Preview: 2012 PGA Tour awards highlights
The year 2012 has been very exciting. We have seen four different major winners. We have seen comebacks, some stunning shots and the rise of Rory McIlroy.
There is still time for the PGA tour to end formally, the tour championship and the fall series are the remaining two events.
The nominations for the awards are somewhat settled. There can be no questions regarding the player of the year and the shot of the year. However one can debate on the comeback of the year, round of the year and tournament of the year categories.
There is absolutely no doubt that the player of the year is Rory McIlroy. Although the FedEx Cup is not over yet, but Rory leads this one by far.
He was not in the best of forms earlier in the year but his late stride has surely earned him laurels and he is being compared with the likes of Tiger Woods.
Rory McIlroy won his second major at the Kiawah Islands by eight shots and since then, it has been an uphill drive for the Northern Irishman.
His victories at the Deutsche Bank Open and BMW Championship clearly indicate the metal he is made of.
Three victories in four starts is something really amazing from the man from Belfast. Being able to maintain such a high level of skill and concentration for long period shows the quality of a true champion.
Rory McIlroy heads to the Tour Championship as the world number one, leading player on the money earned list and he is also leading the FedEx Cup points. Rory is undoubtedly the player of the year by a mile.
Come back of year, well there are two contenders for this one – Tiger Woods and Ernie Els.
However, I feel Tiger gets the preference here, although Ernie won the British Open. Tiger’s impressive shows at the majors and three tour victories earn him this award.
Bubba Watson’s shot on the 10th hole at the Masters, that too, in the playoff gets the award for shot the year. To be honest even Jack Nicklaus would have never tried that one. Pulling it off was out of question.
The tournament of the year is probably the Masters. The tournament had everything that fans could ask for, meltdown from a big name and then a neck to neck playoff battle between Louis Oosthuizen and Bubba Watson.
Above all, who could forget the shot on the 10th from Watson that pulled off a victory for him.
Phil Mickelson’s final round at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am was the best round of the season. Shooting a final round of 64 against the likes of Tiger Woods really counts for something special.
John Huh is the Rookie of the year after his incredible display of strength and courage throughout the year. He is the only Rookie who has made it to the Tour Championship.
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