The year 2009 ended on a rather difficult note for ace golfer Tiger Woods. He crashed into a fire hydrant on Thanksgiving Day, which somehow caused all sorts of speculations about his extramarital affairs. The revelations adversely affected his marriage and his wife filed for a divorce.

The accident and the turmoil in his private life had a profound impact on Woods’ career and his game was badly affected – the man who ruled golf suddenly found it difficult to clinch titles or championships, and failed to add to his 2009 Australian Masters title.

There were open discussions on his private life and how it has had a detrimental impact on his profession. He was the hot topic of discussion due to his falling world ranking. Tiger Woods however, refused to address any form of criticism and went on playing. His patience and hard work finally paid off at the Chevron World Championship, which is hosted by him for the Tiger Woods Foundation. Woods finally won it with a perfect birdie, stopping critics from speculating about his lost form.

Tiger Woods was in contention for the third time in a tournament this year and this time it was with former PGA Chevron World Championship winner, Zach Johnson. Woods went all out to win this one. He was trailing by a shot with just two holes left to play, when he came up with the two birdieputts. He tied up with Johnson when he holed a 15-footer on the par-3 17^th. He finished it off with élan by hitting a 9-iron from 158 yards.

This win was good for his morale and ranking, with fans already willing to starting backing him on the exchanges – the latest US Open golf betting place him as second favourite. Not only did his help to boost his performance in the upcoming tournaments in 2012, but it also improve his world ranking from a No. 52 to a No. 21. This was Woods 83^rd win in a tournament that awards ranking points.