Tiger Woods vs Rory McIlroy, the strongest contenders for the PGA Tour Player of the Year
Tiger Woods has no doubt ruled the world of golf for at least a decade and he is currently the second highest winner on the PGA Tour, as well as in the major golf championships.
In 2009, he started suffering from injury issues and the s*x scandal led to the dissolution of his marriage. That was a time when bad luck started overhauling him and he could have never thought of it to continue for two years.
Meanwhile, a number of young guns popped up their heads on the golfing scene and started competing against each other, to take Woods’ position.
Rory McIlroy, a professional golfer from Northern Ireland, was the one who really made it to that echelon where the golfing world started comparing him with the legend of the sport.
In December 2011, the TIGER roared back with a victory in the Chevron World Challenge and ended his two-year winning drought.
However, people did not accept the victory, as they wanted something more from him. They wanted him to prove his worth on the PGA Tour once again, as the Chevron World Challenge is not sanctioned by any of the golf tours.
Woods accepted the challenge and outshined his opponents at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, 2012. That really made his rivals worried, as the American seemed to have started fighting back for his crown.
Later in June, he won the Memorial Tournament and followed that with a victory in the AT&T National.
That was his third victory on the PGA Tour in 2012, which made him the only player then to record that number of victories in the ongoing season.
However, he still lacked something. Yes, it was the major championships. Currently, he trails Jack Nicklaus, the leading major champion with 18 titles registered to his name, by four wins.
Therefore, his fans were desperately waiting for another title to be added to his resume, especially when he looked to bounce back strongly on the golfing scene.
He came close to winning the last two majors, but faltering performances in the final rounds restrained him from changing his major-wins figure from 14 to 15.
McIlroy, on the other hand, did not appear to fear the resurging Woods. He kept on playing his natural game and surged to the top of the Official World Golf Rankings, through a victory in The Honda Classic.
In August, he won the PGA Championship with a record eight-stroke margin. It was the second major title victory of his career.
Still, he was trailing Woods by one win in the season. However, it was not a problem for the young star, as he won each of the first two PGA Tour Playoffs events, the Deutsche Bank Championship and the BMW Championship.
The two victories made him the only player on the tour to hold four titles this year and he retains that mark, entering the final tournaments of the year.
The question now arises that who will be the PGA Tour Player of the Year this season. The one who made a strong comeback or the other who is showing a consistent performance right from the beginning of the year?
Here, the answer is not that simple. The tour is reaching its end mark and both the players still have the chance of strengthening their positions.
Only time will tell which of the two is going to take the award this year. However, keeping in view the past records, both are capable of making a major breakthrough in the remaining tournaments this year.
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