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Rory McIlroy deserves his top ranking, while teenager Charley Hull is on the way up, says BBC Sport’s Iain Carter.

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Rory McIlroy has been named RTÉ Sport – Person of the Year for the second time.

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It’s a touchy thing, this business of turning athletes’ personal affairs into breaking news. Just because they own some extraordinary talent, do they deserve to live their lives in a petri dish under our collective microscopic lens? And yet by the same measure, aren’t the transgressions of public figures in some ways ripe for scrutiny?

I don’t think there’s a definitive answer to either of these questions, with varying lines of blurriness based on the specific scenario, but here’s my own rule of thumb: Let the private stuff remain private – until it starts interfering with the reason they’ve accrued this fame in the first place. Then it’s fair game.

All of which leads us to Rory McIlroy. On May 21, the golfer once nicknamed Boy Wonder announced he’d broken off a highly publicized engagement with tennis star Caroline Wozniacki just after sending out the wedding invitations. Reports emerged that he did so with a quick phone call that she initially believed was a joke, and so the scandalous nature of the whole thing led to some very obvious international headlines.

2014 Newsmakers: 2. Ryder Cup | 3. Tiger | 4. Social Media | 5. Bishop | 6. Wie | 7. Reed | 8. R&A | 9. Bubba | 10. DJ | Honorable mentions

It was real life ripped from the script of a soap opera – the camera-ready couple coming together in the spotlight, then coming apart under that same glare. It became a major story in the tabloids, but similarly turned into big news in the golf world, for much less salacious reasons.

Prior to the breakup, McIlroy had competed in nine worldwide events and while he’d fared predictably well – two runners-up, a sixth place, a seventh, two eighths and a ninth – he had yet to win a tournament. Four days after his announcement, though, he was improbably holding aloft the BMW PGA Championship trophy, the look on his face more startled than elated.

While he downplayed the cause-and-effect of his personal life on his professional career, it marked a clear turning point in a year when he made plenty of news off the golf course and even more news on it, winning two major championships and four overall titles and once again ascending to No. 1 on the world ranking.

So much news, in fact, that it earned McIlroy the distinction of being Golf Channel’s No. 1 Newsmaker for 2014.

Maybe we should have seen it coming. Three years ago, when he won the U.S. Open for his first career major, one major national publication proclaimed it “Golf’s New Era.” When he prevailed at the next year’s PGA Championship, others echoed that sentiment.

Entering this year, though, his game had been in a funk. Playing with Nike clubs for the first time last year, he won just one event. And prior to making that fateful May phone call, he had dropped outside the world’s top 10 – unfamiliar territory for a player around whom the supposed new era was forming.

Whether it was newfound personal freedom that led to his latest ascent or just the curious coincidence of everything in his game clicking from a technical standpoint at the same time, McIlroy soon proved why there had already been so many declarations of his eminence.

Two months after winning the BMW PGA, he played like a rockstar at the former home of the Beatles, clearly the headliner on Royal Liverpool’s grand stage. Who could have seen it coming? Well, if not the millions who had witnessed his previous two major triumphs, then at least his own father, Gerry, who along with two friends had placed a hefty wager on his son a decade earlier that paid off to the tune of more than $300,000.

One month later and thousands of miles away, McIlroy finished off another major victory, winning in the dark at Valhalla to join the likes of only Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in the modern era as players with four majors by the age of 25.

And so the comparisons came quickly and often, mostly in relation to the latter and his lifelong pursuit of the former. McIlroy was asked about Woods’ ongoing efforts to break Nicklaus’ career major record during the time between winning the Open and winning the PGA, when he took a little side trip to win the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He was asked about Woods’ long-term goals; he was asked how his might differ.

“I know how many majors the greats of the game have won,” he answered. “But I never wanted to compare myself. If I go on to win whatever number it is, then that’s great. At least at the end of my career, there’s not going to be a disappointment. ‘Oh, I wanted to get to 15, but I only got 12, bummer.’ … I’d love to end my career with 12 majors, but I don’t want it to be a disappointment.”

Therein lies the remaining aspect of what made McIlroy the game’s biggest newsmaker this year. It wasn’t just his performance. It certainly wasn’t just his personal life. But when you sprinkle in these thoughtful, charismatic soundbites – comments unlike so many of his peers, because they ooze with reflection and deliberation rather than the usual homogenized rhetoric – it provokes greater headlines, vaulting him further into the ever-evolving news cycle.

Golf’s new era, the one spearheaded by McIlroy, might not have begun three years ago with his first major, or two years ago with his second. It’s undeniable now, though, after two more major titles and an unambiguous journey to atop the world ranking once again, that the game has progressed to the next stage.

And for that, more than any other reason, McIlroy was clearly the No. 1 Newsmaker of 2014.

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Rory McIlroy has already been named by many news outlets as the golfer of the year for 2014. No doubt many more will follow suit. But recognition for McIlroy’s great season comes with the reminder that it wasn’t just a year of successes for the world No. 1. It was a year of many highs and a few lows – and we’re just talking on the course, here, forgetting for a while his engagement and eventual break-up with Caroline Wozniacki or his legal dispute with his former management company. Remember McIlroy giving away the Honda Classic, or his Friday struggles throughout the first half of the year? They’re past history. Here is a tournament-by-tournament statistical recap of McIlroy’s year on the 2013-14 PGA and European tours.

The first of five runner-up finishes for McIlroy in 2014, he hit just 18 fairways over the final three rounds (42.8 percent), but it was a two-stroke penalty in the third round for an incorrect drop that cost him as he lost by one to Pablo Larrazabal.

This was one of three times Rory would open with a round of 63, his season-low score. He would not win any of those tournaments. 

McIlroy is 5-1 in the first round of the Match Play, but has gotten past the second round only twice (2009 and 2012).

This was the only time all year that his scores went up after every round. The inexplicable playoff loss to Russell Henley – Rory was 5 over on the last 12 holes to fall from the lead – marked the second straight stroke-play event in which he opened with a 63 and finished with a 74.

This was McIlroy’s highest finish in a PGA Tour event in 2014-15, one of just three times he was outside the top 20, and the only tournament all year in which he did not have at least one round in the 60s. 

The final-round 65 moved him from T-37 to T-7. This tournament began a streak of five straight top 10s for McIlroy, matching his best of the year.

Note the second round, and know that things would get worse on Fridays before they got better. McIlroy had a back-nine 40 in Round 2 at Augusta. For the year, he led the PGA Tour in back-nine scoring average (34.52).

If McIlroy matched his first-round 69 on Day 2, he would have won by one stroke. This time his Friday 40 came on the front nine. For the day he made just two of six putts (33 percent) from 4-8 feet. His season average was 71.43 percent. After this week, he was 11^th on the World Ranking, his worst placement of the year. 

As it did a week earlier, a second-round 69 would have given McIlroy the victory. McIlroy’s Sunday 66 was a thing of beauty, including six birdies on the back (including 16, 17 and 18).

His first win of 2014 came just days after his well-publicized break-up with Wozniacki. The seven-stroke comeback on Sunday equaled the tournament record and it was, perhaps surprisingly, McIlroy’s first European Tour victory in Europe.

After this event, McIlroy’s second-round scoring average on the PGA Tour was 73.50, ranking 186^th of 191 players. His season fairways-hit percentage was 56.70, 144^th on Tour.

At the midway point of his year, McIlroy had one win and eight top-10 finishes, but he was winless on the PGA Tour and ranked 35^th in the FedEx Cup standings and 28^th on the money list.

The only time all year McIlroy missed a cut. He hit just 21 greens in two rounds and couldn’t recover when he missed, making par or better just five times when he didn’t hit the green in regulation.

Like the Memorial, his first-round-to-second-round swing was stunning, but he recovered nicely with 10 birdies and three bogeys on the weekend. Eighth on the world ranking after this event, he was about to move up quickly.

McIlroy’s 17-under 271 was the fourth-lowest total in relation to par to win the Open. He dominated on the par 5s at Royal Liverpool, especially Saturday when he made eagle on the 16^th and 18^th holes to take what became an insurmountable lead of six strokes into Sunday. For the week, McIlroy was one of four players to shoot 12 under on the par-5 holes.

McIlroy led the field in distance and greens in regulation, while missing only four putts from less than 10 feet. The victory helped McIlroy regain the No. 1 spot on the world ranking.

McIlroy was 16 under par at Valhalla, marking the fourth time he has won a major by shooting at least 13 under par. He joined Tiger Woods as the only players to pull off the Summer Slam (British, WGC-Bridgestone and PGA) since the WGC events were created in 1999. He was 12 under for the week on holes 10-18.

His winning streak ended at three, thanks to a role reversal of sorts from his early-season struggles. McIlroy opened with 74, his worst first round of the season on the PGA Tour (he also shot 74 to start the Irish Open). 

McIlroy shot 6.43 strokes better than the field during his third-round 64, but he shot 70 on Monday when the field averaged 69.

McIlroy made his longest putt of the year (59 feet, 8 inches) on the fourth hole of the third round. For the year, he led the PGA Tour in putting from beyond 25 feet, making 11.70 percent (22 of 188). 

McIlroy’s U.S. season ended with his PGA Tour-best 12^th top-10 finish. He also led the Tour in birdie average (4.58), scoring average (68.29), earnings ($8,280,086), and putts per GIR (1.708, which was the second-lowest total on Tour in the last 10 years).

In his only European Tour event in September or October, McIlroy had his second of three consecutive runner-up finishes. This time he was gutted by a first-round 73. It was the eighth straight time he would shoot in the 60s in Round 2. Through the Scottish Open his Friday average was 73.00. In his last nine starts he averaged 66.66 in Round 2. 

In his last five European Tour starts of 2014, McIlroy finished first three times and second twice. Nineteen of 20 rounds were under par, and he was a cumulative 78 under par in the five events.

If you haven’t already done so, please follow me on Twitter at @johnantoninigc

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At its core the 2014 Ryder Cup was a case study in contrasting styles.

For Europe, Paul McGinley’s detail-oriented leadership was familiar, a legacy passed from captain to captain, while U.S. front-man Tom Watson represented a break from tradition.

The 65-year-old, two-time captain was supposed to be the game-changer, the variable that would allow the Americans to end a slide of five losses in the last six matches, but the juxtaposition between the two team rooms was vivid from the outset.

For the Europeans, the decision to choose McGinley was political and public and very much player driven. But for the American side, the decision to name Watson captain was made behind closed doors by a frighteningly small group of PGA of America executives.

“I know I speak for a lot of people when I say, we are just really tired of losing the Ryder Cup, and the decision to name this gentleman as our next captain, a lot of that was just about our weariness of what’s happened in the past few Ryder Cups and we certainly hope that trend can change,” said then PGA president Ted Bishop in December 2012.

In the run up to this year’s matches, McGinley played 28 times around the globe to endear and introduce himself to potential players. Watson, on the other hand, played just 10 times over the last two years in non-Champions Tour events and struggled to keep current with the changing face of American golf.

Although he would specifically reference Brooks Koepka, the young American who forged his way onto the PGA Tour via the European circuit, as a player he considered for one of his three captain’s picks, just a month earlier during a brief exchange at the PGA Championship Watson would ask Koepka what golf course he worked at, confusing him for one of the PGA club professionals at the event.

Watson appeared to waffle with his captain’s picks, going with Webb Simpson over Bill Haas in an 11th hour decision, while McGinley, who likely had a more difficult decision considering the depth of his potential picks, went with experience and consistency in Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood.

2014 Newsmakers: 3. Tiger | 4. Social Media | 5. Bishop | 6. Wie | 7. Reed | 8. R&A | 9. Bubba | 10. DJ | Honorable mentions

But it was when the teams arrived at Gleneagles that the contrasting styles became so glaring.

McGinley kept his team loose and on point.

“Complacency . . . concentration,” smiled Rory McIlroy when asked on Sunday night to relay McGinley’s message for the week.

“Wave after wave,” followed Graeme McDowell.

“When the storm comes, we’ll be the rock,” added Justin Rose.

“Have fun,” McGinley smiled.

Watson, meanwhile, seemed to send mixed messages with many players unsure of who they would be paired with until the night before the matches, and his no-nonsense style failed to resonate with modern players.

That disconnect seemed to come to a boil during a team-bonding meeting Saturday night in Scotland. According to various reports, Watson scoffed at a gift given to him by his players, criticized many of the team members and took no responsibility for the American’s four-point deficit heading into Sunday singles following a particularly dismal performance in foursomes play.

“The obvious answer is that our team has to play better,” said Watson after the U.S. team’s 16 1/2 to 11 1/2 point loss. “That’s the obvious answer. I think they recognize that fact, that somehow, collectively, 12 players have to play better.”

From there things continued to unravel.

Where McGinley’s players focused on their captain’s message and the passion he brought to his team, Watson’s 12 appeared disinterested and, at least in the case of Phil Mickelson, disenfranchised.

“Unfortunately, we have strayed from a winning formula in 2008 for the last three Ryder Cups, and we need to consider maybe getting back to that formula that helped us play our best,” Mickelson said, adding, “No. No, nobody here was in any decision.”

There were rare bright spots for the U.S. side, including the solid play of rookies Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth, an inspired pairing that went undefeated in team play.

From the failed Watson experiment also came a newfound willingness by the PGA to be inclusive in its search for answers. The Ryder Cup task force, an 11-member panel that consists mostly of former captains and current players, met for the first time this month and there seems to be no rush to name the next captain.

The consensus among some observers, including Watson, suggests there’s nothing wrong with the U.S. Ryder Cup system that better play, particularly better putting, can’t fix. But that analysis ignores the fact the Europeans were five points better at Gleneagles.

This wasn’t a near miss like the one-point losses at Medinah in 2012 and Celtic Manor in ’10; this was a boat race that began at the top for each team.

Never before in the modern history of the matches have each team’s contrasting styles been so stark, and never before has it been so clear that a captain can make a difference, for better or worse.

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At its core the 2014 Ryder Cup was a case study in contrasting styles.

For Europe, Paul McGinley’s detail-oriented leadership was familiar, a legacy passed from captain to captain, while U.S. front-man Tom Watson represented a break from tradition.

The 65-year-old, two-time captain was supposed to be the game-changer, the variable that would allow the Americans to end a slide of five losses in the last six matches, but the juxtaposition between the two team rooms was vivid from the outset.

For the Europeans, the decision to choose McGinley was political and public and very much player driven. But for the American side, the decision to name Watson captain was made behind closed doors by a frighteningly small group of PGA of America executives.

“I know I speak for a lot of people when I say, we are just really tired of losing the Ryder Cup, and the decision to name this gentleman as our next captain, a lot of that was just about our weariness of what’s happened in the past few Ryder Cups and we certainly hope that trend can change,” said then PGA president Ted Bishop in December 2012.

In the run up to this year’s matches, McGinley played 28 times around the globe to endear and introduce himself to potential players. Watson, on the other hand, played just 10 times over the last two years in non-Champions Tour events and struggled to keep current with the changing face of American golf.

Although he would specifically reference Brooks Koepka, the young American who forged his way onto the PGA Tour via the European circuit, as a player he considered for one of his three captain’s picks, just a month earlier during a brief exchange at the PGA Championship Watson would ask Koepka what golf course he worked at, confusing him for one of the PGA club professionals at the event.

Watson appeared to waffle with his captain’s picks, going with Webb Simpson over Bill Haas in an 11th hour decision, while McGinley, who likely had a more difficult decision considering the depth of his potential picks, went with experience and consistency in Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood.

2014 Newsmakers: 3. Tiger | 4. Social Media | 5. Bishop | 6. Wie | 7. Reed | 8. R&A | 9. Bubba | 10. DJ | Honorable mentions

But it was when the teams arrived at Gleneagles that the contrasting styles became so glaring.

McGinley kept his team loose and on point.

“Complacency . . . concentration,” smiled Rory McIlroy when asked on Sunday night to relay McGinley’s message for the week.

“Wave after wave,” followed Graeme McDowell.

“When the storm comes, we’ll be the rock,” added Justin Rose.

“Have fun,” McGinley smiled.

Watson, meanwhile, seemed to send mixed messages with many players unsure of who they would be paired with until the night before the matches, and his no-nonsense style failed to resonate with modern players.

That disconnect seemed to come to a boil during a team-bonding meeting Saturday night in Scotland. According to various reports, Watson scoffed at a gift given to him by his players, criticized many of the team members and took no responsibility for the American’s four-point deficit heading into Sunday singles following a particularly dismal performance in foursomes play.

“The obvious answer is that our team has to play better,” said Watson after the U.S. team’s 16 1/2 to 11 1/2 point loss. “That’s the obvious answer. I think they recognize that fact, that somehow, collectively, 12 players have to play better.”

From there things continued to unravel.

Where McGinley’s players focused on their captain’s message and the passion he brought to his team, Watson’s 12 appeared disinterested and, at least in the case of Phil Mickelson, disenfranchised.

“Unfortunately, we have strayed from a winning formula in 2008 for the last three Ryder Cups, and we need to consider maybe getting back to that formula that helped us play our best,” Mickelson said, adding, “No. No, nobody here was in any decision.”

There were rare bright spots for the U.S. side, including the solid play of rookies Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth, an inspired pairing that went undefeated in team play.

From the failed Watson experiment also came a newfound willingness by the PGA to be inclusive in its search for answers. The Ryder Cup task force, an 11-member panel that consists mostly of former captains and current players, met for the first time this month and there seems to be no rush to name the next captain.

The consensus among some observers, including Watson, suggests there’s nothing wrong with the U.S. Ryder Cup system that better play, particularly better putting, can’t fix. But that analysis ignores the fact the Europeans were five points better at Gleneagles.

This wasn’t a near miss like the one-point losses at Medinah in 2012 and Celtic Manor in ’10; this was a boat race that began at the top for each team.

Never before in the modern history of the matches have each team’s contrasting styles been so stark, and never before has it been so clear that a captain can make a difference, for better or worse.

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As a part of Golfweek’s My Year in Golf series, David Dusek reflects on the rise of Rory McIlroy and the 2014 Ryder Cup, among other topics

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The Rexys …

Like the Masters, which doles out all manner of trinkets each year, the season-ending Rexys recognize some of the year’s biggest happenings. The only difference is that the Rexys don’t come with a crystal goblet or silver salver.

Silence is Golden Globe. Perhaps necessity is the mother of invention, but as the NFL spent the closing days of 2014 reinventing the league’s personal conduct policy, the contrast with the PGA Tour’s rules on acceptable behavior was glaring.

Consider that the NFL’s press release outlining its new policy was eight pages, while the Tour’s entire policy on conduct covers only four pages in the player handbook. But then the circuit could reduce its policy to just one sentence, “no comment.”

Emoticon Award. It seems apropos that the first PGA of America president, and perhaps the first golf executive, to embrace social media would also be the first to be burned by it.

The inaugural Emoticon Award goes to Ted Bishop for an insensitive tweet that led to the first impeachment in PGA history and a new-look Rexy just for the occasion. ;=(

Small Print Salver. For the second time in three years, Rory McIlroy began the FedEx Cup playoffs in the pole position only to find himself the victim of bad math.

The Northern Irishman began this year’s postseason No. 1 in points, and after closing the playoffs with three top 10s (including a runner-up showing at the Tour Championship) finished third on the contrived point list.

In 2012, the world No. 1 began the playoffs second in points, won two out of the four postseason events, and finished second in the season-long race.

As a result of this pencil whipping, the Tour went back to the mathematical drawing board and reduced the number of points available at playoff events. Call the change the Rory Accord and, if the Tour’s math wizards are correct, we can finally retire the award in McIlroy’s honor.

Uber Honor. Never before in the history of sport has an empty parking space drawn so much attention; but then when Tiger Woods is concerned there is no such thing as overkill.

The first-year award goes to Woods’ parking spot at Valhalla, which drew a crush of media attention on Wednesday at this year’s PGA Championship as the world awaited his return from yet another injury.

So surreal was the scene that the 60 or so media types assembled to photograph and watch the empty spot didn’t even notice as McIlroy walked by … with the claret jug he’d recently won at Royal Liverpool tucked under his arm.

While accepting the award, the empty spot thanked his physical therapist, sport psychologist, the Kentucky department of highway maintenance and, of course, Tiger Woods. After all, he could have just easily gotten a ride to the course on Uber.

Kids Say the Darnedest Things Award. Patrick Welch clinches the first-year award following his victory at April’s inaugural Drive, Chip and Putt Championship at Augusta National.

Welch won the Boys 14-15 Division thanks to a 20 footer on the famous 18th green, complete with the Masters’ traditional Sunday pin position.

“I’d seen that putt before,” Welch smiled.

Patrick Reed deserves honorable mention in this category thanks to his eyebrow-raising claim at the WGC-Cadillac Championship that he was “one of the top-5 players in the world.” Shhhhh. Reed got the last laugh with his inspired performance at the Ryder Cup where he played like, well, a top-5 player.

Viva la Victor Award. Victor Dubuisson crashed onto the American golf scene with his gritty runner-up finish at the WGC-Match Play Championship, where he got up-and-down from the desert, a jumping cholla and New Mexico.

The introverted Frenchman solidified his status with a solid performance at the Ryder Cup and some scribes even reported seeing him smile.

Wag the Dog Award. Whatever it was that chased Dustin Johnson from the game this season, be it a voluntary leave of absence or six-month Tour-mandated suspension, the entire affair had the feeling of spin control in high gear.

Whether it was the Tour or DJ, the entire affair was a case study in failing to control the message.

Marathon Man Award. Steve Alker won the event, but only because he was the last man standing after 11 extra holes at June’s Cleveland Open on the Web.com Tour.

“I got a little bit dizzy out there. At one point Dawie [van der Walt] and I looked at each other and I said, ‘Is anybody going to win?’” Alker said.

Luckily, Alker made a 3-footer for birdie one the 11th extra frame or they might still be playing the event.

Lemonade out of Lemons Award. Following his tie for 25th at the 2011 Open Championship, one would have figured McIlroy’s chances at the game’s oldest major were somewhere between slim and non-existent.

“I’m not a fan of golf tournaments that the outcome is predicted so much by the weather,” he said at Royal St. George’s. “My game is suited for basically every golf course and most conditions, but these conditions I just don’t enjoy playing in really. That’s the bottom line. I’d rather play when it’s 80 degrees and sunny and not much wind.”

Fast forward three years and McIlroy put on a clinic at Royal Liverpool to win by two shots. It seems Karma has a short memory.

Broken Hearts Award. No, not McIlroy, who called off his engagement to tennis star Caroline Wozniacki earlier this year. Instead, the award goes to Adam Scott’s fans who have traditionaly flocked to courses across the globe to get a glimpse at the Australian with the movie-star looks.

In April at a quiet ceremony in the Bahamas, Scott was married to Marie Kojzar, officially passing the title “golf’s most-eligible bachelor” to Rickie Fowler.

Bounty Belt. Like the doomed captain on the famous ship, Old Tom Watson lost his team room long before Sunday night when Phil Mickelson decided to air the U.S. team’s dirty laundry.

Watson was out of touch with modern players, failed to communicate well and did little to motivate his team. As one caddie told your scribe, “After we lost [on Sunday] my player turned to me and said, ‘Keep him away from me.’”

The only difference for Bligh is that social media didn’t exist in the 1700s.

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Who knew 140 characters held such immense power?

The power to destroy careers.

The power to drive conversations.

The power to build brands.

The power to spread goodwill.

From Ted Bishop’s ill-fated “lil girl” tweet to Tiger Woods’ journalistic instincts to Amanda Dufner’s ubiquitous bikini shots to the popular Ice Bucket Challenge, social media was a game-changer in 2014. And we saw it all – the good, the bad and, yes, the very, very ugly.

You’ve Got My Follow:

• No initiative gained more traction this year than the Ice Bucket Challenge. Everyone from Tim Finchem to Rory McIlroy to your next-door neighbor was doused with icy water in the name of charity. The stunt lasted for several months and raised more than $100 million for ALS research.

• Soon-to-be 40-year-old Karrie Webb may be considered ancient on a tour overrun by youngsters, but after winning the Founders Cup in March, she crouched beside the trophy, extended her left arm and continued a new tradition on the LPGA – the winner’s selfie. Since Webb got into the action, every winner on the women’s circuit has taken a selfie with the trophy. Just keeping up with the cool kids.  

• When it came to brand-building, no one did it better in 2014 than Dufner. Few have ever heard the sound of her voice, but fans certainly know how Mrs. Dufner spends her many vacations. In the days, weeks and months after her hubby’s win at the 2013 PGA, her Instagram following went from a few thousand to its current status at 60,000-plus.

Popular golfer’s wife shares quasi-topless photo on Instgram and then … http://t.co/GDpwFK1kWc (via @mshamburger1) http://ift.tt/1AittaY

— Jason McIntyre (@jasonrmcintyre) November 20, 2014

This year alone she posted a (since-deleted, but timelessly saved on the Internet) topless picture from Thailand, an artsy shot of her backside at the pool, and – what else? – an action photo of her swinging in a skimpy swimsuit. When a bikini-clad Dufner celebrated the Fourth of July by turning away from the camera and stretching the American flag above her head, the most popular comment was “God Bless America!” She is the undisputed leader in the WAGs clubhouse.

• Score one for the jocks: More athletes than ever before are handling their media affairs themselves. For decades, reporters were the only connection between athletes and their fans. Now, for better or worse, social media has made it possible for stars and spectators to connect and interact like never before, all without that pesky media middleman. Indeed, it’s an ever-changing world for news-gatherers. Though there is an insatiable desire for “insider” information about fans’ favorite teams and athletes, players can now control the message and break the news themselves.

That’s what Woods did this year when he announced that he was undergoing back surgery. Sure, there was a full story posted on his website, but fans and media were only alerted to the news because of a tweet on his feed. And when Woods decided to fire back at Golf Digest because of a mean-spirited parody, he didn’t grant an exclusive interview to a trusted media outlet – he penned a first-person essay on Derek Jeter’s new athlete-friendly website. It’s become commonplace for Tour pros to announce equipment or apparel deals online, as Ian Poulter (Cobra to Titleist) and Keegan Bradley (Tommy Hilfiger to Travis Mathews) have shown in recent months. The point: Why allow the media to potentially distort the message if the athletes can just control it themselves?

2014 Newsmakers: 5. Bishop | 6. Wie | 7. Reed | 8. R&A | 9. Bubba | 10. DJ

Please, Step Away from the Laptop:

• Social media starlet Paulina Gretzky is no stranger to creating a stir online, and that’s exactly what she did when she posted a photo of fiancé Dustin Johnson crouching to read a putt, barefoot, while holding a cigarette and a beer. Problem was, that photo hit the Interweb the same day that DJ withdrew from the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Three days later, he announced that he was taking an indefinite leave of absence to deal with “personal challenges,” which presumably had little to do with Paulina’s putting stroke.  

• Poulter didn’t do anything to dispel his reputation as a materialistic brat when he kvetched about his nanny’s business-class seat being downgraded. Not surprisingly, that comment didn’t fly with single moms who can’t afford an extra helper, nor can they purchase any of the six sports cars that the Englishman flaunts on his Twitter page. His mentions weren’t overly kind, either, when he admitted to paying to have his Christmas tree decorated. Little wonder he was blasted for being out of touch not just with fans but also reality.

MY GOD What Were You Thinking?!:

• With too much free time now that he’s playing the senior circuit, Steve Elkington hasn’t backed off his Twitter game despite an increasingly long list of foot-in-mouth moments. Last year, the former PGA champion came under fire for commenting on the body of a female golf reporter, making a joke about a deadly helicopter crash and using a racial slur about Pakistanis.

In February, Elkington didn’t merely cross the line, he gleefully hopped over it when he teased Michael Sam, who was attempting to become the first openly gay player in the NFL:

The PGA Tour doesn’t comment on player disciplinary matters, but Elk went dark on social media for several weeks. He’s been more subdued of late, perhaps in an attempt to salvage what is left of his major-champion reputation, but he remains one of golf’s most provocative commentators.  

• The power of the “publish” button never was more evident than with Bishop’s “lil girl” tweet. The fallout was shocking in its swiftness.

On Oct. 23, Bishop was hanging with Nick Faldo at a junior clinic at The Greenbrier. The head of the PGA apparently took exception to remarks made by Poulter in a newly released autobiography, in which he wrote that players had “lost a lot of respect” for Faldo in the wake of his criticism of Sergio Garcia.

That night, Bishop, who represents 27,000 men and women, directed this tweet at Poulter:

The tweet blew up – after all, Poulter has nearly 1.8 million followers – and Bishop couldn’t even claim that he was hacked or that his message was misconstrued. Instead, he continued to bash the Ryder Cupper in a post on Facebook, writing, in part, that Poulter “sounds like a little school girl squealing during recess.”

Fans and scribes called for Bishop to be fired for the demeaning comments. A PGA spokesman issued a statement and described the posts as “inappropriate.” Bishop apologized to The Associated Press, saying that he “could have selected some different ways to express my thoughts.”

None of it helped. Within three days, the board of directors voted to remove him from office, the first PGA president to be impeached. He had one month left on his two-year term.

Bishop remains on Twitter (with 4,332 followers), but over the past two weeks he has used the platform mostly to express his views on the NFL, the college football playoff and, sadly, “Peter Pan Live.”

“It’s painful from the standpoint of demonstrating how stupid I was to have done what I did,” Bishop said on Golf Channel. “Probably more painful than that is the remorse I feel because I think it potentially wipes out a lot of the really good work I’ve done over my career.”

Behold the power of 140 characters. 

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