With the 2004 golf season at its close, it's time to take a look back at 2004. What were the biggest stories in golf during 2004? We count down our selections below. Take a look, and when you're finished visit our Golf Forums to make your own picks.
10. U.S. Curtis Cup team heralds the future of women's golf
These girls are good. Teen sensations Michelle Wie, Paula Creamer and Jane Park headlined the U.S. Curtis Cup team in 2004, when the U.S. defeated Great Britain and Ireland for its only team championship of the year. These three may be the "Great Triumvirate" of women's golf, especially women's golf in the U.S., for a couple decades to come. Add to the mix Brittany Lincicome, In-Bee Park, Morgan Pressel and Julieta Granada, among others, and the future of women's golf is not hard to see.
9. John Daly gets first win in nine years
John Daly had spent a few years in the wilderness, battling through a fog of excess drinking, marital difficulties and poor play. He'd gotten the shakes so bad on the golf course that he had to withdraw from more than one tournament; he simply walked away from several other tournaments. But the beginning of 2004 showed that Daly was working on getting his life back in order. And his game sure showed the signs of that work when he won the Buick Invitational. It was Daly's first win in nearly nine years, and it came in style with Daly holding off several challengers - and whisking along a throng of jubilant fans - down the stretch. Long John is one of the most popular golfers in the world, and 2004 was his best season in a very long time.
8. Major championship venues inspire awe, anger
The would be awe for Whistling Straits, anger for Shinnecock Hills. Shinnecock is regarded by most as one of the top five or so golf courses in the world. The players couldn't wait to get there for the 2004 U.S. Open. And the course didn't disappoint during the first two rounds. But some questionable greenskeeping and course setup decisions, combined with an unexpected change in the wind that dried out the course, created a monster for the final two rounds. By Sunday, much of the grass was dead, many of the scores were in the 80s, and practically nobody except winner Retief Goosen was happy.
Whistling Straits was a different story entirely. Players showed up for the PGA Championship not knowing what to expect from a course that was only several years old and that most of them had never seen. There were whispers of concern over the first few days of practice - was the course too tough? Too unusual? But by the time the tournament was finished, most golfers - and likely all golf fans - were talking eagerly about returning to Whistling Straits again and again.
7. David Duval returns to the PGA Tour
Duval was the last golfer prior to Tiger Woods' stranglehold on the position to have the No. 1 world ranking. Then his game disappeared, swallowed up in personal issues, back problems and poor swing thoughts. Duval missed cut after cut in 2003, drifted from instructor to instructor, and appeared to be on his way to becoming a footnote in golf history: another great player, ala Ian Baker-Finch, whose career simply ... vanished. The he showed up at the U.S. Open, his first appearance of the year. He didn't play well, but he was buoyed along by well-wishing fans, and his emotional press conferences were a highlight of the week. He played a few more tournaments, and started posting some good scores. Then, in early September, he made the cut at the Deutsche Bank Classic, shooting 67 in the final round to finish 13th. In all, he played nine tournaments in 2004, and made the cut in three. His nascent comeback appears on track, and it has made Duval one of the most popular players with fans. We don't know if he'll make it all the way back, but we're sure cheering for him.
6. Arnold Palmer plays his 50th and final Masters
Perhaps the most emotional scene of 2004 was Arnold Palmer, standing in the 18th fairway, surrounded by adoring throngs, waiting alone to play his final approach shot at The Masters. It was Arnie's 50th appearance at The Masters, one final chance for his Army to march along with him. Because it was also his last playing appearance at The Masters.
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