Wednesday’s question of the day: Did Tiger Woods have a good year?

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Reporters from around the Tribune family tackle today’s question of the day, then you get a chance to chime in and tell them why they are wrong.

George Diaz, Orlando Sentinel

If I can channel the competitive spirit of Tiger Woods for a moment, the answer is a resounding “No!” punctuated with a fist pump.
Despite the challenges of coming back from major knee surgery, Woods didn’t stumble around the golf course like a hack. At one stretch, starting in late July at the Buick Open, Woods went 1-1-2-2-11-1 in the tournaments he played.
That’s the kind of run we expect from Tiger Woods. And the ones he expects from himself.
Not winning a major has to be a disappointment. Woods is programmed for the big chase, winning 14 majors. There is something special about wearing a green jacket in Augusta and celebrating other significant titles.
Woods didn’t get it done. He’d be the first to tell you that himself.

Mike James, Los Angeles Times

Tiger insists publicly that his season exceeded his expectations, and in some ways, it exceeded many others’ too. Six victories with one quasi-major to play (and the bet here is that he will win the Tour Championship), 13 top 10s in 15 stroke-play events. One much-offered theory was that his erratic driving cost him in his 0-for-the-majors washout, but his driving accuracy this year has been his best since 2002, when he won five times, including two majors. The bigger problem in the majors was that virtually all the putts he normally makes in major crunch time simply slipped past the edges of the hole. Sure, he had a good year. But you can bet that he would have taken any four of those victories and traded them in for one major championship. And that would have made a great year. Any major-less season for Tiger Woods is a disappointment.

Paul Doyle, Hartford Courant

Since we’ve all been trained to measure Tiger Woods by his performance in majors, the quick answer is that 2009 is a bust for the best golfer in the world. Not only did he whiff in the majors, but Woods squandered a 2-stroke lead at the PGA Championship as he failed to win a major when leading after 54 holes for the first time in his career.
OK, let’s get beyond the majors. Woods, coming off major knee surgery, has six titles, two second-place finishes and 13 Top-10 finishes in 16 tournaments. He enters the final tournament of the year in first place in the FedEx Cup standings.
So Woods could end the year with seven wins. Vijay Singh (nine in 2004) is the only golfer other than Tiger to win more than seven in the last 35 years. Phil Mickelson’s high? Four (1996, 2000 and 2005).
And while we view Tiger’s numbers through the prism of the majors, let’s put his performance in context – Woods is 15 months removed from significant knee surgery. With that in mind, it’s been a pretty good year, even for Tiger.