Photo curtesy of creative commons by flickr user Keith Allison.

Since Thanksgiving Tiger Woods has admitted to infidelity, lost sponsorships, and has decided to take an indefinite leave from golf.  Monica DeSantiago looks back at the Tiger Woods scandal.

This piece originally aired as part of the Year in Review, which aired on New Years Day at 11 am.

Barron, 40, has played in only 4 tournaments this year on the developmental Nationwide Tour and once on the PGA, where he failed to make the cut.

Barron had many health issues, so it is possible that he took something without clearing it with the Tour first, but after the constant media attention on steroids in baseball, wouldn’t you think that all athletes were making an extra effort to avoid these situations.

You know, I’m as sick of steroids as anyone else, but really, golf????

-Becs

Tiger takes us through his day

Tiger talks about his mindset going into Monday.

Tiger says he didn’t change his approach going into the final day.

Tiger says he’s been hitting the ball well, he just keeps lipping out.

Tiger talks about the FedEx Cup Playoff system.

-Becs

Steve Stricker birdied the last 2 holes to win the Deutsche Bank Championship. In a tight tournament, the top 6 were separated by just 2 strokes.

Last week, Stricker missed a put that would have put him in a playoff, but today, he got redemption, making his final put to avoid a playoff and get the victory.

Scott Verplank birdied the last 4 holes to get to 16-under and take the lead into the clubhouse. That lead did not last long; Jason Dufner shot a 6-under, including a birdie on 18. It looked like a playoff was inevitable until Stricker birdied 17 to tie. Then he hit a 43 foot chip from the rough to within 2 feet of the hole and knocked it in for the win.

This is Stricker’s third win this year and moves him into 2^nd in the world for the first time in his career. It also propels him into first place for the FedEx Cup, passing Tiger Woods, who came in 11^th. Woods had the best day of anyone, finishing 8-under for the day, but it was not enough to overcome an 8 shot deficit going into the final day.

Barrington native Brett Quigley just missed the cut to qualify for the next round of the FedExCup Playoffs next weekend. He finished 71^st in the standings and the top 70 make the cut. Marc Leishman eagled the 18^th hold to knock him out.

-Becs

“When you’re that far down in the points, it really doesn’t matter.  I played well and putted well and nothing went it.  It’s just one of those days.”

Heading into the clubhouse, he was in 69^thplace; Quigley was not too hopeful that he would make it.

“With the points being what they are, it’s up in the air.  I know the two guys who were right behind me are finished and they’re not ahead of me, but there are still guys out there behind me in points who could pass me.”

The FedExCup is a playoff system that was implemented to excite people about golf after the last major, the PGA.  It has changed the scoring system each year since its inception in 2007.  Many golf fans and even the pros don’t quite understand the way the scoring works.

“It’s certainly frustrating for the players and frustrating for me too,” Quigley said.

Tiger added, “I’m sure it’ll be tweaked again and again and again.  That’s the way it is until you get it right.”

-Becs

“I just kept doing the same thing. [Yesterday] I kept hitting lips, lip after lip, after lip, so I’m not that far off.  Just stay the course, and boom, all of a sudden I started making putts.  I was hitting the ball just as good, and things just started rolling.”

He appears to be out of striking distance as going into the day, the leaders were at 13-under.  Currently, there are 4 guys tied for the lead, at 15-under.

-Becs

When asked if he was relieved that Woods was not amongst the leaders yesterday, Retief Goosen responded, “Well, the players are happy that he’s not up top the leaderboard,”  he continued, “You know, he’s the guy tha tbrings in the ratings for us and the crowds.”

Tiger needs to maintain this level of play on the back 9 to even have a chance with 6 guys in front of him who haven’t started the round yet.

-Becs

Steve Stricker hit a 6-under today to move into the lead at -13.  He shares the top of the leader board with Retief Goosen and Sean O’Hair.  O’Hair came into the day with the lead at 12-under.  He started poorly, but birdied 16 and 18 to maintain his position.

“It was up and down today.  Started off not the way I wanted to, but did a good job hanging in there and was patient on the greens and approach shots…made a couple of birdies late and turned a potentially bad round into an okay round.  It was nice to end off the round like that.”

Americans Kevin Na and Scott Verplank are one off the pace.  Irishman Padraig Harrington is also one off the lead.  After his round he talked about tomorrow.  “I don’t know what the conditions are going to be like tomorrow, but with seven or eight guys with a chance of maybe more of winning, you’ve got to expect somebody is going to play well and shoot the number.  It’s going to be a day tomorrow for being aggressive.”

Tiger Woods is not in contention.  He hit a 1-over and sits in 30^th place 8 shots off the lead.  The only time he has not finished in the top 10 this year was the British Open when he did not make the cut.

-Becs

Tiger is currently tied for 30 at 4-under for the tournament, with the leaders about halfway through the day.  He has only finished outside the top 10 once this year and that was when he missed the cut at the British Open.

Meanwhile, Barrington’s Brett Quigley also shot +1; he is at 3-under for the tournament.  He is working to make the cut to continue in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.  He must be in the top 70 to play in Chicago next week.  As of now, that looks likely; he is 59th.

Steve Stricker, Kevin Sutherland, and Dustin Johnson lead play at 12-under, though there is still a lot of golf yet to play.

-Becs

-Becs

This piece originally aired as the Sports Rundown, which you can listen to every Saturday at noon.