In a multipolar world today, the role of the FedEx Cup will become more definitive. I believe that this year, the PGA Tour will correlate with many awards. Those who perform well during the regular season, if they win different legs of the FedEx Cup playoffs or even the championship instantly, I believe they may be elected as the best player of the PGA Tour from last year.
If you really want to detect the final word from a tour, then boastfully, it is entirely possible that three out of four FedEx Cup champions in the past three years were elected as the best player. If you cannot say this precisely, the problem lies in keeping it behind an asterisk.
In 2007 and 2009, Woods' position was so strong that before the start of the FedEx Cup playoffs, he had already secured the Player of the Year Award. In those two years, when he reached the finals, he had already won five games, leaving others far behind.
But today's world is multipolar, such an expression will not deceive. For the second consecutive year, the FedEx Cup promises to judge who was elected the best player of the year. Last season, among five players who won the Finals in two races, Jim Furyk emerged victorious after winning the FedEx Cup championship and the Tour Championship, paving the way for him to be elected as the player of the year.
This year is the most open year. Before the start of the FedEx Cup, a total of five players have won two games - Nick Watney, Steve Stricker, Keegan Bradley, Bubba Watson, and Mark Wilson. If they win their third trophy, especially the FedEx Cup championship, I believe it will give them opportunities.
At the beginning of the year, the Rookie of the Year Award skillfully went to Keegan Bradley, satisfying him. But two weeks ago, he won the U.S. PGA Championship in a playoff, significantly changing his situation. He can win many awards at once; however, so far, no player in the same season has been both Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year.
"You only get one chance to win the Rookie of the Year award, so I really wanted to win," Keegan Bradley said on Tuesday. "I hope they have enough good, yet there are so many excellent players. As for the Player of the Year award, even now, people talk about it being a very tall honor, and I feel I still need to do more to achieve."
Unless next month's U.S. Masters champion Charl Schwartzel wins - as South Africa did by joining the Grand Slam counting major competitions - otherwise, Keegan Bradley would certainly secure the year's Best Newcomer Award.
Of course, there must not be ignored - Luke Donald. The player happened to be present in the world. This year, Luke Donald has won three titles, but only one on the PGA Tour - the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Then again, now he leads the money list, ahead of Nike-Watney by $120,000. He is also slightly ahead of Stricker in the Walden Award (Vardon Trophy, the lowest scoring average award). Out of 14 PGA Tour events this year, Luke Donald only missed the top ten four times. If he can win the final leg of the FedEx Cup, I believe it would be hard to bypass him.
"In the past week, I am quite confident that there are some specific entities pursuing and caring very well," Luke Donald said, also having the chance to win in the same season, both the PGA Tour and European Tour Order of Merit. "This makes it all more meaningful."
So many possibilities, so many opponents. Of course, relatively speaking, there will be no monopoly. This bulk can be attributed to the drop in the past two years by Woods. Woods' nine championships number greater than or equal to five. In stark contrast, since 1980, only three players - Vijay Singh, Nick Price, and Tom Watson - have achieved victories in a season with a number greater than or equal to five games.
Unless next month, a player suddenly bursts forth, otherwise this will be the second year without a championship player more than four. Before the era of Tiger Woods, it was the same lack of monopoly power athletes.
A year ago, when Woods did not experience his first championship season, 15 players on the PGA Tour won again. This year, among the 15 players, only Bubba Watson and Mike Roy won again. This year, 12 new branches have been champions, while half of them are rookies. How many of them can win again next year? "Now golf is very hard to monopolize," Harrington said.
Harrington, with the most recent Grand Slam champions, for instance. This is the longest period of new Grand Slam champions appearing. Last year, Mickelson won the U.S. Masters, and seven new faces emerged as champions. Harrington thinks this is not unusual. "When the vast majority of players win the Grand Slam, it's their first time winning," Harrington said. "You can count - where 125 people - I am sure you will be able to count them with one hand who won more than one."
Accessing the FedEx Cup playoffs, among the 125 players who qualified, 17 have won Grand Slams. Only five times has a major championship been won, they are - Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, and Retief Goosen. "A player can win the second Grand Slam is a rare phenomenon," Harrington said. "There are a lot of players who can win, we see a lot of nameless players in the championship, this does not mean they lack strength, they are very gifted, you can discern from this."
So how do players become thought of as monopolizing? Usually, Woods is unthreatened to establish an opponent criterion. Luke Donald, when talking about the world ranking, speaks almost a lot about it. Actually counted, the reason why people are not convinced Luke Donald can become the world's premier, primarily because they think the world should favor Tiger Woods.
Harrington comes with more consideration when the monopoly is the opportunity - that is, each week on the back nine has a natural chance to win. "If you take a look at Tiger in the past 14 years, each Grand Slam and 9 holes to play when... he has a chance to win," Harrington said. "For me, that is a monopoly."
Unfortunately, the new Golf lacks just that. The only show next month is: who will win the $10 million FedEx Cup bonus, and who will be elected the best player of the year. I trust even in that period, the future is still difficult to evaluate. Yes, the past four FedEx Cup champions in three years were all elected as the best players by the PGA Tour. But another point is also worth noting, in the past three FedEx Cup Championships - Vijay Singh, Woods, and Jim Furyk - none have won a PGA Tour event the following year.