Woods voted athlete of the decade

Just like so many of his victories,it wasn’t much of a contest. Lance Armstrong,a cancer survivor who won the Tour de France six times,finished second with 33 votes. He was followed by Swiss tennis great Roger Federer,who has won more Grand Slam singles titles than any other man,with 25 votes.

Record-setting Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps came in fourth with 13 votes,followed by New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady (6) and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt (4). Five others received one vote apiece.

Woods won 64 times around the world this decade,including 12 majors,and hoisted a trophy on every continent golf is played. Woods,who has not been seen since the accident and has issued only three statements on his website,was not available to comment about the award.

Few other athletes have changed their sport like Woods. His influence has been so powerful that TV ratings soared whenever he played,even more when he has been in contention. Prize money has quadrupled since he joined the PGA Tour,partly because of his broad appeal.

Woods tumbled from the pinnacle of his sport in just about three weeks. The 10 years that preceded that fall,however,represented perhaps the greatest decade in golf history. Woods won 56 times on the PGA Tour,a rate of 30 per cent that is unprecedented in golf. Woods finished the decade with $81,547,410 in earnings from PGA Tour events,an average of $482,529 per tournament.

Woods,wife to split?

Meanwhile,MSNBC’s website quoted a family source as saying that Woods’s wife Elin Nordegren was planning to leave the golfer. “She knew what she was doing when she stepped out and pumped gas without her wedding ring,” the source said. British tabloid Daily Mirror also reported that the former Swedish model had contacted a top divorce lawyer for a split that could see her walking away with half of the $550 million the golfer has earned since their marriage five years ago.