FanHouse TrevorImmelman

Tiger Woods won five times in 2009, but for the fourth time in his 13-year career, he was shutout in the majors. That may not be cause for concern for Woods, but it gives fans and the media something to talk about. It also makes the "How would you rank the major championships?" question a lot more interesting.

With only one tournament left on the PGA Tour calender, now seems like as good a time as any to make my case. Obviously, this will be a scientifically rigorous endeavor, and I hope that you would treat the results accordingly. Or don't. Whatever, let's get to it.

In reverse order, the most exciting majors of 2009:

Every Monday during the PGA Tour season, Monday Pin Placement will run as a wrap-up of the weekend's action. Basically, we'll focus on what you missed while you were out grinding on the putting green.

In 1996, Greg Norman had one of the most epic collapses in the history of golf. Carrying a six-shot lead into the final round of that year's Masters, Norman was set to finally grab that green jacket that had eluded him for so long.

You all know the story. Norman wound up losing the tournament to Nick Faldo and in accordance with the old saying "a picture is worth a thousand words," has this lasting image that summed up his experience at Augusta. After a final round 78, Norman had two choices: he could duck out of Augusta or he could face the music. Norman responded courageously by heading into the press room and answering all questions asked of him for 45 minutes. He earned the respect of darn near any golfer that has played the game.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were paired together in the final round of the 2009 Masters, and even though they started the day seven shots off the lead, CBS got exactly what they wanted: the world's two best players -- six green jackets and some hard feelings between them -- setting the pace for Sunday's coverage.

The compelling story lines emerged early: Phil was brilliant on the front, needing just 30 strokes; Woods' fought his swing, but in typical Woods-ian fashion, still managed a 33. At the turn, Mickelson was 10-under, one shot off the lead, and looked every bit the favorite to pull off the most impressive come-from-behind victory in Masters history. All while upstaging his golfing nemesis in the process.

Round 1 of the Masters was interesting. We saw a hefty 38 players break par at Augusta National, and Chad Campbell (65) and Hunter Mahan (66) both finished within striking distance of the course record. Now comes Friday ... the day where people make or miss the cut, and the day where people can start to make a move before Saturday, which is traditionally called "Moving Day."

What should you be watching for in Friday's Round 2? And is Tiger Woods still the man to beat after firing an opening-round 70 (leaving him tied for 20th)? Check it out after the jump.

Nike never ceases to amaze with their advertising. When it isn't LaDainian Tomlinson bench pressing random kitchen appliances, it is Tiger Woods "simply" bouncing a golf ball on a wedge or LeBron James tossing up some dust.

They are the best at what they do, and the gave us another gem with this golf ad starring Anthony Kim, Stewart Cink, Trevor Immelman, Justin Leonard and Carl Pettersson showing us what the PGA Tour must have been like without Woods around. The point of the ad is to show what golf was like without Tiger around, at least for his fellow competitors. They nailed it once more.

Golf season starts tomorrow, which means it is time to actually start thinking of the best game with dimples. While the giants take a nap, others will play at the Mercedes Championship, and golf will be around the rest of the year. FanHouse spent a couple of minutes thinking what is to come in 2009. Here is what transpired.

Which golfer will be the first to break through in the Majors?
A lot of the time this is overlooked, but look back a few years ago to Tiger's first full year on tour. The guy won his first-ever start in a major as a professional. With Tiger, the monkey never even had a chance to find a nice place to rest on his back. How long did it take for Tiger to win number two? Eleven major championships. Yeah, it isn't nearly as easy as he makes it seem now.

What I'm trying to say with all of this is that winning a major championship is really, really, really tough and as Sergio Garcia (and Phil Mickelson a few years back) can tell you, if you don't get one early, then the questions about "When will it happen?" start to stir around.

Garcia has gone 38 majors as a professional without a victory. That might seem like a tremendously long time until you think of some of the talented guys that took a while to win their first big one. Vijay Singh didn't get his until his 27th major. Fred Couples went 34 until he took the 1992 Masters. Tom Kite played in 67 majors before taking his 1992 U.S. Open crown.

Garcia is in panic mode but he's still young (in golf terms) and has enough talent to open the floodgates in the major championship sense.

Along with him, Anthony Kim is due to take one of these as a youngster, as well as Hunter Mahan, Adam Scott, Aaron Baddeley and Camilo Villegas.

Interesting stat to close all this up and make it apparent how hard it is to win a major: Out of the top 10 in the Official World Rankings, five have won majors, five have not.

Just a few months ago, golf was at its pinnacle. A rather unknown, Trevor Immelman, had battled the great Tiger Woods on his favorite course and beat him at his own game. Sergio Garcia had decided to toss that monkey to the curb, winning what some consider the "fifth major" at the Players and giving people hope in the Spaniard. Then came the incredible U.S. Open, that had the definitive athletic being, Woods, battling a guy that some thought should be cleaning his swimming pool, Rocco Mediate. Tiger needed every ounce of fight to beat Rocco, and as enjoyable as it was, we all knew even if Tiger won, we lost.

We had to watch Woods limp around the course, knowing something was wrong even when the news was uncertain. Golfers could sense with every wince and ache that this was the last time we'd probably see Woods in '08 after he had famously announced the Grand Slam was "easily within reach."

When Tiger announced he was done for '08, we all attempted to pump ourselves up for the rest of the season. "Oh, it won't be so bad, it will give someone else a chance to win." It was a weak attempt to lie to everyone that could hear it and after a wet British Open that had us rooting for Greg freaking Norman to win (would you ever imagine a more random situation at this day and age?) golf hit the skids.

Normally, the PGA Championship is the major reserved for a newbie. They call it "Glory's Last Shot" because seven of the last 14 have been first time winners. Normally the one that bucks that trend is Elderick Woods, who, unbeknownst to the golf world, has handed the title of major champion king to an Irishman with a quirky smile.

Oakland Hills gave us everything, from floods to hole-in-ones to a marathon finish that ended with a putt you almost knew had to fall. Here are the winners and losers from a great week of golf at the year's final major.

Winners

• Padraig Harrington -- Wait, didn't I just write one of these? Harrington has now won three of the last six majors championships and has truly earned the nickname "Back Nine." A 32 at the British a month ago and a 32 on the closing stretch yesterday has Padraig with as many majors as Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh. Think he's taken advantage of the Woods layoff?

Since learning that 2008 will continue on without golf's daddy, one thing has become extremely apparent -- someone could really become someone over these next few months.

Since Tiger Woods broke on the scene in 1997, winning the Masters by more strokes than Blue in Old School, we have had exactly one young guy attempt to make a name for himself in major championships. That, sadly, was Sergio Garcia at the 1999 PGA Championship, battling Woods to the end at only 19-years-young.

At that point, golf was buzzing. We had a young, brash European (!) who not only could challenge our best golfer, but someone who would be on the posters facing Tiger at the Ryder Cup. Exciting, meet interesting.

Sadly, Garcia forgot how to putt about seven years ago and has never really found it, flashing in the pan every now again, like the '07 British Open, but always getting to the end of the puzzle and finding out your dog ate the last piece.

Now, Garcia is a 28-year-old veteran, with a grizzled beard, some negative incidents and is not the face of youth on the PGA Tour anymore.