A Year In Review: 2011 PGA Tour Season

So uhh, in case you haven't heard, the PGA Tour season is pretty much over. Yes, there is still the President's Cup and Chevron World Challenge in November, but that's just icing on the cake of the golf season. 2011 is over. And now since there are no more events to do a Pick of the Week for, the dudes at Hack Till We Die are going to do something different for this Wednesday. They will be doing their synopsis of the PGA Tour season that was. Included will be: Their recap, favorite memory, Player of the Year (POY), and hopes for the 2012 season. Fore, please! HTWD now driving.


JJ: First of all, let me congratulate Bernardo for thoroughly handling me in our first ever Pick of the Week race. I'll admit, I was schooled. Bad. But I'll get him next time! Anyways, now let me say that this PGA Tour season of 2011 was absolutely ridiculous. The amount of first time winners this year was insane. I don't know the number of first time winners exactly, but if you do, let me know please. It seemed like there was a stretch where every week the tour event would go to a playoff, and every week it would produce someone who has never one before on the circuit. It just goes to show you how deep the fields are on the Tour nowadays, and that anyone has a legit shot at winning the tournament they're in.

Now, here is my...

Favorite Memory: The Masters. Yeah yeah, I know we went to the Frys.com Open and it was great and all, but this Masters Tournament was ridiculous. I still remember that day vividly- I really thought Tiger had no chance to win it after Saturday's round, but BOOM! 4 holes into his round he's charging up the leaderboard, and everyone started to text me. Especially after his awesome shot at 8. Yeah, he didn't win it (Charl Schwartzel somehow did), but still, a Tiger charge creates the biggest buzz and the greatest memories.

POY: Luke Donald. Getting to No. 1 in the world with a struggling Tiger Woods is one thing (See, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer), but staying there is another. And that is what Luke Donald has done this year, with a whole lot more to boot. He's won a ton of awards this year (except for the FedEx Cup, but who cares), and has been easily the most consistent golfer on the planet. Kudos, Luke.

Hope for 2012: To see great golf by great players. I'll admit it; this year was, although ridiculous, a bit boring for me. It was nice to see all the first time winners reach success, but I enjoy watching golf the most when all of the interesting names are on the first page of the leader board. You know, the Tigers, Sergios, Phils, Rorys, and Lukes of the world. These guys attract attention and create drama (the good kind). I wish to see at least one to two majors where we have some huge names dueling it out for a title, because that would make many fans happy.

So there you have it, there's my jargon about the PGA Tour in Review. Let me know what ya think in the comments. Let's see what Bernardo thinks... Hmm....

Luke Donald at the WGC-CC
(Getty Images)

Bernardo:

Recap: Well folks sadly this season has come to end. 2011 exhibited its share of up and downs, including the forging of a young and talented class of players that will one day fulfill the shoes of the current stars. Some people might say this year was a bit disappointing because the influence of big names like Phil Mickelson was close to none but, in reality they are talking about Tiger Woods. Woods just has that kind of supremacy and it is clear as the day, that the golf world wants a tiger-like player to add some excitement. 

Besides the absent of some favorites, this year’s Majors Championships certainly provided for some interesting results. First the Masters Tournament, which had so many scenarios of who could win, Charl Schwartzel would come out victorious with a great back nine that consisted of four straight birdies. The U.S Open displayed the comeback of the talented Rory Mcllroy, after a disappointing finish at the Masters, he proved to the critics that he was more than capable of winning a Major. The British Open crowned a well deserved candidate, Darren Clarke. Clarke’s major win gave Northern Ireland its third major winner in a stretch of 13 months. Finally the PGA Championship was a great twist, Keegan Bradley a PGA Tour rookie, became one of three golfers to win a major during their rookie year. Not to mention he also won the HP Byron this year.  

Overall this season was great and you can give the thanks to the rookie class of 2011, that consisted of 35 players and some notable players like Luke Donald and Nick Watney. 

Favorite Memory: There is a hand full of great memories this year but hands down I have to give it to Bill Haas. The up and down on the 17th hole from the water at the Tour Championship was just amazing. Yes we can say it was similar to playing a bunker shot but for those of us that play golf, whenever you find yourself in the water hazard, you don’t expect to get up and down for par very often. Not to mention this was during a playoff, now thats what I call clutch. Bill Haas would win the Tournament and become the 2011 FedEx Champ (year long points race). Thats a total of 11.4 million dollars in earnings!

POY: I’m gonna have to go with Luke Donald for the Player of Year. Beginning with his win at the WGC-Matchplay, Donald has been Mr.Consist throughout the season. Donald only needed 19 starts to be the money leader, compared to Webb Simpson with 26 starts, who was the nearest competitor battling for the Money Title. Donald also had to deal with the added pressure of being world #1 and maintaining that position. So with that added pressure and playing well week after week, he certainly deserves to be Player of the Year. Best of luck to world #1 Luke Donald. 

Hopes for 2012: My personal hope for the upcoming season is for my favorite golfer Sergio Garcia to rack up some wins. In the overall scope, I want to see some great golf from some of the crowd pleasers like Rickie Fowler, Camilo Villegas, Bubba Watson, Anthony Kim, Rory Mcllroy, Adam Scott, Jason Day and many more. These guys are too talented not to be in contention and winning more often. Who will step up to the plate when the world is patiently waiting for the next Tiger to emerge?