Expert Picks: Greatest moment of 2007
 
Nov. 9, 2007

More 2007 Reviews: Best finishes | Clutch performances | Surprises | Comeback players
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Best of '07 Videos: Bunker play | Eagles | More eagles | Target practice | Short game | Flat stick | Aces

Now that the 2007 PGA TOUR season is history -- and the inaugural FedExCup awarded to the game's No. 1 player, Tiger Woods -- our panel of experts wanted to take a look back at the singular highlights of the historic year. Today, our pundits reveal their favorite moments.

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T.J. Auclair
PGATOUR.com Interactive Producer
Pick:
Zach Johnson wins The Masters
Relive it: Sunday recap | Audio: Masters Interviews
My favorite moment of the 2007 PGA TOUR season was watching Zach Johnson emerge as the Masters champion after sticking to his guns by playing all the par 5s as three-shot holes. When the pressure was on, Johnson was at his finest, holding off a hard-charging Tiger Woods. While Masters champions typically attack the par 5s in two, Johnson's strategy to play them in three shots led to a tournament-best 11-under par total on those holes for the week, surely the difference. And who could forget the emotional embrace with his wife and newborn son after completing the 72nd hole?

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Brett Avery
The Fantasy Insider
Pick: Mike Weir's victory against Tiger Woods at The Presidents Cup
Relive it:
Weir gets a career boost | Video: Sunday Singles recap
It's not often we are able to watch someone lift a country on his shoulders and simultaneously resuscitate a career, but those three-plus hours when Mike Weir took the measure of Tiger Woods in Presidents Cup singles was pretty darn sweet. People in the U.S. are too polite to remind Canadians that it's been a few years since the Stanley Cup went north for anything but one of those one-day player celebrations. But now they'll have a snappy comeback for several years to come: Oh yeah, but how did Tiger do the last time he played Royal Montreal?

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Lauren Deason
PGATOUR.com Editorial Coordinator
Pick: Woody Austin gets wet at The Presidents Cup
Relive it:
Austin's Saturday both wet and wild | Video: Watch the splash
I'm sorry but I have to go with the obvious -- Woody Austin's pretty darn funny nose dive into the water next to the 14th hole at The Presidents Cup. Think about it: the guy wins his first tournament since 2004 with a fabulous, final-round 62 at the Stanford St. Jude Championship, follows that up with a runner-up finish at the PGA Championship then makes The Presidents Cup squad as a 43-year-old rookie. To top it off, he provides the golf world -- and SportsCenter -- the most memorable footage of the season with his little swim. Then he good-naturedly pokes fun at himself by donning a scuba mask the following day. When looking back on 2007 who will ever forget "Aqua Man?"

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Melanie Hauser
PGATOUR.com Correspondent
Pick: Scott Verplank wins the EDS Byron Nelson Championship
Relive it:
Nelson had a hand in his victory, emotional Verplank says | Video: Sunday recap
There are a lot to choose from. Tiger and Sam after he won the PGA. Padraig Harrington tucked in a corner of the media center still doing interviews two hours after he'd won the Claret Jug. Boo Weekley telling the story of his first cab ride in the UK. And on the course? Scott Verplank falling to his knees, letting the tears go and then looking up at the sky and saying thank you after winning the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. It was a Crenshaw-esque moment for an incredibly talented guy who has played most of his career on pure guts.

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Dave Lagarde
PGATOUR.com Correspondent
Pick: Boo Weekley wins the Verizon Heritage
Relive it:
Weekley wins in Monday finish | Video: Final-round recap
When was the last time a player chipped in on the 71st and 72nd holes to win a PGA TOUR event? That is, before Boo Weekley pulled off the amazing feat to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat at the Verizon Heritage in April. So what's not to like about that break-through, feel-good moment for a guy who had blown a 3-footer for a victory at The Honda Classic six weeks before his improbable win.

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Helen Ross
PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents
Pick: Zach Johnson's whirlwind tour of New York
Video:
Johnson tours New York | Johnson talks about how his life has changed
I was tempted to pick Woody Austin's nose-dive into the lake at The Presidents Cup for sheer comic relief. Or seeing Padraig Harrington's young son try to commandeer the Claret Jug during his father's his post-round interview after that thrilling playoff victory over Sergio Garcia at the Open Championship. But I settled on seeing Zach Johnson's wife, Kim, carefully holding his Green Jacket -- protected by a white trash bag, no less -- as they prepared to board a private jet for a round of interviews in New York on the Monday after he held off Tiger Woods at Augusta National.

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Dave Shedloski
PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent
Pick: Woody Austin gets wet at The Presidents Cup
Relive it:
Austin's Saturday both wet and wild | Video: Watch the splash
Whether he was being Aquaman with his tumble into the water at Royal Montreal Golf Club or Jacques Cousteau later in the week by donning a scuba mask during his singles match to make fun of himself, Austin seemed like a weeklong moment

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John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Correspondent
Pick:
Varied
My favorite moments every year are the little moments when the veneer is pulled back and the human side of a player is revealed. Zach Johnson being truely overwhelmed by what he had accomplished at Augusta stands out.

So does Phil Mickelson joking with Mark Carnavale after the Deutsche Bank Championship when Phil was asked if he was over the fact that Carney beat him out for Rookie of the Year in 1992.

All this was in the wake of a signature victory for Phil in his duel with Tiger. Today's players are so caught up in saying and doing the right thing that rarely do they allow themselves to be exposed.

Often in the midst of triumph, though, the little boy who stood on the driving range dreaming the dream peaks out from behind the lined faces of even the most grizzled veterans. One of those boys had tears in his eyes as he said goodbye to his life on the PGA TOUR this past Sunday.

One of the greatest human beings to ever play the TOUR is on the threshold of the Champions Tour. He spent 2007 saying good-bye after 26 years. Joey Sindelar knows that it is time to move on -- but the Tour won't be the same without him. Not by a long shot.