Franklin was third with 10.

Williams enjoyed a banner year, winning 11 titles, two of them Grand Slam titles (U.S. Women’s Open and French Open). Still, Park’s achievements were more historic, a major championship run that somehow didn’t register the way it should have outside golf’s niche. It’s not as if Park didn’t do anything beyond the majors. She won six times overall, became the first South Korean to win Rolex Player of the Year and won her second LPGA money title.

Griner is a spectacular showcase for the WNBA. She set dunk records for the league and helped her Phoenix Mercury make the league finals. But nagging injuries slowed her progress as a rookie. A left knee sprain plagued her much of the season. She missed the All Star Game with it. She missed seven regular-season games in a 34-game season.

Franklin won four gold medals in the 2012 Olympics, but this isn’t even an Olympic year.

Griner and Franklin have larger profiles, more mainstream recognition than Park enjoys. Their names, their faces, their stories resonate more than Park’s. They're also all Americans. Still, that doesn't completely explain the voting. As recently as 2003 through 2007, women’s golf owned the AP award, with Sweden's Annika Sorenstam winning three times and Mexico's Lorena Ochoa twice.

This was a terrific year in women’s golf, with storylines galore in Park, Suzann Pettersen, Stacy Lewis, 16-year-old Lydia Ko, 18-year-old Lexi Thompson and a history-making European Solheim Cup team. Still, apparently, the stories aren’t resonating enough beyond the golf niche. The women in golf aren’t playing on a stage big enough to overshadow women’s tennis, the WNBA or the Olympics. Or they don't have the star power to illuminate the stage.

The talent’s definitely there in the LPGA ranks, but this year’s voting has to make you question the tour’s star power, or lack thereof.

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Jon Anderson looks at Australia's top 20 finest sporting performers in 2013

JON Anderson counts down the top performers from the sporting world. Who took out No.1 and have your say.

1: Adam Scott (golf)

He did what no other Australian has been able to do in winning the US Masters at Augusta. He then added another US PGA tour win by taking The Barclays and claimed the PGA Grand Slam of Golf played between the four winners of the majors in 2013. Returning home he won the Australian Masters, Australian PGA and teamed with Jason Day to claim the World Cup.

2: Mick Fanning (surfing)

The 32-year-old known as "White Lightning" added a third ASP World Championship in dramatic fashion at Pipeline to the titles he won in 2007 and 2009. It came through a run of extreme consistency that saw him place top five in eight events and keep the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) in Kelly Slater at bay.

3: Michael Clarke (cricket)

With 1077 runs (prior to the Boxing Day Test) and four centuries in 12 Tests at 48.95, he remains one of the finest batsmen in the game. More importantly two of those centuries were vital components in Australia regaining the Ashes.

4: Israel Folau (rugby union)

Went from a unremarkable AFL player to the most destructive back in World rugby. Big Izzy equalled Lote Tuqiri's record of 10 tries in a season for the Wallabies and added a further eight for the Waratahs. And at 24 it would seem the best is still to come.

5: Johnathan Thurston (rugby league)

Man of the match for Australia's in its World Cup victory over England (and man of the series) and a crucial component at five-eight for Queensland in beating NSW in the State of Origin. The one-time supermarket butcher's assistant is at the peak of his powers.

6: Gary Ablett (AFL)

In a career that keeps adding superlatives, Ablett won his second Brownlow medal, fifth club best and fairest, fifth AFLPA MVP, and seventh straight All-Australian selection. He is far and away the most consistently brilliant player of the past decade in the AFL.

7: Cate Campbell (swimming)

The 186cm Malawi-born Campbell was prolific at the 2013 World Swimming Championships in Barcelona, winning gold in the 100m freestyle and silvers in the 50m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay.

8: Jamie Whincup (V8 Supercars)

In winning his fifth his fifth title, Whincup propelled himself into legendary status. He won 11 of 34 races including three of four held for the first time in the US. And at just 30 there is no reason why Whincup won't surpass Ian Geoghegan, Dick Johnson and Mark Skaife by winning a sixth championship.

9: Mirinda Carfrae (ironman)

Carfrae set a course record when winning the gruelling World Ironman World Championship at Kona, Hawaii in 2013 with a time of 8:52:14. Additionally, at that race she set a women's record time for the run portion of the course at 2:50:38.

10: Tim Cahill (soccer)

At 34 it looked as if his best may be behind him but Cahill thought otherwise, going on a goalscoring spree for the New York Red Bulls in the competitive US league and scoring twice for the Socceroos to take his national tally to a record 29 goals from 64 matches.

11: Christian Sprenger (swimming)

At 28 is in the form of his life, winning gold in the 100m breathstroke at the World Swimming Championships and silver in the 50m breaststroke and 4x100m medley relay. The 196cm Sprenger is hoping to reach the 2016 Olympics.

12: Caroline Buchanan (BMX)

The 23-year-old known as "Cannonball" put the disappointment of the 2012 London Olympics behind her to dominate her chosen field, winning the UC World Four Cross Championships in Austria and the UCI BMX World Championships in New Zealand.

13: James Spithill (sailing)

At just 33, Sydney-born Jimmy Spithill is rapidly building a CV the equal of few. In 2010 he became the youngest ever skipper to win the America's Cup (BMW Oracle Racing). Defending the title in 2013 aboard Oracle Team USA, Spithill and his team came from 8-1 down to win 9-8 against Emirates Team New Zealand.

14: Andrew Bogut (basketball)

Helped take the Golden State Warriors to the NBA Western Conference semi-finals where they were narrow losers to eventual runners-up San Antonio. The Essendon Football Club fanatic produced 21 rebounds and 14 points in a game against the LA Lakers.

15: Anna Meares (cycling)

The 30-year-old from Blackwater in Queensland broke her own 500m time-trial world record at a World Cup meeting in the high altitude of Mexico. In doing so she became the first woman to go under 33 seconds.

16: Renae Hallinan (netball)

Dropped from the national team two seasons ago, the 180cm wing defence came storming back, winning the Liz Ellis Diamond (for best Australian player) and International Player of the Year. She played every game in the Adelaide Thunderbirds' premiership year and all 10 matches for the Diamonds.

17: Madonna Blyth (hockey)

Hockeyroos captain Blyth, 28, had a blinder of a season, being beaten by the great Luciana Aymar for the International Hockey Federation's Player of the Year. Blyth led the Hockeyroos to gold at both the Oceania Cup and Investec World League Semi-Final Tournament.

18: Damien Oliver (horse racing)

For much of 2013 he watched on from the sidelines after being banned for 10 months for betting on a rival horse. At 41 he came charging back, riding winners at will before claiming a third Melbourne Cup aboard Fiorente for his 98th Group 1 victory.

19: Kim Crow (rowing)

Following on from silver and bronze at the 2012 London Olympics, Crow, 28, took gold in the single sculls at the World Championships in Chungju, powering to the lead at the 300m mark and holding it to the line.

20: Will Tomlinson (boxing)

"Wild Will" successfully defended his IBO Super Featherweight against a skilled South African craftsman in Malcolm Klassen at the Melbourne Pavilion in May. It was a serious fight, the most testing of Bairnsdale-born Tomlinson's career and he came through it with a clear points win.

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Pro golfers in danger of sending us to sleep

Alvaro Quiros may have helped Europe reclaim the Royal Trophy last weekend, but he also turned a four-foot putt into a three-hour feature film.

That, at least, was how it felt during Saturday's fourballs as he arrived at the 18th green with partner Nicolas Colsaerts, needing to sink the putt to rescue a half.

Quiros walked up to his ball as if approaching an erect cobra, which was about as decisive as he was going to be.

Over and back he would march, consulting with Colsaerts, their two caddies, then Colsaerts again. To a man, they looked completely befuddled, as if that distance of four feet represented some kind of treacherous safari through terrain that was heavily mined.

The consultations lasted for maybe three minutes before, bizarrely,Europe's captain -- Jose Maria Olazabal -- accepted an invitation to participate. But he, too, found the challenge forbidding, gravely eyeing the ball from every angle as if convinced he could hear a hissing sound.

If a Sunday fourball played this slow, they'd have been frog-marched out the gate. But these men were professionals, the putt important. So Quiros stretched our wait to at least five minutes before, lo and behold, rolling the ball in.

Cue an outbreak of high fives and bear-hugs on a golf course somewhere in China; cue the sound of kettles boiling in every viewer's home.

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TOC field at Kapalua announced

Masters champion Adam Scott headlines the field for next week's Hyundai Tournament of Champions, the first PGA Tour event of 2014 -- although no longer the first event of the season.

The PGA Tour went to a wraparound schedule in October, which means the Tournament of Champions at the Kapalua Resort on Maui will be the seventh event of the 2013-14 season.

The format for the 72-hole tournament that begins on Jan. 3 remains the same -- only winners of official PGA Tour events during 2013 are eligible. There were 35 such winners, and 30 of them have signed up for the $5.7 million tournament.

As expected, both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will skip the event. Neither has played it in years, with Woods last competing in 2005 and Mickelson in '01.

Woods is expected to make his season debut next month at the Farmers Insurance Open. Mickelson already has committed to that event, as well as the week prior at a European Tour stop in Abu Dhabi.

FedEx Cup and Tour Championship winner Henrik Stenson is also taking a pass at Kapalua, as is U.S. Open champion Justin Rose and RBC Heritage winner Graeme McDowell. The latter three all had hectic schedules on the European Tour at the end of 2013.

The tournament boasts 13 first-time winners, including 2013 rookie of the year Jordan Spieth. Others competing are PGA champion Jason Dufner, Webb Simpson, Matt Kuchar, defending champion Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson and Brandt Snedeker.

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Woods, Mickelson skipping Hyundai Tournament of Champions

It no longer marks the beginning of the PGA Tour schedule, but some things haven't changed at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

Once again, the event will be without its two biggest drawing cards, as Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will each skip the festivities despite gaining eligibility as winners during the 2013 season.

When the field list was made official at 5 p.m. ET Friday, it also failed to include the names of Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, each of whom had already divulged he would begin the 2014 campaign at a later date.

The field includes 30 winners from both the 2013 season and the beginning of 2013-14, including defending champion Dustin Johnson and Masters champion Adam Scott, who will make his first appearance at Kapalua since 2011.

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Woods tops, Rory goes down

Tiger Woods regained the world number one ranking after an absence of two-and-a-half years.

But former world No. 1 Rory McIlroy struggled through an up-and-down in the year, save for a late-season resurgence that saw him hold off Masters champion Adam Scott to win the Australian Open.

Woods owes his return to the top spot to his wins in five tournaments, but crucially he came up short once again in the four majors, failing to end a drought that dates back to June 2008 when he won his 14th major title at the US Open.

Instead, four players shared the honours in the tournaments that are the crown jewels of golf.

Scott finally smashed the Aussie jinx at the Masters, Justin Rose became the first Englishman to win the US Open in 43 years at Merion, Phil Mickelson took the British Open at his 20th attempt and Jason Dufner was a popular winner of the PGA Championship.

With his 38th birthday coming up on December 30, Woods can hardly be called a veteran just yet, but he admits that the golfing landscape around him is changing fast.

“It’s a whole different generation of guys,” he was quoted by AFP as saying during the week.

“I’ve played probably more head-to-head matches against Ernie (Els) than anybody because we played around the world; and Vijay (Singh) would probably be the second and Phil (Mickelson) would probably be third.

“But along the way … I had Goose (Retief Goosen) in there and (David) Duval in there as well for a number of years.

“It’s a different crop of guys. All those guys are in their 40s and 50s. So we got a whole new crew, and I think the youngest probably being Rory (McIlroy).

“But there’s a lot of guys who are in their late 20s, early 30s that are right in their prime.”

McIlroy, in fact, started the year as the world number one but, after a change of golfing equipment, his year went rapidly downhill as he became distracted by business affairs and a clear loss of form.

Still there were some signs that he can put all that behind him and he has plenty of career time left to significantly add to his majors haul of two.

“Golf’s a long career and I’m 24 years old,” McIlroy said in Sydney earlier this month after overhauling Scott to win the Australian Open — his first and only tournament victory of the year.

“I get a little impatient at times and if I actually just took a step back and looked at the bigger picture, it hasn’t been too bad a year.

“It’s obviously been made a lot better with the win. You know you have to go through the lows and I’m not saying it was a low this year. It’s not like I plummeted off the face of the earth.

“I’m still sixth in the world so it’s not too bad. It’s not the level that I feel like I can play to but I feel I’m getting back there, so it’s very pleasing.”

McIlroy’s win in Sydney prevented Scott from becoming just the second player to achieve the Down Under “Grand Slam” of Australian PGA, Australian Masters and Australian Open which would have brought down the curtain splendidly on a breakthrough year for him.

Long touted as set to become a dominant figure in the game, Scott had — until April — flattered to deceive. But all that changed at Augusta National — where he beat Angel Cabrera in a drama-filled playoff.

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