The DeepSlant Belated 2008 PGA Tour Preview
Posted by SK, January 28, 2008 - 10:07 pm
So yeah, I’m aware that this is coming out about a month late. And yes, I’m also aware that I’ve written about tennis and now golf the when the Super Bowl is only days away. Forgive me, but I’d really rather not jump in the fray and take part in that media shit show.
Anyway, since this is a month late, I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time setting this up. For now, I’m just going to quickly go over player predictions for end-of-season superlatives. Prior to all four Major tournaments and the Ryder Cup, I’ll be posting in-depth previews.
Player of the Year - Tiger Woods. As his performance in last weekend’s Buick Invitational attests: when he is on, no one can even come close to stopping Tiger. The scariest thing of all is he’s just now coming into his prime. He’s only 32 and is already tied for 4th in career tournament victories with 62. And it doesn’t hurt that the US Open is being played at Torrey Pines, the same course he just finished dominating. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he’ll win his 10th PGA POY award. And if he doesn’t, he’s still got a supermodel wife and those guns for arms.
Player of the Year not named Eldrick - Phil Mickelson. Lefty battled a wrist injury and a respiratory problem during the second half of last year, but still managed to come into 2008 ranked #2 in the world. The fact that Torrey Pines hosts this year’s US Open works to his advantage as well, because it’s his home course. At full strength, he has shown he is one of the few golfers on Tour who can give Tiger a run for his money. Of course, Tiger’s money at last count was $100 million in endorsements alone last year, so that’ll be a ton of running… good thing you lost a little weight, Lefty.
Rookie of the Year - Jason Day. The 20 year-old Australian has been compared to Greg Norman and been labeled as golf’s next “Big Thing”. I’m pretty sure he’s not there just yet, but he drives the ball 300+ yards and has a short game that hits more greens in regulation than a certain Eldrick Woods. He’s starting this year with a wrist injury, which means he may not be at full strength until the second half of the year. But that will be the only thing, if anything, that will keep him from being the unanimous ROY choice.
Best Player Under the Radar - K.J Choi. You would think that it would be hard to fly under the radar when you’re 5th on the 2007 money list and ranked #7 in the world. And with his wire to wire win at the Sony, Choi may be serving notice that he is here to stay. Still, very few people outside hardcore golf fans know that he is one of only four golfers with at least one PGA Tour win in the past four consecutive years. The other three are all referred to by single-word names: Tiger, Lefty, and Vijay.
Comeback Player - Retief Goosen. For some reason, the PGA gave Steve Stricker its official Comeback Player of the Year Award two years in a row. That is just so damn confusing on so many levels that it makes my head hurt to even think about it. Anyway, Goosen finished ranked 93rd last year, but is a former top five player and placed second at last year’s Masters. He’s too damn talented not to bounce back.
Biggest Disappointment - Vijay Singh. Singh is turning 45 this month, and after finishing 12th in the Mercedes-Benz Championship to open the season, he has yet to shoot under par in two other tournaments, finishing 45th at the Sony and 30th at the Buick. And last year he didn’t finish the season strong at all. I know I’ll get flack for calling one of golf’s reigning triumvirate a disappointment, but you heard it here first: this year will mark the beginning of the end for Vijay’s hall-of-fame career.
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Agreed on all points except the Vijay Singh prediction. He may be old but he still has a couple of good years left in him.