Top-20 American players to watch out for in 2012: Part-2
44-year-old Stricker amassed a colossal $3,992,785 for the year 2011 with a scoring average of 69.33. He made 19 appearances on the PGA Tour this year, making the halfway cut in all 19 of them. He posted 15 top-25 finishes, five top-10 finishes and won twice
on the tour this year. Stricker has not won a major title as yet and is crouching to bag a major title before his time is done. His highest finish in major event came in 1998 where he finished for runners up in the PGA Championship. Stricker will continue
to be a potent force on both sides of the Atlantic, starting next year.
Dustin Johnson
Official World Golf Rankings: 7
FedExCup Rankings: 4
PGA Tour wins in 2011: 1
27-year-old Dustin Johnson is another of the pack-leaders for the American entourage for the moment, and has played brilliantly since the start of his career on PGA Tour some four years ago. A graduate of the Coastal Carolina University, Johnson won the
Barclays in Augusta this year, where he defeated the seasoned Matt Kuchar by two strokes. The tournament was curtailed to 54-holes in the wake of the threat of the raging Hurricane Irene, making it his second 54-hole victory after 2009 AT&T at Pebble Beach
National Pro-Am. The victory jolted Johnson to number one on the FedExCup points table from a low of 19 and the young American surged to number four on the OWGR, an all-time-high in his professional career. His cartilage damage in the right knee later pushed
him down the rankings.
Regardless of his brilliant victory at the Barclays, Johnson had an overall successful year on the PGA, especially when he finished for a joint second at the Open Championship at Royal St. Georges alongside countryman Phil Mickelson, making it his highest
finish in any of the major events so far.
“I don't know if there's a better athlete on TOUR than Dustin.” said Chris Dimarco, a former PGA veteran. “He can hit it so far and when he's on, he's hard to beat. He's won at least one tournament each of the last four years which is impressive. If he gets
a little more consistent week-in and week-out, he'll have even more chances.”
Johnson is second player in the history of the tour to win in all four starting years of his career after Tiger Woods.
Out of the 21 events played on the PGA this year, Johnson missed the halfway cut in only four of the events and posted no fewer than nine top-25 finishes. He pulled in six top-ten finishes with a scoring average of 70.75. His earnings for the year 2011 swelled
up to a massive $4,309,961, taking him to new heights on the OWGR. But Johnson had to fight unforeseen battles off the course.
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