Mickelson earns top marks at midseason point
Lefty, Klauk and Bradley deserve recognition midway through PGA season
 Nick Laham / Getty Images Phil Mickelson is one of five golfers with two wins so far this year. |
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Now that the U.S. Open is in the books (it is over, isn't it?), it's time to mull over midseason achievers. The PGA Tour has several annual awards, but it's only necessary to review three here – Player, Rookie and Comeback Player of the Year.
If you have ever had a jaded point of view about Most Valuable Player awards in other sports and how politics play into it, the PGA Tour's Player of the Year award is legitimate. Golfers themselves vote. Tiger Woods made no bones about it well before the entry deadline that Padraig Harrington was his getting his vote because Harrington won two majors to Woods' one in 2008. Woods' public support undoubtedly swayed a few that were on the fence to Harrington.
What you might not know is that the PGA Tour has Player of the Month awards, voted on by a five-member media panel. Ironically, Harrington was never voted as PoM in all of 2008. (His only "career" PoM was in July 2007, when he won his first British.) And if that isn't proof enough that Player of the Year means YEAR, consider that in 2003, Vijay Singh was PoM of May, September and October/November, yet Tiger Woods won PoY. (Woods was PoM once in '03, in March.)
That the tour even dissects awards into months is silly. Golfers don't play in every event and tournaments span calendar pages. It's convoluted. Despite that opinion, I present to you my midseason awards ...
PLAYER: Phil Mickelson
No, he didn't win the Masters or the U.S. Open, but he did finish fifth and tied for second, respectively, in the majors. He's one of the five golfers to have won twice, none of whom are Masters champ Angel Cabrera or U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover. Of the five, Zach Johnson and Brian Gay have been impressive, but their two victories don't stack up in terms of field depth (world ranking points prove it) against Mickelson's (Northern Trust, WGC-CA), Tiger Woods' (Palmer, Memorial) or Geoff Ogilvy's (Mercedes-Benz, Match Play) doubles.
Mickelson played Bethpage knowing that each day he woke up was one day closer to wife Amy's breast cancer treatment on July 1, and he still contended on the back nine in the final round, sharing the lead for one stretch. And while you could just point to his No. 1 ranking in earnings and FedExCup points, that alone does not make for a Player of the Year.
RUNNER-UP: Woods. Although Ogilvy has played in five more events and has cashed in all 13 starts, Woods' per-tourney impact (7-for-7 top-10s in stroke-play events) is more significant, including in the majors.
ROOKIE: Jeff Klauk
Klauk gets the edge, but it's a wide-open category.
Because I maintain the Rookie Watch, I'm compelled to stick to the formula. Klauk has made 14 of 17 cuts, with a top 10 at the Honda and three other top 25s. He's been the low rookie in an event three times, including a tie for 14th at his hometown PLAYERS. Klauk is also tops among rookies in earnings.
James Nitties, who is first on the "Watch," is about $54K back of Klauk, who is third on my list, while Scott Piercy, who is second, is another $23K below Nitties. I told you it was wide open.
Now, Ricky Barnes' tie for second at the U.S. Open is the only top-three finish by a rookie all year (none played in the Masters), but it was Barnes' first top-45 of the year. He wouldn't even be Rookie of the Month (no such award) if another breaks through at the Travelers. And Barnes still needs another $250K to feel safe about securing his 2010 PGA Tour card.
RUNNER-UP: Nitties by a nose, Piercy is on the rail but is gasping, and Barnes is charging from the outside but is a few lengths back. This race is far from over.
COMEBACK: Michael Bradley
Being that I've been a golf fan for a long time, this is one of my favorite awards. Personally, I think it should somehow coincide with Most Improved, but that would take away from some of the spirit of a comeback. You'd hate to have an Anthony Kim, for example, steal Dudley Hart's thunder last year. It's the kind of argument that suggests that something like Breakout of the Year is a worthwhile idea.
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Then, I look at the guys that won tournaments. If I couldn't find at least one like Bradley, then I'd look at the most improved winners as they compare to guys like David Duval, whose tie for second at the U.S. Open deserves consideration. But that's merely a stepping stone as compared to, say, Nick Watney's season, which has included a win. There's too much debate there.
Since 2001, Bradley has not ranked higher than 213th on the money list. His $630,000 paycheck from winning in Puerto Rico is $170,529 more than he's earned on the PGA Tour in the last eight years combined. Yes, he's struggled since the victory but no one is more deserving. Plus, there is precedent to a blast from the past taking this award with not much more than a win. En route to claiming the 2002 Comeback Player of the Year award, Gene Sauers earned 88 percent ($630,000) of his earnings by winning the Air Canada Championship.
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