Now that the 2010 PGA tour season is officially over ( still have Q school and events like the Shark Shoot-out and Tiger's Chevron Challenge ) it's time to hand out the awards..
On Sunday night it became official that Matt Kuchar would win the Arnold Palmer Award for most money won in 2010. His $4,910,477 beat Jim Furyk by just over $100,000... He also won the Byron Nelson Award for lowest scoring average with 69.61 just a smidgen better than Steve Stricker
I first interviewed Matt up at Diamondhead when we had the CPGA Championship/ Nationwide event, it was shortly after he turned pro after his dazzling Masters display as an amateur. He always had that great smile and friendly attitude, but his pro game went to hell in a hand basket.
Now a decade later, balding and with a re-constructed swing he has just had a great year with a win at the Barclays and an amazingly consistent 11 top 10 finishes.
Now minutes ago, Jim Furyk has won the Player of the Year award..
He had 3 wins and 7 T10's. Remember he won the Tour Championship and the $10m FedEx Cup title in September just before flying over to Wales where he was his usual gritty self in the US loss.
As I said earlier, he won over $4.9m this year !!
Over at pgatour.com Stan Awtrey has posted some of the highlights from 2010 and I thought they would bring back some warm memories on this cold blustery Tuesday.. I will have my own list later this week and it will include the return to form of my old fav Ernie Els..
Key shot: The 6-iron that Phil Mickelson struck from the pine straw, between two pine trees, on the 15th hole at the Masters will go down as one of the all-timers. Even though Mickelson didn't make the eagle putt, the birdie was enough to let Lee Westwood and the rest of the contenders realize their cause was lost.
Biggest surprise: Louis Oosthiuzen ran away from the field with a record victory at the British Open. That may be the biggest surprise winner of a major since Todd Hamilton won the Open at Royal Troon in 2004 but he'll likely have more staying power.
Most improved: Brendon de Jonge finished third on three occasions, had seven top-10 finishes, and improved his Official World Golf Ranking from No. 323 to No. 94. Now he gets to experience something new: Life without q-school.
Best moment: Why does the Masters Tournament always seem to give us so many great moments? There's no way you can possibly top the emotional overflow that occurred behind the 18th green between Phil and Amy Mickelson. Only a person with a heart of stone didn't shed a tear when watching that scene.
Best finish: Stuart Appleby was playing every week to try to regain his fully exempt status and end a four-year winless streak. He did OK, shooting a 59 on the final day to beat Jeff Overton and win the Greenbrier Classic.
MediateMost impressive win: The victory by Rocco Mediate at the Frys.com Open was impressive on many levels. The 47-year-old won for the first time in eight years and holed out for an eagle on each day. Nice to know he'll be exempt for the next two seasons. The TOUR needs more guys like Rocco.
Best round: Didn't everybody shoot at least one 59 on TOUR this year? Regardless, the best round belonged to Rory McIlroy, who came up with a 62 in the final round at Quail Hollow to beat Phil Mickelson and win his first PGA TOUR event.
Bryan Angus bryanangus4@gmail.com
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