‘Player of the Year’ debate heats up as Tour Championship on FedExCup Playoffs gets underway
As the season is finally coming to a conclusion on the PGA Tour calendar, the ‘Player of the Year’ debate has heated up with some golfers already in strong contention to claim the honour. The tour is now taking a turn for the final leg of the lucrative FedExCup
Playoff Championship, the Tour Championship scheduled this week at the East Lake Golf Club and the winner of the event will probably have the strongest chance of taking the honours, besides the colossal $10-million prize money.
World Number One golfer, Luke Donald has played brilliantly on both sides of the Atlantic and has pulled in a stellar victory at the start of the year, the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship. He won two titles on the European Tour which will hardly be
of any consideration for the PGA Tour organising committee who will be making the decision. Although, being one of the most consistent players in the season, Donald is still in search of the first major title of his stellar career.
The Englishman, while preparing for Thursday’s opening round at East Lake said, “It is a little bit open. There might be a few guys who have more of a shout than others, but I think a win this week would sway a lot of people's minds.”
Currently, there are five strong contenders for the top slot which might include the PGA Championship winner, Keegan Bradley, Dustin Johnson, Steve Stricker and Webb Simpson. Bradley won the first major title of his career playing as a rookie and has thrown
his hat in the conversation. Simpson has also performed brilliantly, winning the Wyndham Championship in August and went all the way to win the third leg of the ongoing FedExCup Championship, the Deutsche Bank Championship.
He has also pulled in three top-five finishes on the tour including the runner-up spot at Transitions, lost on a Playoff at Zurich Classic of New Orleans and an outright fifth at the BMW Championship. He is currently poised at Number 13 at the Official World
Golf Rankings (OWGR).
Most senior players on the tour, however, have thrown their weight behind the World Number One and are confident that the Englishman will comfortably bag the honour. Australian Geoff Ogilvy also shares the same opinion and considers Donald as the strongest
contenders for the same.
The slim Australian said, “Clearly the best player in the world right now is Luke Donald -- by so far it's silly. He's creating quite a big gap in the world rankings. He really is the legitimate number one player in the world.”
Donald has managed to play on both tours simultaneously and has won laurels on both sides. A victory at the Tour Championship will confirm his selection as the PGA Tour ‘Player of the Year’ accolade.
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