By Jack Crittenden

Thank you Tiger for your apology. Now, hopefully, we can move on.

When we did our first version of the Most Powerful People in Golf in 1999, we ranked Tiger Woods third, based on the promise of what he could accomplish. Tiger was young, and promised to bring in a legion of new followers to the game – people who were younger and more diverse. Unlike any other player at that age, he started a foundation to promote the game and he seemed committed to serving others in this capacity.

In times of economic depression, recession, cessation, concession or just plain messin' up by the Wall Street greed-mongers or our governmental regulators who would mistake a Midwest funnel cloud for a gold-bearing rainbow, it may not be fair to judge golf's annual 1-2 punch of industry gatherings.