Tiger Woods named Athlete of the Decade

Despite an ongoing sex scandal that has tarnished his image and potentially ruined his marriage, Tiger Woods was still named the Athlete of the Decade by the AP on Wednesday, and quite frankly it wasn’t even close.

Woods received 56 of the 142 place votes, making him the runaway winner. Lance Armstrong, winner of six Tour de France bike races finished second with 33 votes, and tennis king Roger Federer finished third with 25.

Since the beginning of the decade, Woods has had a staggering stranglehold on the sport of golf, dominating it as a champion like no one ever before. Since 2000, he has won 65 tournaments, including 12 major championships. He has won 56 PGA Tour events during that time, a number that only four golfers have topped over the course of their entire careers.

During that time, his dominance transcended golf, as wins were determined not by trophies, but by how many strokes Woods obliterated the field by. He won an average of 30 percent of the tournaments he entered, claiming victory in the 2002 U.S. Open by a record 15 shots. Nine of his 56 tour wins were by at least eight shots.

And with his presence on the course, Woods has made golf as mainstream as it’s ever been. Ratings go up for any tournament Woods participates in, and prize money has quadrupled since he joined the tour at the end of the 1990’s.

However, despite it all, Woods may be best remembered this decade, for infidelities which were revealed just before the calendar turned to 2010. It all started with a mysterious car crash on Thanksgiving night, in which Woods totaled his Buick and had several facial lacerations.

He later confessed to affairs with multiple women, despite being married to Elin Nordgren Woods for five years. The couple has two children.

He is currently on an indefinite leave of absence from the tour, as he deals with him family situation. It was first reported Thursday that Elin Woods may be filing for a divorce from her husband.

However, regardless of his indiscretions, Woods was still named the Athlete of the Decade for the 2000’s. Stu Whitney of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader had this to say about Woods, in the midst of his current personal problems:

"Despite the tsunami of negative publicity that will likely tarnish his image, there’s no denying that Woods’ on-the-course accomplishments set a new standard of dominance within his sport while making golf more accessible to the masses,"