Could Tiger Woods Still Win Player of the Year?

September 1st, 2010 by Phil Reich PGA Golf Art

Let me begin this post by saying it’s not about Tiger Woods, it’s about the Player of the Year race on the USPGA Tour. But to answer the question in the headline: Yes, it is theoretically possible that Woods could still be the PGA Tour Player of the Year. That’s an illustration of just how unsettled, how wide open, the POY race is in 2010.

Who are the candidates for Player of the Year? We always start with the major winners:

  • Masters: Phil Mickelson
  • U.S. Open: Graeme McDowell
  • British Open: Louis Oosthuizen
  • PGA Championship: Martin Kaymer

The Player of the Year is usually someone who won a major. But none of these four have won any tournaments other than their major championship. They are all 1-victory (so far) players.

OK then, multiple winners. If none of the major winners stand out, then someone who won three or four times will probably be the POY. But there aren’t any of those (so far) either:

  • Ernie Els: 2 wins
  • Jim Furyk: 2 wins
  • Hunter Mahan: 2 wins
  • Justin Rose: 2 wins
  • Steve Stricker: 2 wins

Els is also the money leader, with Mickelson second and Furyk third. Els is also the scoring leader so far, with Stricker third, Rose fourth, Mickelson seventh and Furyk eighth.

Top 10 finishes? Els, Furyk and Stricker have six and Mickelson five.

What does all that add up to? It adds up to nobody having a very strong case right now for 2010 PGA Tour Player of the Year.

Woods has been (by his standards) terrible in 2010. But he does have two Top 5 finishes in majors. And he did lead The Barclays after the first round. It is very unlikely that Woods will win two or more FedEx Cup playoff events and win the FedEx Cup title, but if it happened, he’d have an argument for POY.

Mickelson missed the cut at The Barclays, Furyk was disqualified before the tournament started, and Els is below the cutline as I’m writing this. But if any of those three (or Stricker or Rose or Mahan) wins a “playoff” tournament, they stake a claim. If none of the candidates wins over the next four weeks, then money list position and scoring average weigh more heavily, and that (as of now) favors Els.

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See also:
Past PGA Tour Players of the Year

Could Tiger Woods Still Win Player of the Year? originally appeared on About.com Golf on Friday, August 27th, 2010 at 16:11:10.

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