ANOTHER SPORTING MISCARRIAGE?

December 8, 2003

Comments

Fresh off the BCS shocker where the consensus #1 ranked college football team was bypassed for the championship game, Tiger Woods has been voted PGA Golfer of the Year over Vijay Singh, who not only placed ahead of Woods in three of four Majors but also was ahead of Tiger on the money list. Indeed, Woods is essentially an exhibition golfer nowadays, playing a handful of tournaments and concentrating his efforts on the major tournaments.

I’m not sure who deserved the honor this year. Tiger is clearly the game’s MVP in that those of us who are casual fans are much more likely to tune into a tournament if Woods is in the hunt to win. But I’m not sure that a guy who played in only 18 events, didn’t win a Major, and didn’t top the money list should be Player of the Year.

5 responses to “ANOTHER SPORTING MISCARRIAGE?”

Kevin Holtsberry

December 8, 2003 at 10:57 pm

I can understand why you think Vijay should have won, I probably would have voted for him myself If I had a vote. But to call Tiger an “exhibition golfer’ is a bit much. You try having knee surgery and then coming back and shooting the second lowest scoring average in history, winning five events and coming in second in the money title. If it was easy playing less and winning more don’t you think others would try? Woods had an amazing season and the people that play with him know it. vijay is a workhorse and had the year of his life but he needed a major win to beat out Tiger’s extra win and his Vardon. This may be a shame but it is certainly not a miscarriage.
James Joyner

December 8, 2003 at 11:12 pm

He’s still a terrific golfer, but he’s not really playing a full schedule these days like other guys on the tour. He’s going to events where his sponsors need him, where he has sentimental reasons to be, or as tune-ups for the Majors.

I’m not sure how the money list is figured–does it count appearance fees, or just winnings?
Eric

December 8, 2003 at 11:21 pm

The money list includes only official winnings in PGA sanctioned events. That Tiger finished second is pretty dang impressive, as that means he averaged almost twice as much in winnings PER TOURNAMENT as Singh. This is one instance where statistics don’t lie.
bryan

December 8, 2003 at 11:25 pm

I also found this to be a surprising decision. Tiger certainly didn’t rack up the points this year, especially since he spent much of the year in a “slump” according to the golfing media (who have nothing better to do than to complain when woods doesn’t win EVERY tournament). But I thought Vijay deserved it.
Ian S.

December 9, 2003 at 9:16 am

Name recognition in sports is more important than recent performance. Look no further than the NFL Pro Bowl rosters.

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