The stage is set for the 2010 PGA Tour to kick off next week with the SBS Championship at the Plantation Course at Kapalua in Maui, Hawaii (Jan. 7-10).  We have all been kept well informed of the loss of Tiger Woods (for an undetermined amount of time), but overlooked in the Tiger media storm is the fact that the Tour will also be down 1 tournament and nearly $4 Million in total prize money.

Much of the drop in prize money can be directly attributed to the loss of the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, WI.  This year, the tournament was held at Brown Deer Park Golf Course and was won by Bo Van Pelt.

In 2010, there are 46 tournaments on the PGA Tour schedule.  10 of these events have increased their purse from the 2009 winnings, but the $4 Million loss from the Milwaukee event combined with the $2 Million reduction in the prize money for the Turning Stone Resort Championship means that the PGA Tour is out $3.9 Million in 2010.

Tiger Woods has been dominating the headlines recently.   Some of the craziest headlines have related to Tiger quitting golf to save his marriage and another speculating that Tiger is  dating Jessica Simpson.  It seems anything is possible, but I think the story that is furthest away from the truth speculates that Tiger is ending his golf career.

It would seem nearly impossible that Tiger would quit golf to save his marriage.  To prove this “news” a fallacy, Tiger was spotted hitting balls after dusk over the last couple of nights.   It is assumed that Tiger has been hitting up the range at night to shy away from the media and fans.  So now we can all rest at night, it doesn’t appear that Tiger will be leaving the sport any time soon.

Despite all the recent news of Tiger and his sex scandal, the Associated Press has name Tiger Woods the Athlete of the Decade. If you can get past the last couple of weeks and look at the last decade of Tiger’s career, you will see exactly why he was chosen.

He won the career Grand more three times, including one U.S. Open by a record 15 shots at Pebble Beach and another U.S. Open, on a knee with a torn ACL which required surgery, in a playoff at Torrey Pines. He won the British Open at St. Andrews twice by a combined 13 shots.

Woods won 56 times on the PGA Tour this decade. Nine of those victories were by at least eight shots. He was No. 1 in the world ranking for all but 32 weeks in the decade.

12 of his 14 majors came this decade. Woods was runner-up in six other majors. He won 14 times out of 27 appearances in the World Golf Championships.

Woods finished the decade with $81,547,410 in earnings from his PGA Tour events, an average of $482,529 per tournament.