Top-20 American players to watch out for in 2012: Part-10
David Toms
Official World Golf Rankings: 26
FedExCup Rankings: 20
PGA Tour wins in 2011: 1
A Wake Forest University Religious Studies graduate, Bill Hass surged to the top in the rankings when he won the lucrative FedExCup Tour Championship Presented by Coca Cola in October this year. Winning the colossal prize share of $10-million, Haas rose
to the top of the FedExCup money list followed by Webb Simpson and Luke Donald.
Haas made his first appearance at the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Open in 2002 but failed to make the cut. He made two appearances the proceeding year, again failing to make the halfway cut. 2004 turned out to be a better year for the 29-year-old who finished
tied for fourth at Franklin Templeton Shootout. He also finished for a joint ninth at Deutsche Bank Championship.
Haas pulled in his first victory of the career last year when he ravaged the field at the Bob Hope Classic in January to lift the title with an aggregate score of a massive 30-under. Besides landing several strong finishes, he carded another victory for
the year, the Viking Classic before closing the season.
Haas started off 2011 with strong overall performances on the PGA, finishing for runners up at Humana Challenge, an outright fourth at Wells Fargo Championship, runners up at Greenbrier Classic before finally winning the Tour Championship. Haas amassed total
earnings of $4,088,637 for the year 2011, with a scoring average of 70.11.
Bo Van pelt
Official World Golf Rankings: 28
FedExCup Rankings: 23
PGA Tour wins in 2011: 0
The only reason behind Bo Van Pelt’s amazing stature on the OWGR and his strong FedExCup rankings, are the several high profile finishes he posted during the current year. Although short of winning a title on numerous occasions, Van Pelt surged to the top
pulling in five top-ten finishes in 27 starts. He made the cut in 19 events with a scoring average of 70.30.
36-year-old Van Pelt has won just one event on the PGA Tour in 2009 when took the better of the field at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee defeating John Mallinger on the Playoff. He posted 13 top-25 finishes throughout the year. Van Pelt amassed a
total of $2,344,546 for the current year and hopes to continue with his rampage the next year.
Van pelt was born in Richmond Indiana and attended the Oklahoma State University, the home of the budding golfers. Playing on the Nationwide Tour in his starting years, Van Pelt won the Omaha Classic in 2003 when he shot a record breaking round of 62 on
the weekend. The american has three professional victories in all, one each on the Asian Tour, The PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour.
His highest finish in a major event came in the Masters in this year where he finished for a joint eighth.
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