13 Nick Faldo returns to the spotlight by winning the Open Championships, but is rattled the remainder of the year when the tabloids romantically link him with Tara Lipinski. 14 Phil Mickelson wins his first major at the PGA Championship outside Seattle in a playoff against Colin Montgomerie. Montgomerie misses the potential winning two-foot putt on the 72nd hole after he freezes for 10 minutes because of a commotion in the gallery. 15 Ben Wright and Marv Albert surprisingly begin their broadcast rehabilitation by working LPGA events on The Golf Channel. The European PGA Tour suffers an embarrassing setback when the inaugural Belarus Open, scheduled for a course that isn't complete, is relocated to a putt-putt facility in Minsk.
Surprised players say the astroturf surface is actually better than half the greens on tour.
The course remains sold out for the entire summer. At his annual pre-Masters press conference, Jack Nicklaus explains how he has been playing miserably, but sees hope for his game because of recent sessions with Tony Robbins and Up With People, and his new diet of volcanic sand and prune soup. Despite threats to stop playing majors, he eventually shows up at all of them, extending his streak to 2,147 and breaking Cal Ripken's record. Copyright 1999 GolfWeb - A SportsLineUSA Company. All Rights Reserved.