Woods named top athlete of decade - 高爾夫球

Woods named top athlete of decade

伍茲贏得 2000~2009 最佳運動員

Associated Press

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=4747530

不受上個月底爆發的性醜聞影響，伍茲仍獲美聯社票選為過去十年的最佳運動員。
因為十年間的偉大表現不應被幾週的情色醜聞所掩蓋！

1. 伍茲在142選票中，獲得56票，名列第一。
2. 抗癌鬥士 Lance Armstrong ，33票居次。
3. 大滿貫費天王 Roger Federer，25票第三。
4. 飛魚 Michael Phelps，13票第四。
5. 新英格蘭愛國者隊四分衛 Tom Brady，6票第五。

得獎原因：很少有運動員能像伍茲這麼劇烈地改變他們的運動項目，他的參賽，使
PGA賽事收視率大大提升，也讓巡迴賽獎金倍增。與他缺席的賽事的低收視率形成強
烈對比！

過去十年，伍茲幾乎支配了PGA賽事，贏得56次PGA錦標賽冠軍，奪冠率30%，
世界排名也同時名列第一！只有32週的時間例外，當時他正在修正它的揮桿動作。

最重要的是，伍茲總能在大賽(Majors)時大放異彩有優秀表現。其中有幾場經典賽事
更以極大的桿數差距拿到獎盃！
14次的大賽冠軍，有12次是在這十年中拿下，同時亞軍也有六次。距離金熊尼克勞斯
的18冠世界紀錄只差四個！

Even after a shocking sex scandal that tarnished Tiger Woods, it was tough
to ignore what he achieved on the golf course.

He won 64 times around the world, including 12 majors, and hoisted a trophy
on every continent golf is played. He lost only one time with the lead going
into the final round. His 56 PGA Tour victories in one incomparable decade
were more than anyone except four of golf's greatest players won in their
careers.

Woods was selected Wednesday as the Athlete of the Decade by members of The
Associated Press in a vote that was more about 10 years of performance than
nearly three weeks of salacious headlines.

Just like so many of his victories, it wasn't much of a contest.

Woods received 56 of the 142 votes cast by AP member editors since last
month. More than half of the ballots were returned after the Nov. 27 car
accident outside his Florida home that set off sensational tales of
infidelity.

Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor who won the Tour de France six times
this decade, finished second with 33 votes. He was followed by Roger
Federer, who won more Grand Slam singles titles than any other man, with
25 votes.

Record-setting Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps came in fourth with 13 votes,
followed by New England quarterback Tom Brady (6) and sprinter Usain Bolt
(4). Five other athletes received one vote apiece.

Woods, who has not been seen since the accident and has issued only three
statements on his Web site, was not made available to comment about the
award.

Few other athletes have changed their sport quite like Woods. His influence
has been so powerful that TV ratings spiked whenever he played, even more
when he has been in contention. Prize money has quadrupled since he joined
the PGA Tour because of his broad appeal.

A new image emerged quickly in the days following his middle-of-the-night
accident, when he ran his SUV over a fire hydrant and into a tree. He became
the butt of late-night TV jokes, eventually confessed that he "let my family
down" with "transgressions" and lost a major sponsorship from Accenture.

Even so, AP members found his work on the golf course over the last 10 years
without much of a blemish. Woods took an early lead in balloting, and
continued to receive roughly the same percentage of votes throughout the
process.

"Despite the tsunami of negative publicity that will likely tarnish his
image, there's no denying that Woods' on-the-course accomplishments set a
new standard of dominance within his sport while making golf more accessible
to the masses," wrote Stu Whitney, sports editor of the Sioux Falls (S.D.)
Argus Leader.

"The only proof needed are the television ratings when Tiger plays in a golf
tournament, compared to those events when others have to carry the load."

Woods tumbled from the pinnacle of his sport in just about three weeks. The
10 years that preceded that fall, however, represented perhaps the greatest
decade in golf history.

He won the career Grand Slam three times over, including one U.S. Open by a
record 15 shots at Pebble Beach and another U.S. Open on a mangled leg in a
playoff at Torrey Pines. He twice won the British Open at St. Andrews, the
home of golf, by a combined 13 shots.

Woods won 56 times on the PGA Tour this decade, a rate of 30 percent that is
unprecedented in golf. Nine of those victories were by at least eight shots.
He was No. 1 in the world ranking for all but 32 weeks in the decade, that
when he was revamping his swing.

He did his best work in the biggest events.

Along with his 12 majors this decade -- he has 14 overall, four short of the
record held by Jack Nicklaus -- Woods was runner-up in six other majors. He
won 14 times out of 27 appearances in the World Golf Championships.

Woods finished the decade with $81,547,410 in earnings from his PGA Tour
events, an average of $482,529 per tournament.

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