Golf: And the nominees for 2010 PGA Tour Player of Year are.....
PGA Tour has announced the nominees for the 2010 Player of the Year award. These nominees are PGA Grand Slam winner Ernie Els, winner of FedEx series Jim Furyk, leader of money rankings Matt Kuchar, winner of The Masters Phil Mickelson and champion of BMW
Championship Dustin Johnson.
The official release was issued on 23rd November 2010 and according to it, the winner will be awarded the Jack Nicklaus Trophy. The nominations were decided by the PGA Tour Player Advisory Council and Player Directors. The winner will be decided
based on voting and the PGA Tour members who have appeared in minimum 15 official money events in the current year will be eligible to vote. The voting will start on 25th November and will sideline on December 3rd. PGA Tour will officially
announce the Player of the Year on Saturday, December 4th.
Despite performing superbly in past years, none of the five nominees has ever before been nominated for the trophy. Quite opposite, Tiger Woods had the privilege ten times whereas Greg Norman, Mark O'Meara, Vijay Singh, Padraig Harrington and Tom Lehman
won once. Nick Price and Fred Couples are the only two veterans who managed the trophy in Tiger Woods' reign.
Here is a brief description of all the veterans who have the chance of winning the title:
Ernie Els:
The South African has thrice won the Tour Player of the Year under the European tour, but never had a chance to declare it on PGA circuit. However, this year, the 41-year-old won the PGA Grand Slam and declared him-self invincible. Apart from the non-money
event, he won Arnold Palmer Invitational and WGC-CA Championship, which earned him the card to contest for the trophy.
Moreover, he has been FedEx Cup points leader for successive seasons and finished third in 2010 US Open. According to the public polls held by PGA website, the veteran has 7% chances of winning the trophy. The reason behind such a lower probability can be
his inconsistency in the current year as he has been out of limelight for most of the season.
Jim Furyk:
This American won the 2010 FedEx Cup by winning the Tour Championship and became the Player of the Year. Before that he declared two victories in Transitions Championship and Verizon Heritage. Moreover, the 40-year-old stood second on Tour's official money
list and fifth in adjusted scoring average. According to the polls, he has 40% chances of winning the trophy and the apparent reason is his outclass performance at Cog Hills, which left his mark in the minds of the people.
Dustin Johnson:
Born in Columbia, the 26-year-old declared two victories in the current year: AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and BMW Championship. The feature that sets him apart from the rest of the nominees is his superb finish in two of the majors. Johnson finished
fifth at the PGA Championship and eighth at the US Open. Moreover, he was also part of the Ryder Cup squad led by Corey Pavin. As per the polls, he has 17% chances of becoming the Tour Player of the Year.
Matt Kuchar:
He is PGA tour's leading money winner, champion of the Vardon trophy and won the Byron Nelson Awards for low adjusted scoring average. Apart from these achievements, the veteran won the Barclays in New Jersey, finished sixth at US Open and tenth at the PGA
Championship. He has 26% chances of winning the trophy.
Phil Mickelson:
He won The Masters in 2010 and twice before. He finished second in five US Opens and is ranked third according to the ‘Official World Golf Rankings’. He finished 15th in FedEx series and has won 38 titles in his career. Moreover, the veteran was part of
the Ryder Cup squad and earned a point in favour of his team. As per the polls, he has 7% chances of winning the trophy, owing to his inconsistency in most part of the year.
PGA tour will be declaring the Tour Player of the Year on December 5th and the winner will get the Jack Nicklaus Trophy for the year.
Tags: