TIMELINE
JANUARY
[7] In a surprise, Ty Votaw announces he'll step down as LPGA commissioner at the end of the year. • Stuart Appleby wins the PGA Tour's season-opening Mercedes Championships, then rushes to Australia to be there when his wife, Ashley, gives birth to a daughter, Ella, three days later. [14] Michelle Wie plays in the men's Sony Open for the second time, missing the cut by seven shots. [23] The Champions tour kicks off its 25th season when Dana Quigley beats Tom Watson in a playoff at the MasterCard Championship. [24] NBC extends its contract to televise USGA championships through 2014. [25] Arnold Palmer marries Kathleen (Kit) Gawthrop. [28] Tag Ridings becomes the first Tour player to make a double eagle and two eagles in the same round, during the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. • Tiger Woods's caddie, Steve Williams, crashes during an auto race in New Zealand, injuring his left hand. Fifty stitches are required.
FEBRUARY
[1] John Daly joins Hootie & the Blowfish onstage to sing at a Super Bowl media reception in Jacksonville. [3] After opening with an 81 at the FBR Open in Scottsdale, Daly withdraws, citing illness. • Ty Tryon, 20, wins the first tournament of his pro career, a Hooters tour event in Clermont, Fla. The $11,000 first prize exceeds the $9,058 he made in 22 Nationwide tour starts in '04. [4] Annika Sorenstam and David Esch, married for eight years, file for divorce in Florida. [9] In Great Britain the Ladies' Golf Union announces that transsexuals will be allowed to enter the Women's British Open. [16] The day after attending a reception for his new sponsor, Grey Goose vodka, Retief Goosen oversleeps, arrives at Riviera 15 minutes late for his 6:40 a.m. pro-am tee time and is disqualified from the Nissan Open. [21] Storms reduce the Nissan to 36 holes and unofficial status. [26] Jennifer Rosales opens the LPGA season by leading wire-to-wire at the SBS Open.
MARCH
[1] Jake Nicklaus, the 17-month-old grandson of Jack Nicklaus and the son of Steve and Krista Nicklaus, drowns in a hot tub at his house in North Palm Beach, Fla. [2] Ian Woosnam is named captain of the 2006 European Ryder Cup team. Nick Faldo will captain in 2008. [6] Tiger Woods wins an exciting final-round duel with Phil Mickelson at Doral and ends Vijay Singh's run as the No. 1--ranked player in the world after 26 weeks. [13] When a frustrated Pat Perez gives his ball the finger after missing putts during the final round of the Honda Classic, NBC stops showing his shots live. [27] Annika Sorenstam wins the Kraft Nabisco Championship to tie Nancy Lopez's record for consecutive LPGA victories with five. [28] Bob Tway hits four shots into the water at the 17th hole at the TPC at Sawgrass, then three-putts for a 12, breaking the Players Championship record high of 11 on that hole, set by Robert Gamez in 1990. [31] Pebble Beach Golf Links raises its greens fee from $395 to $425.
APRIL
[2] The Portuguese Open, the 14th stop on the European tour, is the first tournament actually played in Europe. [7] Billy Casper, 73, shoots what would've been a record-high 105 in the first round of the Masters but doesn't turn in his scorecard. [9] Due to a rainout on Friday and a two-tee restart, Jack Nicklaus finishes his final Masters on the 9th green on Saturday. [10] Tiger Woods wins the Masters for a fourth time. [11] The USGA e-mails golf manufacturers inviting them to submit balls that would go 15 to 25 yards shorter. [15] Tom Kite is disqualified for the first time in 34 years on the PGA Tour for signing for a wrong score at the MCI Heritage Classic. [17] David Frost needs only 92 putts at the Heritage, breaking the Tour record by one. [20] Vijay Singh is elected into the World Golf Hall of Fame despite record-low voter support (56%). [27] The USGA receives a record 9,048 entries to the U.S. Open, three of them from women.
MAY
[1] Jim Thorpe wins the FedEx Kinko's Classic and donates the entire $247,500 first prize to his church. [8] Cristie Kerr takes the Michelob Ultra Open, ending Annika Sorenstam's five-tournament winning streak. [13] Tiger Woods misses the cut at the Byron Nelson Championship, ending his record streak of playing on the weekend in 142 consecutive starts. • Methodist College wins the NCAA Division III women's championship for the eighth straight year. [19] Duke dusts the field by five strokes at the women's NCAA, winning for the third time in seven years. [22] Paula Creamer, 18, becomes the second youngest winner in LPGA history at the Sybase Classic. [26] Creamer graduates from high school. [27] Mike Reid drives the hour from Ligonier, Pa., to Indiana, Pa., to tour the Jimmy Stewart Museum after the second round of the Senior PGA Championship. [29] Reid wins the Senior PGA.
JUNE
[4] While Georgia runs away with the NCAA team title, James Lepp of Washington shoots a 63, the lowest final-round score since 1965, then edges Michael Putnam of Pepperdine in a playoff. [5] After 20 years and 204 Tour starts Bart Bryant, 42, wins for the second time, at the Memorial. [8] A Florida jury finds Learjet not liable for the 1999 crash that killed Payne Stewart and five others. [12] Annika Sorenstam keeps alive her Grand Slam bid with a three-shot victory over Michelle Wie in the McDonald's LPGA Championship. [14] Wie becomes the first female to make the field in a USGA men's championship at U.S. Public Links qualifying. [16] Caroyln Vesper Bivens is named commissioner of the LPGA. [19] Michael Campbell becomes the first player from New Zealand to win the U.S. Open. [28] Masters chairman Hootie Johnson says that, among other changes at Augusta National, the par-3 4th hole will be stretched to 240 yards.
JULY
[5] Shinnecock Hills, named in a lawsuit in which the Shinnecock Nation seeks compensation for land--including the course--that the tribe says was stolen from it, removes the Indian headdress from the club logo. [8] Michelle Wie drops three strokes on the last four holes to miss the cut at the John Deere Classic. [12] The Royal Bank of Scotland issues a £5 note commemorating Jack Nicklaus and his last British Open appearance. [15] In the quarterfinals of the Publinks, Clay Ogden birdies four of the first five holes to eliminate Wie. [17] Tiger Woods goes wire-to-wire in the British Open to become the youngest player to win all four majors twice. [21] Dana Quigley's streak of 264 straight senior starts ends when he misses the Senior British Open. [28] Ernie Els has surgery to repair a left knee ligament injured while sailing. [29] Arnold Palmer misses the Senior Open cut and says that this, his 62nd USGA championship, is his last.
AUGUST
[5] Royal Montreal, the oldest club in North America, lands the 2007 Presidents Cup. • Jason Gore eagles the final green to shoot a 12-under 59 in the Nationwide Cox Classic. [7] Gore closes with a 63, then beats Roger Tambellini in a playoff to win the Cox, his third Nationwide victory, and is promoted to the PGA Tour. • U.S. Open runner-up Morgan Pressel wins the U.S. Women's Amateur. [13] Great Britain's streak of three Walker Cup victories ends with a 121/2--111/2 U.S. win. [14] Phil Mickelson chips close for an easy birdie on the 72nd hole to win the PGA. [21] There are seven drives of more than 400 yards during the NEC Invitational, including blasts of 408, 412 and 427 by Stuart Appleby. [28] Edoardo Molinari of Italy makes seven birdies in 15 holes during the U.S. Amateur final to become the first European winner since Harold Hilton in 1911. [26] The USGA allows amateurs to accept reimbursement for expenses to play in a competition.
SEPTEMBER
[4] Transsexual Mianne Bagger, a rookie on the Ladies European tour, makes her first cut after 12 starts, at the Nykredit Masters. [11] An hour after the U.S. victory in the Solheim Cup, Meg Mallon, 42, is treated for a racing heartbeat. [15] David Toms collapses at the 84 Lumber Classic and is also treated for a racing heart. [16] Mike Holder, Oklahoma State's golf coach for 32 years, is named the school's athletic director. [18] Jason Gore wins the 84 Lumber. The first prize of $792,000 is nearly double his career earnings before 2005. [22] Martha Burk, who famously took on Augusta National for its men-only membership, says she'll step down as head of the National Council of Women's Organizations. [25] Chris DiMarco sinks a 13-footer for birdie on the final hole to clinch the Presidents Cup for the U.S., its first team victory since 2000. [27] The USGA and R&A say that distance-measuring devices are O.K. for competition.
OCTOBER
[6] Michelle Wie turns pro and donates $500,000 to hurricane relief. [9] Jay Haas closes with a 65 to win the Greater Hickory Classic on the Champions tour, his first victory since the 1993 Texas Open. [13] The R&A says women may enter the British Open. [16] Wie apparently ties for fourth at the Samsung World Championship and wins $53,126, but officials, having been alerted to the possible infraction by SI writer Michael Bamberger, disqualify her for taking an incorrect drop the day before. [26] The PGA of America promotes Joe Steranka to CEO. [29] Colin Montgomerie claims a record eighth Euro tour money title.
NOVEMBER
[2] PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem unveils the FedEx Cup, a seasonlong points race, starting in 2007, that culminates in four big tournaments in September. [6] Jeff Hart finishes first on Tour in driving accuracy by .001% over Fred Funk, who would've been first for an eighth time if he had hit one more fairway in the year's final event. [8] Tiger Woods becomes the first six-time winner of the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average. [9] Jack Nicklaus is one of 14 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civil award. [17] David Toms undergoes a five-hour operation at the Mayo Clinic to correct a rapid heartbeat. [20] Annika Sorenstam racks up her 10th victory of the year and the 66th of her career, at the LPGA's season-ending ADT Championship. [26] Funk plays the 3rd hole of the Skins Game in a pink skirt after being outdriven by Sorenstam. [27] Funk wins a nine-hole carryover to win a Skins-record $925,000.
DECEMBER
[4] Ai Miyazato, 20, of Japan finishes first at the LPGA Q school by a record 12 shots. U.S. Women's Open runners-up Brittany Lang and Morgan Pressel also earn cards. [5] John B. Holmes takes the men's Q school. Bill Haas, son of Jay, makes his card on the number. [30] Woods turns 30.