The Golf Writers Association of America picks Luke Donald as Player of the Year - Golf News
The Golf Writers Association of America has picked Luke Donald as the Player of the Year. The current world number one has already won the Player of the Year awards on different occasions this year.
Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson were also nominees for the award but Luke Donald easily beat them with a massive margin, 88 percent votes.
Given his track record, Luke Donald performed his best in the 2011 season. He completely dominated the 2011 PGA Tour just like Tiger Woods did at his peak.
Two tournament wins, twice as а runner-up and a third position each were the highlights of his performance in the season. Moreover, he had a total of 14 top-10 finishes in the 19 starts that he made on the PGA Tour.
Apart from his outstanding performance on the PGA Tour, he also played on the European Tour, grabbing two victories with ten top-10 finishes in the 13 events.
Overall, 2011 was a phenomenal year for Donald as he managed to win money titles both, on the PGA and the European Tour, making over $14 million.
Donald came out victorious in the 64-man field of the WGC-Accenture Match Play in February. The tournament featured some of the best players of the world but Donald outclassed all of them. In another elite field—the WGC-Bridgestone, he managed to grab the runner-up’s position.
On the whole, posting 24 top-10s in the 32 worldwide events, including four wins against the best golfers were one of his spectacular performances.
On the other hand, the other three nominated players were not as consistent as Donald was throughout the year.
Although Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson won major championships in 2011, fluctuations in their performances in different tournaments did not put a negative impact on their votes.
Moreover, in the female category, Yani Tseng received 94 percent votes to become the female Player of the Year. She had 12 worldwide wins, including two major championships in 2011. Tom Lehman was named the Senior Player of the Year.
The award distribution ceremony will be held at Augusta National Golf Club in the first week of March.
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