Athlete of the Decade: Tiger Woods Voted Athlete of the Decade By Associated Press – In a fine decision that will surely draw fire from some critics, the Associated Press recently named Tiger Woods as its athlete of the decade.

Inspite of all the controversy that tarnished Tiger Woods, it was good enough to ignore what he has achieved on the golf course.

For the records, he won 64 times around the world, including 12 majors, and hoisted a trophy on every continent golf is played. He lost only one time with the lead going into the final round. His 56 PGA Tour victories in one incomparable decade were more than anyone except four of golf’s greatest players won in their careers.

And now that he was selected as the Athlete of the Decade by members of The Associated Press this Wednesday in a serious vote of more than that of a 10 year performance compare to a nearly three weeks of controversy and headlines.

Woods received 56 of the 142 votes cast by AP member editors since last month. More than half of the ballots were returned after the Nov. 27 car accident outside his Florida home that set off sensational tales of infidelity.

Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor who won the Tour de France six times this decade, finished second with 33 votes. He was followed by Roger Federer, who 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 quarterback Tom Brady (6) and sprinter Usain Bolt (4). Five other athletes received one vote apiece.

Woods was not yet available since his final statement of break in golf on his website to comment about this award. 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 finished the decade with $81,547,410 in earnings from his PGA Tour events, an average of $482,529 per tournament.