The Golf Digest Awards 2009

Edited By Ron Kaspriske

Illustrations by Jessica Hische

February 2010

Edited By Ron Kaspriske
Illustrations by Jessica Hische

Since 1954, we've been honoring the game's best, and the man you see here first made our list in 1968 as the top men's amateur. Jump ahead 41 years, and Vinny Giles is back after winning the USGA Senior Amateur in September.

Giles made an 18-foot putt on the final hole to beat John Grace, 1 up. "I don't usually get too excited or too emotional. But I had one goal left in golf," said Giles, who also won the 1972 U.S. Amateur, "and that was to win this."

To find out who won our other awards, see below. -- Jeff Patterson

• SEE A COMPLETE LIST OF PAST AWARD WINNERS

No.1 Senior Women's Amateur

Sherry Herman

In the USGA Senior Women's Amateur, Herman defeated medalist Joan Higgins in the second round and 2004 champion Carolyn Creekmore in the final. This came after Herman had won the North & South Senior.

TOP SENIOR WOMEN
Pat Brogden, Taffy Brower, Carolyn Creekmore, Jackie Little, Patty Moore, Nancy Smith, Marianne Towersey

TOP SENIOR MEN
Mike Bell, Ron Carter, Jerry Greenbaum, Chris Maletis, Paul Simson, Ted Smith, Gary Strickfaden, Bill Zylstra

No. 1 Men's Amateur

Bud Cauley

Cauley edged Nathan Smith, the U.S. Mid-Amateur champion, for this honor because when the two met in the quarterfinals of the Western Amateur, Cauley won, 5 and 3. Cauley also won the Players Amateur in July and went 3-0-1 in the Walker Cup.

AMATEUR MEN
1 Bud Cauley
2 Nathan Smith
3 Dan Woltman
4 Nick Taylor
5 Peter Uihlein
6 Brian Harman
7 Byeong-Hun An
8 Brendan Gielow
9 David Chung
10 Rickie Fowler

Mickey Wright Award (most LPGA Tour wins)

Lorena Ochoa

Ochoa and Jiyai Shin led the LPGA Tour with three victories each in 2009, but Ochoa had more second-place finishes (four) than Shin (one), and that broke the tie for this award. Ochoa, the No. 1-ranked player in the world, had a down year by her standards but still won the Honda LPGA Thailand, the Corona Championship and the Navistar LPGA Classic. "It's been tough in many different ways," she said, "but the important thing is, I'm at the top." It was the fourth consecutive year that Ochoa led the tour in scoring average (70.16).

Most Improved Player, PGA Tour

Y.E. Yang

Yang started the year 478th in the World Golf Ranking but cracked the top 30 after winning the Honda Classic in March and knocking off Tiger at the PGA Championship in August. The South Korea native also made 11 straight cuts to finish the '09 PGA Tour season.

‘I guess the fearlessness comes from knowing I'm doing my dream job.’