We had this info last Sunday but out of respect from our colleague who asked it be held back until it became official, I am posting it now. Tip of my cap to Uihlein who comes from one of America's wealthiest families (Wally Uihlein is the chairman and chief executive officer of the Acushnet Company, a golf equipment manufacturer which comprises Titleist and other brands), so he could have spent his life lying on a beach, but he chose to go play the Challenge Tour and earn his stripes.
europeantour American Peter Uihlein has been awarded the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award following a hugely successful first season on The European Tour, in which he won his maiden title and finished 14th in The Race to Dubai.
The 24 year old is the first player from the USA to win the prestigious award, and follows in the footsteps of golfing legends such as Sir Nick Faldo (1977), Sandy Lyle (1978), José María Olazábal (1986) and Colin Montgomerie (1988) and more recently Sergio Garcia (1999), Ian Poulter (2000), Paul Casey (2001), Martin Kaymer (2007) and Matteo Manassero (2010).
Having turned professional in December 2011 following a glittering amateur career, Uihlein secured a European Challenge Tour card for 2013 and made a promising start. He also received several invitations for European Tour events, and took advantage of the opportunities to notch top ten finishes in the Tshwane Open and the Open de España early in the season.
His season-changing victory came in May, at the Madeira Islands Open, through which he earned full European Tour playing rights and meant his schedule changed dramatically for the rest of the year. He continued to show he could deal with the step up, finishing tied tenth in both the BMW International Open and the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, before a fine spell in the second half of the campaign.
In August the Floridian was denied a second title by a barnstorming finish from Grégory Bourdy in the ISPS Handa Wales Open where he finished second and he maintained that superb form at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, where he came within a whisker of recording the first 59 in European Tour history at Kingsbarns in the second round.
The 12 under par 60 helped him tie for the lead after 72 holes, but he was thwarted by David Howell at the second hole of a sudden-death play-off. In his next appearance on The European Tour, Uihlein tied for fifth in the BMW Masters presented by SRE Group, the first event in the inaugural Final Series.
The Oklahoma State University graduate was thrilled to be the 49th recipient of the award, which was launched in 1960.
“I was supposed to start the year on the Challenge Tour, but instead I was 11th in The Race to Dubai heading into the final event, so it wasn’t what I’d planned on but obviously it’s fantastic the way it has worked out.”
Before joining the paid ranks, Uihlein won the 2010 US Amateur Championship, and won four points from four matches in the 2009 Walker Cup.
USGA Power struggle
(by Ron Sirak for Golf Digest)
Personally most of us don't give a rat's about who reports to who in the sleepy offices of the USGA, more importantly what the decisions are being made at the governing body of the game in the States..
However apparently they are no different from so many other offices, and here is a report by our fine colleague Ron Sirak about the power play that has been taking place down in New Jersey..
Nager's plan, presented in September during the Walker Cup at the National Golf Links of America, not only failed, but its audacity unified a group not unfamiliar with political infighting and coalesced support for USGA executive director Mike Davis and incoming president Thomas J. O'Toole Jr., both of whom would have had diminished roles under the proposed restructuring.
According to sources, Nager, who described himself as a "lame duck" in an interview with Golf Digest, wanted O'Toole removed from the 15-person Executive Committee and passed over as president, and he wanted Davis to report to a chief executive.
"I am maintaining my commitment to confidentiality—apparently others haven't," Nager told Golf Digest. "I hold myself to a higher standard. It is not appropriate for me to discuss this while I am still in office. The issue that needs to be discussed is what makes for a great organization as opposed to a mediocre organization. I am trying to be as dignified and gracious as I can. Not everyone loves me. But leadership is a lonely responsibility."
"I have tried to promote such discussions at the USGA. But to encourage candor in the discussions, I have also asked that our discussions be kept private among the participants. In this spirit, I prefer to avoid comment on this story, regardless of any inaccuracies in it."
As an ex-president, Nager, 55, stood to remain in an influential position in the USGA, if past protocol had been followed. In two years, he would have become vice chairman of the five-person Nominating Committee, and in four years he would have chaired that committee. But that was before Nager's idea to take the power away from the Executive Committee and give it to a long-term chief executive—perhaps himself.
"The USGA can't get to Tom O'Toole fast enough," says one longtime insider, describing the mood at the Far Hills, N.J., headquarters as O'Toole prepares to succeed Nager as president beginning with the organization's annual meeting in February.
According to another source, Nager had lost the support of the USGA Nominating Committee, Executive Committee, staff and many past presidents, a startling slide so soon after a string of successes that included prevailing over the PGA Tour and PGA of America on banning the anchored putting stroke and negotiating a $1.1 billion TV deal with FOX. The FOX deal was announced Aug. 7, a month and a day before the Walker Cup ended.
Bryan Angus
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