Tour Report: Poulter: Expect push from U.S. (PGATOUR.com)
The United States doesn’t have a player in the top five in the Official World Golf Rankings, but Englishman Ian Poulter doesn’t think the U.S. needs to worry. With a bevy of young Americans on the rise, Poulter expects the U.S. to return to form soon.
"There is some great talent coming out of the States," Poulter told reporters this week on the eve of the Australian Masters in Melbourne. "I’m not going to say they are in a slump in any way, shape or form; they have some fantastic players.
"But I think certainly in the next 18 months, two years, we will see a push from those young guys in the States."
The youngsters certainly will enter the 2012 season with some momentum. Of the 16 players in their 20s who won PGA TOUR events in 2011, 11 of them were from the U.S. – including FedExCup winner Bill Haas, runner-up Webb Simpson and Rookie of the Year Keegan Bradley.
Poulter, arguably the TOUR’s snappiest dresser, especially likes the potential of another fashionable golfer — Rickie Fowler.
Although Fowler, who turned 24 on Tuesday, has yet to win a PGA TOUR event, he did break through recently with a six-stroke win on the OneAsia Tour at the Kolon Korea Open.
"Obviously it won’t take him long to start winning plenty of tournaments,” Poulter said. “He won in Asia, but he hasn’t won over there. I’m sure it won’t be long before he makes a hard push up the world rankings."
Fowler currently ranks 29th in the Official World Golf Rankings – just one spot behind Poulter.
Bradley achieves goal but wants more
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM
The opportunity only comes around once. Keegan Bradley took advantage of it.
Thanks to wins at the HP Byron Nelson Championship in May, then the PGA Championship in August, the 25-year-old Bradley claimed the 2011 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year award.
Bradley
"You get one chance at it," Bradley said Tuesday after the announcement was made, "and it was the main goal of mine to start the year.
"It’s a huge honor."
En route to winning the Rookie of the Year honors, Bradley did something that not even PGA TOUR Player of the Year winner Luke Donald could do this year — win a major.
By beating Jason Dufner in a playoff at the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club, Bradley became the first player since Ben Curtis in 2003 to win a major championship in his first major start.
He also became the only American to win a major this year.
But having produced plenty of fireworks in his first season on TOUR, Bradley knows there are ways he can improve in his sophomore year.
In fact, he will strive to do what Donald did this year — get himself consistently in contention to win each time he plays. In 28 starts this year, Bradley had four top-10 finishes, compared to Donald’s TOUR-leading 14 top-10s in 19 starts.
"Next year I just look forward to getting back out there and playing, seeing these courses for the second time and knowing the players a little better," Bradley said. "Most importantly being a little more consistent … try not to miss any cuts or less cuts but to keep contending in tournaments and try to win every time I tee it up just like Luke did this year."
It’ll be a tough act to follow, but after his 2011 season, it’s doubtful anybody will underestimate Bradley’s ability to create excitement.
MORE ON BRADLEY: Announcement | Transcript
Donald’s consistency key to POY award
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM
For the second consecutive year, the PGA TOUR Player of the Year was won by a player who did not claim a major championship.
But unlike Jim Furyk, who won three events along with the FedExCup in 2010 en route to earning the season-ending award, Luke Donald didn’t even have those lofty credentials on his resume in 2011. But he did produce something that was the envy of all others on TOUR this year: Consistency.
Donald
Not only did Donald win two events, he finished in the top 10 in 12 of his other 17 starts (including two runner-ups and two third-place finishes). No other player could match Donald’s 14 top-10s this year. And he played just as well in Europe, as he became the first dual-member to win money titles on the PGA TOUR and European Tour in the same year.
That made it extremely difficult for his fellow TOUR pros to ignore.
"I feel like I’ve always built my game around being consistent," Donald said Tuesday after the announcement in which he became the first Englishman to win the TOUR’s Player of the Year award. "I think having a proficient short game and a reasonably consistent putter will always make a year reasonably consistent, no matter how you play. It’s a big equalizer. It really can make up a lot for some bad long game."
Not that his game was bad off the tee — just short. He ranked 147th in driving distance but 57th in accuracy. The closer he got to the pin, however, the better he played — 41st in Greens In Regulation and first overall in Strokes Gained-Putting.
"For a number of years, my long game wasn’t where I wanted it to be," Donald said. "I’ve certainly made big strides this year. I think my driving accuracy percentages, my greens in regulation percentages have all gone up. My short game has stayed at a consistent level. That’s really been the difference this year, I think, in terms of my overall consistency, just taking it from where I maybe would not miss many cuts but finished 20th, 25th a lot, taking those to top 10s and five 5s and having chances to win.
"Obviously every year you’re just trying to look for ways to improve, and I obviously found a place to improve on, and it’s really served me well in terms of consistency."
Donald called his 2011 season a "breakout year" and said that becoming the first player to win both money titles was "something very special."
But he also knows an asterisk will remain attached to his name until he wins his first major. Having produced an historical achievement in 2011, the 34-year-old Donald is intent on producing a more personal kind of achievement in 2012.
"Obviously this year has been a breakout year for me in terms of my confidence levels, and hopefully those confidence levels will be carried over to next year and will serve me well in the majors," Donald said. "I think before this year I’ve been a good player and a consistent player but never really a great player, and obviously this year has been really a big step for me in terms of my mental side and the way I approach tournaments and how I feel about them.
"I can only think that that will serve me well for the majors next year, and I’m certainly looking forward to the challenge."
MORE ON DONALD: Announcement | By The Numbers | Transcript
Discuss: Donald, Bradley win awards
Luke Donald was named the PGA TOUR’s Player of the Year in an announcement made Tuesday by PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem.
Keegan Bradley was named the TOUR’s Rookie of the Year.
TOUR players voted on both awards.
Here’s your chance to discuss the winners and congratulate both players.
FOR MORE ON DONALD AND BRADLEY, CLICK HERE
Players No. 46-50 unveiled
There are a couple newly healthy players to keep an eye on in Tuesday’s edition of PGATOUR.COM’s Top 100 Players to Watch in 2012.
Paul Casey will be playing healthy in 2012 for the first time in nearly a year after battling a bad case of “turf toe.” Trevor Immelman, with his wrist injury in the rear-view mirror, is working full throttle to regain the kind of form that allowed him to win the Masters in 2009.
Below is a link to each of the 5 players who were revealed on Tuesday. PGATOUR.COM will countdown the players for the rest of December, with No. 1 unveiled on Dec. 30.
Be sure to check out this year’s new addition of the Three Wise Men – Chris DiMarco, Arron Oberholser and Craig Perks, who offer their takes on each of the players on the list.
Let’s us know how you think these players will perform in 2012 and whether we ranked ‘em too high, too low or just right.
No. 46: Rory Sabbatini
No. 47: Paul Casey
No. 48: Jason Dufner
No. 49: Trevor Immelman
No. 50: Robert Karlsson
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE ARCHIVE PAGE/SCHEDULE FOR THE TOP 100 PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2012
Players No. 51-60 unveiled
From a three-time major winner to a promising young rookie, there’s plenty of variety unveiled Monday on PGATOUR.COM’s Top 100 Players to Watch in 2012.
Padraig Harrington owns three majors and Retief Goosen has a pair of U.S. Opens to his credit. Winners in the past year on this list also include Jonathan Byrd (Hyundai Tournament of Champions), Martin Laird (Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard), Kevin Na (Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open) and Sean O’Hair (RBC Canadian Open).
At the other end of the spectrum is Bud Cauley, who made a splash in a limited number of starts in 2011 but could be poised for a big rookie season.
Below is a link to each of the 10 players who were revealed on Monday. PGATOUR.COM will countdown the players for the rest of December, with No. 1 unveiled on Dec. 30.
Be sure to check out this year’s new addition of the Three Wise Men – Chris DiMarco, Arron Oberholser and Craig Perks, who offer their takes on each of the players on the list.
Let’s us know how you think these players will perform in 2012 and whether we ranked ‘em too high, too low or just right.
No. 51: Jonathan Byrd
No. 52: Y.E. Yang
No. 53: Padraig Harrington
No. 54: Martin Laird
No. 55: Retief Goosen
No. 56: Charles Howell III
No. 57: Stewart Cink
No. 58: Bud Cauley
No. 59: Kevin Na
No. 60: Sean O’Hair
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE ARCHIVE PAGE/SCHEDULE FOR THE TOP 100 PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2012
The United States doesn’t have a player in the top five in the Official World Golf Rankings, but Englishman Ian Poulter doesn’t think the U.S. needs to worry. With a bevy of young Americans on the rise, Poulter expects the U.S. to return to form soon. "There is some great talent coming out of the […]