Is Tiger Woods a worthy athlete of the decade?

1 ANSWERS

1. amomipais82
   

   Wherever he is hiding, Tiger Woods now has a reminder of the icon he used to be.
   
   Amid reports that his wife, Elin, is considering leaving him and as the total of women claiming a part in his infidelity reached 14, even Woods may just about have been able to raise a wan smile at the exquisite timing of the announcement of his global Athlete of the Decade award.
   
   Sponsors may be having their doubts but Woods’s involvement in one of golf’s great scandals of the decade apparently cut no ice in a vote by newspaper editors who judged that 10 years of extraordinary performances overrode three weeks of salacious tales away from the fairways.
   
   Not only did the beleaguered one win the vote, he did it in familiar fashion, quite running away with it. Woods received 56 of the 142 votes cast by Associated Press member editors and though half the ballots were returned after the Nov 27 car accident which set in motion the dismantling of a man’s reputation, his percentage of the poll hardly altered.
   
   Even given the inevitable American focus of an award organised by the country’s major news agency, it was a comprehensive rout of some distinguished opposition, with runner-up Lance Armstrong and third-placed Roger Federer barely receiving the same total between them.
   
   Armstrong’s six Tour de France wins following his recovery from cancer during the decade saw him land 33 votes while Federer’s record 15 tennis Grand Slams earned him 25.
   
   Despite garnering more Olympic gold medals – 14 – over the past decade than any other athlete in history, Michael Phelps, who is competing in Manchester this weekend in the 'Duel in the Pool’ international, could only finish fourth with 13 votes.
   
   In fifth place was New England’s triple Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady, with six, while Usain Bolt’s achievements in breaking 100 and 200 metres world records at successive global championships were deemed worthy of just four votes.
   
   Woods’s ability to change golf like few have changed any sport brooked no challengers. He won 64 times around the world during the decade, including 12 of his 14 majors and 56 PGA Tour victories, and, astonishingly, was world No 1 for all but 32 weeks in those 10 years, and only then when remodelling his swing.
   
   He still has not been seen in public since the scandal erupted and last night there was not a mention of his consolation prize on his personal website, which has so far been his only public outlet to the outside world

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