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Speculation mounts for PGA Player of the Year
Woodstock, Oct 02: Ever since Darren Clarke won the WGC-NEC Invitational in late August, there has been this nagging question: Who will be the PGA Tour`s Player of the Year?
Woodstock, Oct 02: Ever since Darren Clarke won the WGC-NEC Invitational in late August, there has been this nagging question: Who will be the PGA Tour's Player of the Year?
This week's WGC-American Express Championship at the par-70, 7,199- yard Capital City Club in Woodstock, Ga., may not give a definitive answer, but the list of true contenders could be reduced heading into the final five weeks of the season. Ultimately, the race may be decided at the season-ending Tour Championship in early November.
Even Ernie Els, who won the opening two events of the season and could get back into contention with a win this week and a couple of other strong finishes down the stretch, had difficulty handicapping the race.
Els listed at least five names, which did not include Davis Love III, who is tied with Woods for the most wins on Tour (four) and won the so-called fifth major, the Players Championship.
"You've got to look at Jim Furyk, all the top tens he's had, major champion and two other wins, I think," he said. "David Toms, Mike Weir obviously. I think Jim Furyk and Mike Weir, and then Tiger [Woods] winning four times, a bunch of top 10s. Vijay Singh right now, too. But this is a big event this week, and obviously the Tour Championship is very big and some tournaments in between. If somebody gets hot now, some of those players, they'll walk away with it."
Winning a major appears to be a leading criteria, but Woods and Love seem to have sentiment in their favor. Woods leads the Tour in wins and a fifth win could offset a major-less year, while Love has had a career year despite considerable personal turmoil off the course.
All will be in this week's 64-player field, so a pecking order could develop. Woods, who has switched to a new Nike driver -- the Nike Igniter with a larger 335cc head, is anxious to put such persistent talk to rest and assert his claim to the PGA Tour's money title. If the driver is right, then bank on Woods to win.
Toms is another player The Early Line likes, though he is a darkhorse in the race with just two wins and six top-10 finishes. He is a late- season gamer in that three of his nine PGA Tour career wins and two runner- up finishes have come in the fall portion of the schedule. He has also won twice in Georgia, including the PGA, so victory memories will be good for his karma.
But The Early Line likes Singh for a couple of reasons, the best being he has played at such a consistently high level since the PGA Championship. In four starts since Oak Hill, Singh has finished sixth, fourth, sixth and first -- the latter coming at the John Deere Classic last month.
Singh already has three wins this year and a fourth would tie him with Woods and Love. A top-10 finish -- he is tied with Furyk with 14 -- would give him 15. He is charging hard and he is the only one who can stop his bid to win -- be it this week or the Player of the Year title.
Bureau Report
This week's WGC-American Express Championship at the par-70, 7,199- yard Capital City Club in Woodstock, Ga., may not give a definitive answer, but the list of true contenders could be reduced heading into the final five weeks of the season. Ultimately, the race may be decided at the season-ending Tour Championship in early November.
Even Ernie Els, who won the opening two events of the season and could get back into contention with a win this week and a couple of other strong finishes down the stretch, had difficulty handicapping the race.
Els listed at least five names, which did not include Davis Love III, who is tied with Woods for the most wins on Tour (four) and won the so-called fifth major, the Players Championship.
"You've got to look at Jim Furyk, all the top tens he's had, major champion and two other wins, I think," he said. "David Toms, Mike Weir obviously. I think Jim Furyk and Mike Weir, and then Tiger [Woods] winning four times, a bunch of top 10s. Vijay Singh right now, too. But this is a big event this week, and obviously the Tour Championship is very big and some tournaments in between. If somebody gets hot now, some of those players, they'll walk away with it."
Winning a major appears to be a leading criteria, but Woods and Love seem to have sentiment in their favor. Woods leads the Tour in wins and a fifth win could offset a major-less year, while Love has had a career year despite considerable personal turmoil off the course.
All will be in this week's 64-player field, so a pecking order could develop. Woods, who has switched to a new Nike driver -- the Nike Igniter with a larger 335cc head, is anxious to put such persistent talk to rest and assert his claim to the PGA Tour's money title. If the driver is right, then bank on Woods to win.
Toms is another player The Early Line likes, though he is a darkhorse in the race with just two wins and six top-10 finishes. He is a late- season gamer in that three of his nine PGA Tour career wins and two runner- up finishes have come in the fall portion of the schedule. He has also won twice in Georgia, including the PGA, so victory memories will be good for his karma.
But The Early Line likes Singh for a couple of reasons, the best being he has played at such a consistently high level since the PGA Championship. In four starts since Oak Hill, Singh has finished sixth, fourth, sixth and first -- the latter coming at the John Deere Classic last month.
Singh already has three wins this year and a fourth would tie him with Woods and Love. A top-10 finish -- he is tied with Furyk with 14 -- would give him 15. He is charging hard and he is the only one who can stop his bid to win -- be it this week or the Player of the Year title.
Bureau Report