Zach Johnson would have been the best choice for Surprise of the Year (for winning the Masters) if he hadn't validated the major championship title by winning the BellSouth Classic in Atlanta and finishing T-2 at the Tour Championship. Zach had a nice career going, rising up from the ranks of the Hooters Tour to make last year's Ryder Cup team. But Masters champion? This was not like Jack Fleck beating Ben Hogan, but the short-hitting pride of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, caught Augusta National in freakish cold weather, played clinical golf with his wedges, and made the putts Sunday that Woods failed to convert. Non-exempt Jay Williamson would have been Surprise of the Year if he'd been able to finish off his shot-for-shot duel with Hunter Mahan in Hartford by triumphing in their sudden-death playoff. So that leaves Brian Bateman, who got one of the last cards at Q School, only played twice the first three months of the season and won the Buick Open in July with a final-hole birdie.
Breakout Player of the Year is the most competitive category. Mahan got his first win, had the hottest summer and was picked for the Presidents Cup team, where he was the leadoff hitter every day and a solid contributor in the blowout by Jack Nicklaus' team. Aaron Baddeley won the FBR Open, was the 54-hole leader at both the U.S. Open and BMW Championship and finished sixth on the final FedEx Cup points list. K.J. Choi won Jack's Tournament (The Memorial) and Tiger's Tournament (AT&T National). Sabbatini had a career year and also retained his title as Agitator of the Year. But when it comes to breaking out, Boo Weekley was more than just Personality of the Year. He won at Hilton Head, lost a playoff at the Honda Classic and lit up pressrooms from the Low Country of South Carolina to the Old Country of Scotland.
Shot of the Year was Angel Cabrera's 346-yard howitzer off the 72nd tee at the U.S. Open, and though Zach Johnson shot 60 at the Tour Championship and Woody Austin a 62 on Sunday to win in Memphis, Tiger's 63 in the second round at Southern Hills in the PGA was Round of the Year -- since it tied the 18-hole scoring record in a major. The best tee-to-green performance was Woods' third round at Oakmont, where he didn't miss a shot but couldn't make a putt and turned 65 into 69 -- probably costing himself the Open.
For degree of difficulty, Putt of the Year could have been Sabbatini's 75-footer for eagle on the eighth green on Sunday at Augusta National, although AP golf writer Doug Ferguson described it as probably going 100 feet because of the break and the path it took. Walking the ball to the hole, Sabbatini made the early call, saying that if his putt slowed down, it would go in -- and it did, for a brief piece of the lead. But Harrington made a six-footer for double bogey to get in the playoff at Carnoustie -- and unlike Sabbatini, he won the tournament. So that's Putt of the Year.
Stricker may have cried more after winning The Barclays, but 44-year-old Scott Verplank earns the Feel Good Story of the year for winning the EDS Byron Nelson and tearing up at the passing of the tournament's namesake, his mentor and friend. Verplank, who was undefeated at the Presidents Cup, edged Mike Weir, who justified his captain's pick with a 3-1-1 record that ended with a victory over Tiger at Royal Montreal, and then notched his first tour title in more than three years last week at the Fry's Electronics Open. That leaves no award for Stricker, other than Nice Guy of the Year. But he would win that every season.
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