2009 Filled With Memorable Moments in Golf

Henrik Stenson of Sweden started to take off his clothes, assisted by a female caddie, when his ball fell into a rough on the third hole of the first round of the CA Championship in March.

Clad in panty swung wedge, he said, “Because of the mud I couldn`t really afford to play in any of my clothes as they would have been a real mess down the last six or so holes so I had no option - I was only wearing two things when I hit the shot, my jocks and my golf glove. You never know, after this I might have a new endorsement with PlayGirl or something like that! .”

Golf icon Tiger Woods is known to have had affairs with 15 women, but was quite the expert in managing his facial expressions over the past 10 years. He went from “golf emperor” to “king of the night.”

He was also reportedly a regular at MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas and betted more than one million dollars a day.

In Korea, Choi Sang-ho, 54, dubbed a “perpetually active pro golfer,” was poised to break his domestic record for most wins by a player (43) and become the eldest player to clinch a title in the country in April. He enjoyed a three-shot lead through the third round at the Tomato Savings Bank Open.

His dream went up in smoke, however, as he missed short putts on the 17th and 18th holes in succession in the fourth round. Though nicknamed “master of putting,” he erred at a crucial time.

In Korean women’s golf, Yoo So-yeon played nine rounds of overtime against Choi Hye-yong at the Doosan Match Play Championship in May. The tournament lasted seven hours and 20 minutes, more than three hours longer than normal.

The nine-round overtime was the second longest in Korean women’s golf history after the 11th rounds of overtime played at the Dong-Il Renown Ladies Classic in August 1997, when Seo A-ram defeated Kang Soo-yeon.

Kim Ha-neul, 21, faced trouble in May when she participated in the first round of the 2009 Hill State Seoul Kyeongjae Open. Having struggled in OB zones and hazards, she no longer had a ball to hit on the 16th hole. She borrowed a ball, which was the same type as hers, from a gallery at the tournament and managed to finish the round.

Weekend amateur golfers often call four consecutive pars “Audi,” and five straight pars “Olympics” to give such feats special meaning. These records are nothing, however, compared to what Mark Calcavecchia did in the second round of the RBC Canadian Open in July.

The 49-year-old American golfer birdied nine consecutive holes, the most in PGA history.

Bae Sang-moon had eight consecutive birdies in the first eight holes at the fourth round of the Johnnie Walker Classic.

Bae Gyeong-eun had her first career hole-in-one on the 17th hole in the first round of the KLPGA Tour Championship last month, and received a BMW 750Li worth 180 million won (153,000 U.S. dollars) as a prize.

This prize was worth three times more than the 60 million won (51,000 dollars) of prize awarded to the tournament winner.

Moon Gyeong-an, chairman of Bae’s agency Volvik, bought the vehicle, saying, “I will take over the luck of a hole-in-one."

kjs0123@donga.com