The 00’s have officially passed us by and with it goes one of the most memorable decades in major championship golf history. The dominance of Tiger Woods was a hallmark of the past ten years and while the great man did produce some of the most impressive golf in major history there were other players on the major stage that who shone brightly as well. That being said, here are my top ten major memories from the last ten years.

1. Tiger Woods – 2000 U.S Open at Pebble Beach- It was by far the most dominating performance in the history of professional golf- there is not even a second place. Only one player in history had ever reached double-digits under-par in the U.S Open before (Gil Morgan ten years earlier at Pebble Beach), and Woods not only reached that number- he stayed there. When he eventually finished his domination for the field he had finished at -12 for the tournament and won by and astonishing 15 shots, relegating runners-up Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez to merely a trivia question in golf history. Such ruthless dominance may never be seen again.

2. Y.E Yang – 2009 U.S PGA Championship at Hazeltine National- While the decade was defined by the dominance of one man with a part-Asian heritage, the last major of the decade would see the first Asian, a South Korean, ever take down that same champion in dramatic fashion. It may take years to really see the impact of Y.E Yang’s victory at Hazeltine, but when we look back at the landscape of golf over the next ten years, this victory may be the one that changed everything.

3. Phil Mickelson – 2004 Masters- It took a while. Actually, it seemed like it took half a lifetime. Phil Mickelson’s first major win was followed by a collective sigh of relief from the golfing world and finally made a major champion out of “Lefty“. For Mickelson, it was akin to getting not just a monkey, not even a gorilla, but King Kong off his back.

4. Tiger Woods – 2001 Masters- It had never been done before and it may never be done again. It was not achieved by Hogan, or Snead, or Nelson. Not by Palmer or, Watson, or Player. Not even by Nicklaus. By winning the 2001 Masters Woods became the first man to hold all four major championships at once and stamped his place among the greats of all time.

5. Geoff Ogilvy – 2006 U.S Open at Winged Foot GC- Despite Ogilvy chipping-in on the 71st hole, the 2006 U.S Open will always be remembered for “the massacre” that followed. First, Padraig Harrington topped his approach into the 72nd hole, dropping himself from contention.  Then Colin Montgomery made double-bogey from the middle of the fairway and Jim Furyk missed from five-feet, both on the 72nd hole. Finally, Phil Mickelson puts the icing on the cyanide-cake by hitting the wildest drive ever hit on the final hole of the U.S Open, ultimately taking double bogey. Ogilvy, it turned out, was the last man standing.

6. Padraig Harrington – 2008 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale-  The next two majors make my list not because of the winner, but because who almost won. Ten years since he last made a serious run at a major Greg Norman almost became the oldest part-time golfer to ever win a major.  Ultimately he was trumped by the spectacular eagle Harrington made on 71st hole, one of the greatest clutch shots of the decade and the only reason I have placed this tournament ahead of the next one.

7. Stewart Cink – 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry- Like the previous entry, this Open Championship may have been the story of the decade if it had turned out a little different. Sexagenarian Tom Watson captured our hearts for four straight days at Turnberry, but eventually he ran out of steam, or mojo, or pars- which ever way you want to look at it, and succumbed to Stewart Cink in a playoff. With 99.9% of golf fans pulling against him Cink went ahead and accepted the Claret Jug, and his gracious response to the victory and to Watson himself should not be understated- a more deserving major champion may not exist.

8. Shaun Micheel -  2003 PGA Championship at Oak Hill CC- Micheel’s win was the second consecutive come-from-nowhere victory in the majors following Ben Curtis at the 2003 Open Championship. Micheel’s win trumps Curtis and makes the list because of the dramatic way in which he won. Clinging to a one-shot lead and with the entire golfing world watching Micheel drew a 7-iron and hit the ball so close to the hole a beginner could have made the putt for birdie and not sweated it. It was simply jaw-dropping.

9. Tiger Woods – 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla GC- There were some great duels down the stretch over the past decade but none can match the one where a journeyman pro took on the greatest player of recent times- and almost won. Over the stretch of six hours that Sunday Bob May gave Tiger Woods all he could handle. That Woods came out on top was not a surprise- that May never once blinked was.

10.  Padaig Harrington – 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie GL- It was supposed to be Sergio Garcia’s Open Championship. He led after all three rounds and looked to have the tournament locked up before he was caught by Steve Stricker, then by Andres Romero, and finally by Harrington. All four players tried valiantly to lose the tournament and at one stage it looked like nobody wanted to take the Claret Jug home with them. Despite two trips to the burn on the 18th hole Harrington prevailed in a playoff and somewhere the ghost of Jean Van de Velde smiled just a little bit.

Yang Yong-eun became the first Asian to win a major title when to stared down Tiger Woods to win the US PGA Championship at Hazeltine.

The 37-year-old South Korean, who was 19 when he picked up golf clubs for the first time, survived a pressure-filled final round to deny Woods a 15th major crown.

It was the first time in eight attempts that Woods had failed to win a major after leading at the half-time stage.

A delightful eagle chip on the 14th hole proved the turning point for Yang, who, at that point, snatched the lead from the world number one.

Though Woods was still in it the hunt just one stroke off the pace with two holes remaining, it was Yang who held his nerve. Woods eventually fell away at the end, as Yang emerged victorious by three strokes.

Yang, a graduate of the Japan Professional Tour, had previous experience dealing with Woods. He defeated the American en route to winning the 2006 HSBC Champions tournament in China after qualifying for the event by winning the Korean Open on the Asian Tour.

Earlier this year, he showed that he has the mettle to compete on the world’s toughest golf tour when he won the Honda Classic.

Those victories helped him on the major stage, as he said, through an interpreter, soon after his victory. He said:

“I tried to master the art of controlling my emotions throughout the small wins I had in my career. I think it turned out quite well today.”

While Yang celebrated on behalf of all Asians, Woods contemplated a rare season without a major title – his first bare cupboard for five years.

But it has still been a magnificent year for Woods. He returned to action after an eight-month injury lay-off and many thought he would struggle to win.

However, he won five tournaments this season, including two straight prior to the US PGA Championship and will fight back with a vengeance next season. Woods blamed poor putting for his defeat.

“I did everything I needed to do, except for getting the ball in the hole. Just didn’t make the putts when I needed to make them. I played well enough the entire week to win the championship. You have to make putts. I didn’t do that. Today was a day that didn’t happen.”

Yang finished on two-under-par 70 on Sunday for a total of eight-under 280. Woods was alone on second on 283 after his 75.

England’s Lee Westwood and Northern Irish youngster Rory McIlroy (both 70) were tied on third at 285.

In sixth, on 286, was US Open champion Lucas Glover, while four players shared sixth on 287 – Martin Kaymer, Ernie Els, Soren Kjeldsen and Henrik Stenson.

Last year’s winner, Ireland’s Padraig Harrington had fallen out of contention early in the round and finished on 288.

Only two Asian-born players had previously come close to winning a major tournament. In 1971, Taiwan’s Huan Lu-liang, famously known as Mr Lu, finished second at the British Open while Isao Aoki, of Japan, was runner-up at the 1980 US Open.

With his performance at Chaska, Minnesota, Yang has now become the new standard-bearer for Asian golf.

It is no coincidence that the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) made a major development announcement on the eve of golf’s Olympic bid.

The PGA will aim to boost the development of golf in the world’s most populous countries – China and India – via its new set-up, the World PGA Alliance.

The announcement came a day before the start of the season’s final major tournament, the US PGA Championship at Hazeltine.

According to an AFP story, the plan involves youth development, education programmes and the sharing of knowledge. A key task is to lift the sport in areas catering to the needy.

Golf is trying to beat out several other sports for one of two spots in the Olympic Games. In this respect, the push into China, in particular, is significant.

China measures sporting success by the Olympics, which is why the country finished top of the medal standings at the 2008 Beijing Games.

China is also influential when it comes to admitting sports into the Olympic roster.

If a sport is in the Olympics, China will make sure they are good at it. This is one of the reasons world cricket officials are keen to develop their sport in the Middle Kingdom.

Indeed, they made a major breakthrough when cricket sixes was included in the next Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Golf is already an Asian Games fixture and an Olympic credential would certainly make Chinese sports leaders take the game more seriously.

In India, golf is already quite well established with a number of professionals, particularly Jeev Milkha Singh, enjoying success on the global tours. PGA Chief Executive Joe Steranka said:

“One of the reasons we formed the alliance is to help the China Golf Association, to channel our respective resources, to help China evolve. India’s PGA is in its very early stages.”

China and India are also important members of the Asian Tour, which has several professional events in those countries.

The Alliance, which came into existence only this week, is a joint venture between countries whose PGAs have been existence for the longest time. They are: America, Australia, Japan, South Africa, Sweden, Germany, Canada, Europe and Britain-Ireland.

Meanwhile, according to reports, golf and rugby sevens are favourites to win admission into the Olympics for the 2016 Games. The International Olympic Committee is also considering baseball, softball, squash, karate and roller sports.

The 15-member board will choose two sports and these must be ratified by the 106-member IOC assembly in Copenhagen in October.

Andy’s Prologue:

“As one who is prone to losing confidence whilst playing golf, I have been fortune enough to have benefited from Gail Smirthwaite’s expertise. Gail is a trainer for the PGA CPD programme and tours UK golf cubs conducting talks on ‘how to play golf with confidence’ to all standards of golfers.

Not only that, she coaches many individual tour golfers including Alison Nicholas who is our ex-US Open Golf Champion and who has just been announced at the 2009 Solheim Cup UK and European Captain. You can listen to her fun and entertaining appearance on the Chris Evans Show on BBC Radio 2 here in the UK, simply click on the play button above. I can’t stop thinking about yellow canoes – you will have to listen to find out why!

Gail offers top notch advice and tips, so much so ‘Glen Muir’ one of the leading prestigious golf clothes companies in the UK (these are the guys that did the clothing for the Ryder Cup) sponsor her.

So over to Gail for some solid help on not letting our egos get in the way of a great round of golf!

Gail’s Advice:

In this post I am going to talk about the role of our egos in the way we make judgments, formulate opinions and how our ego can affect our behaviour.

Social environment plays such a big role when it comes to how we handle our egos. A golfer’s interpretation of what is going on around them can potentially impact greatly on their golf play if they allow it to.

Here’s how it works! If you allow your ‘EGO’ to get involved when you play golf your level of competence becomes based on what others are saying and doing. For instance; outdoing your fellow players, always looking at how others are doing with their scores and worrying about how you look will be accompanied by the following self-talk …’Am I good enough?’, ‘How I can I avoid looking bad?’, ‘How is everyone else doing?’

If you are someone whose competence is ‘self-referenced’ and by that I mean you base your success on personal performance, mastering the skills and on your own level of effort; accompanied by self-talk such as; ‘How can I get better?’, ‘How do I do this?’ and so on… then you will be able to more readily focus on what really matters THE TASK AT HAND!

Annika Sorenstem knows a thing or two about golf and she is quoted as saying that …”Success is measured one shot at a time”.

The problem with someone who relies too much on their egos whilst playing is; should their confidence dip, which is often just around the corner in any game of golf, the ability to find the strength from within to focus will become a huge mountain to climb. You need to work on having the ability to concentrate on only that which is important – YOU and the shot you are about to play.

It may seem a contradiction in terms that in order for you not to play in your ‘ego’ you need to focus on yourself. Being self-motivated is often the quality we believe makes people ‘egotistical’. But as I said earlier the ‘ego’ is concerned with ‘appearing’ to be in control, a winner, the best etc. to others. This not only puts extra pressure on your performance, but also whilst worrying about what you believe other people maybe thinking of you may cause you to end up in an extremely vulnerable position – on and off the golf course!

Playing golf too much in your ‘ego’ lays you wide open to needing a ‘quick fix’ when your confidence dips. By looking for someone or something outside your control to help feed your confidence is a recipe for disaster. You need to be able to find that strength within so that you can control the only part of the process you are able to … how you see yourself and how you can stay focused and in the moment.

The reason I talk so often about the importance of your self-talk remaining positive is so that you can become your own ‘Confidence Caddie’™. If you do not fear losing then you will in effect be lifting a cloud from over you the whole time you play.

When Tiger Woods was asked a question what he thought the major attribute he and Roger Federer have in common he replied; ‘We don’t fear losing’.

The significance of this statement is that there is a different mentality when you look at mistakes as lessons and not as a personal attack on your self-worth.

How you see yourself is so important because if you see yourself as a really competent golfer then that is who you will be. If you see yourself as not very good at golf then that is how you will play.

Spending time on creating a good self-esteem will be helped by not worrying about what others may or may not be thinking. Remember, where does your control lie – with what you think about yourself or what others think?

For more advice and a 10 page free report on overcoming first tee nerves, controlling your emotions on the course and how to concentrate when you need to most please head over to my site at GolfMindGuru.com

Many thanks for reading.

Gail Smirthwaite