Major surprises but a vintage crop

As crazy as it may seem in a year when neither Tiger Woods nor Ernie Els managed to get his thumbprints onto the claret jug, the Wanamaker Trophy, the Masters trophy - a silver replica of the Augusta National clubhouse - or the US Open trophy, another Wanamaker, this was a vintage year for the majors.

Think about it.

If Els had won the British Open (okay, he didn't), then four of the world's top-five ranked players, with the exception of Woods, would have claimed a major title. As things transpired, Todd Hamilton deprived Els - but only after a play-off - at Royal Troon and, to be sure, nobody could deny the American, who had soldiered for so long in the Far East before securing his US Tour card, his victory.

US Masters
Augusta

Yet, if Hamilton's win had come about after years travelling in golf's wilderness, what about Phil Mickelson's first major triumph? That it should come at Augusta National was, in a way, only fitting. For Mickelson, it was his promised land, but a familiar place all the same. It was a plot of golfing terrain where he had flattered only to deceive so often in the past, but where - competing in his 47th major - he finally achieved his destiny. Finally, he shed that most unwanted tag in golf, that of the "best player never to win a major".

On a glorious golfing Sunday in April, Mickelson - so often the fall guy - came home in 31 shots on the back nine, to overtake Els. His final stroke was a 20-footer for birdie that fell in the left edge of the cup for a final-round 69 and a 72-hole total of nine-under-par 279 - one better than Els - to give him the 23rd win of his professional career.

But, for Mickelson, who had previously finished second in three major championships and third in five others, including the past three Masters, it was a time for redemption.

This time, it was a new-look Mickelson, a player with a less cavalier approach; a player who led the greens in regulation (53 of 72) over the four rounds. It was, indeed, a vintage performance - "I don't think that any Masters will compare to the 1986 Masters (when Jack Nicklaus won, aged 46)," remarked Mickelson, "but, to me, this one does" - and one that set a wonderful trend for the other majors that followed.

US Open
Shinnecock Hills

In June, at Shinnecock Hills, Mickelson was again in the thick of the action as the business end of the 104th US Open was decided. Ironically, on greens that were out of control by the Sunday's final round, so hard had they become, it was a majestic feat of putting from Retief Goosen that enabled the South African to claim his second title.

On terrain that once upon a time was home to a tribe of Shinnecock Indians, Goosen, so laid back he's almost horizontal, coolly made no fewer than 12 single putts - seven of them on the back nine - to shoot a 71 for four-under-par 276, a two-shot winning margin over Mickelson, the only other player to finish the championship under par.

Yet, throughout Goosen's final round, as he sought to take a second US Open title in just four years, he had to take considerable vocal abuse from some spectators who weren't afraid to let him know where their loyalties rested.

Of the shouts from the crowd, which included "Lose, Goose!" and "Here Comes Phil!", Goosen later said: "You expect it . . . I'm quite used to it by now, being the underdog, and it doesn't really bother me."

Of all players on the tour, though, Goosen is probably the least flappable and, time after time, he made clutch putt after clutch putt. His outward demeanour was of someone totally calm with the world, but he confessed: "When you stand over a putt, you're nervous. You're shaking on the inside like any other player does, and Tiger does too. It's just how you've learned to play under that kind of pressure, and in a way it sort of becomes natural that you can only play your best golf when under real pressure."

The pivotal moment came on the par-five 16th, where Goosen decided to lay up with his approach, rather than go for the green, opting for a wedge lay-up instead of going for the green with a five-iron from 228 yards. His reward was a third shot with a sand wedge that left a 12-footer for birdie that brought him level with Mickelson and, by the time he was ready to tee off on the 17th, he had been handed a two-shot advantage after the Masters champion's travails on the green ahead, where he three-putted from seven feet for double bogey.

"They say that first one is the toughest but, I'll tell you, the second one is just as tough. I don't believe winning a second one is any easier," commented Goosen.

British Open
Troon

Unlike Goosen, Hamilton had never scaled such heights before. At Troon in July, Hamilton, who had served his apprenticeship in the Far East for over a decade before winning his US Tour card, showed that some need only one bite to taste ultimate success. "Not to be conceited or anything, but I see this as a real fairytale," he said afterwards.

In a year when many of the game's big guns collected the silverware, Hamilton's glory was one to serve as inspiration to others. In shooting a final-round 69 for 10 under par, Hamilton, who had started the day a shot clear of Els, found himself going head-to-head with the South African in a four-hole play-off.

The defining moment came at their play of the 17th, the third play-off hole, where Els missed the green and failed to get up and down for par. That bogey was to prove crucial, as Hamilton went on to win by a shot.

US PGA Championship
Whistling Straits

The US PGA in August was played at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin and, again, a play-off was required. In the end, the tournament belonged to Vijay Singh, who was to usurp Woods as world number one. On his second visit to the 18th green, as the shadows from the giant bleachers edged across the putting surface, the Fijian won the three-way, three-hole play-off over Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco to claim his third career major.

"I think this is the biggest accomplishment I've ever had in my whole career," said Singh. "I don't have that many years to contend (in majors), probably another five or six. I'd like to win a few more before I finish, and this is a great start."

Asked was it the ugliest win of his career, Singh - who had shot the highest final round, a 76, by a winner in the PGA's history - responded, "It looked ugly, when you look at the score, (but) it's the prettiest . . . I just hung in, never gave up and I just said, 'I'm going to make a putt sooner or later'."

In fact, his lone birdie of the day came on the first play-off hole, the 10th, and that was enough to put daylight between himself and both Leonard and DiMarco, neither of whom was required to finish out after Singh followed up with two pars in the remaining play-off holes.