2009 PGA Tour midseason review
What?! We’re only through one of the four majors. How can this be the midseason point of the PGA Tour Schedule? Well, from a chronological perspective it is, plus we’ve already had the PLAYERS and two of the three U.S. WGC events. So let’s take a look back at what we’ve seen so far.
Best Performance by a Player Named Tiger Woods: Let’s face it, Tiger is still in a category of his own. How’s this for a slump? Tiger has finished in the top 10 in all six stroke-play tournaments he has played this year, and his other finish is a T17 at the WGC Accenture Match Play (losing in round 2 to Tim Clark). His two wins have been virtuoso comeback wins at Bay Hill and the Memorial.
The winner: We’ll take Tiger’s performance at the Memorial – a final-round 65 littered with the kinds of moments we are used to seeing from Tiger through the years: the incredible chip-in for eagle on 11, the clutch putt on 17, and the fairway iron to 14 inches on 18.
Best Performance by a player not named Tiger Woods: There are two top nominees that stand out here. The first is Brian Gay’s runway 10-shot win at the Verizon Heritage. While Harbour Town isn’t the most demanding test on the Tour, and the field tends to be a bit thin a week after a major, Gay’s dominance was overwhelming. The other nominee is Henrik Stenson, who went low (66) in the final round of the PLAYERS to win over one of the best fields in golf by four strokes.
The winner: We’ll take Stenson, whose win erases the image of him in his skivvies at Doral in the minds of most casual golf fans (OK, nothing can do that) and places him high on the discussion list of “Best Players Never To Win A Major”.
Slugs of the Season: Lots of nominees for the most disappointing players of the season thus far. Let’s review them in order of their World Ranking.
Sergio Garcia (now #4): It’s a testament to how well Garcia was playing at the end of last season that he’s only fallen two spots in the world ranking the way he has played in recent months. Garcia came to the PGA Tour in February riding a string of 12 straight top-20 performances (10 of which were top 10s, 2 of which were wins), then promptly gagged a 2-up lead with three to play against Charl Schwartzel in the first round of the Match Play, and Garcia hasn’t mustered a top-10 since.
Vijay Singh (now #9): In Singh’s defense, he battled an offseason injury that required additional rest time after the Mercedes. But five missed cuts in half a season are too many for a player of his caliber.
Padraig Harrington(now #11): Harrington entered the season with dreams of the “Paddy Slam” in his head. That is, until he decided it was time to tinker with his swing. Harrington has missed four of 10 cuts on the PGA Tour and his best finish was a T11 at Bay Hill. the 2007-2008 Harrington would be perfectly suited for Bethpage and Turnberry. The 2009 Harrington will be hard-pressed to win anywhere.
Anthony Kim (now #15): Kim and Camilo Villegas — along with Harrington — were the players who benefitted the most from Tiger’s absence from the Tour. Coming off wins at Quail Hollow and Congressional in 2008, Kim was supposed to raise his game to the next level in 2009. Things started well, with a T2 at the Mercedes at Kapalua. But it hasn’t happened. Why? Some speculated early that a little bit of Ernie Els-syndrome may have set in, as Kim chased appearance fees to play in the Malaysian Open and the Johnnie Walker Classic in February. But his play since then has only gotten worse.
The “winner”: Harrington. You just won two majors, Padraig. Don’t overthink it. Go back to doing what you do best.
Stars of the Season: Some intriguing names have really stepped up their games in 2009, including:
Paul Casey (now #3 in the World Rankings): Casey has been perhaps the globe’s hottest golfer in 2009, winning three times — once in Abu Dhabi, once in America (Houston), and once in Europe (the BMW PGA Championship). Combine that with a runner-up to Geoff Ogilvy at the Match Play, and Casey has the look of a player ready to make a big breakthrough in a major.
Sean O’Hair (now #13): O’Hair gutted out a big win at Quail Hollow, which helped to alleviate some of the concerns about his ability to close out a tournament that were raised after he allowed Tiger to steal Bay Hill away in March. O’Hair has generally played well on the larger stages this year, making the quarterfinals of the Match Play, and his first-ever top-10 in a major at the Masters.
Nick Watney (now #33): Watney has emerged a young American to keep an eye on. An impressive win at Torrey Pines, followed by a runner-up to Phil Mickelson at Doral and a T4 at Bay Hill has moved him into serious Presidents Cup contention.
The winner: Casey. He finally seems to have arrived among the elite players in the game.
