2010’s Unexpected Winners

PGA Tour parity leads to unexpected winners.

Trap Five LogoAfter talking about the top surprising stories of the year a few weeks ago, this week I have decided to go through the year’s most unexpected individual victories. From a major champion whose name no one can pronounce, to a multiple winner that nobody has heard of, 2010 had surprises down every turn. Because no one won more than three times, there were many opportunities for the journeymen to make a name for themselves. This year we saw Rocco get back in the winner’s circle, Arjun Atwal win after Monday qualifying, and Geoff Ogilvy kick off 2010 the same way as 2009.

Number Five: Ogilvy repeats, Ernie at the Grand Slam, AK’s Shell Houston Win, Rocco Hole Out Every Day at the Frys.com, and Bill Haas’s Multiple Wins
Geoff OgilvyFor the second time in as many years, Geoff Ogilvy won the season opening event at Kapalua, then went cold the rest of the year. In 2009 he won what was at the time called the Mercedes-Benz Championship, then won the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship a month later. This year he won the SBS Championship then, as with 2009, he became a non-factor the rest of the year. Not including his three wins, he has only four top 10s the past two years combined. Next year the event in Kapalua will be called the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, but I wouldn’t expect another name change to mean another victory for Geoff.

Who were the two-or-more winners on the PGA Tour this year? Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson, Ernie Els, Hunter Mahan, Justin Rose, and…Bill Haas? Yes, folks, Bill Haas had more wins on the PGA Tour this year than Tiger and Phil combined. While the second victory came in the Fall Series at the Viking Classic, the first was marginally more legitimate. Haas won the Bob Hope Classic over the likes of Tim Clark, Matt Kuchar, and Bubba Watson.

The fact that Ernie Els was a multiple winner on Tour this year is, by itself, not much of a surprise, but it is a little funny that he won the Grand Slam of Golf when he hasn’t won a major since the Open Championship in 2002. In fact, second place in this year’s Grand Slam of Golf went to David Toms, who has gone even longer without a major, since the 2001 PGA Championship.

Anthony Kim sure had a crazy year. He won the Shell Houston Open in April, becoming just the fifth player in the last 30 years with three wins before his 25th birthday. His victory wasn’t that surprising, especially compared to the end of the season. After his win he was hampered by injury and ended up falling out of the Ryder Cup, though that didn’t stop him from appearing on Shaq Vs. or going crazy in Vegas.

Rocco Mediate hasn’t won since 2002, but that’s not why his victory at the FRYS.com Open was surprising. It isn’t because he hasn’t done much since losing the 2008 U.S. Open to Tiger Woods, and it isn’t because he became the oldest wire-to-wire Tour winner since at least 1970. No, his win was surprising because he holed out from more than 100 yards every single day. That’s right, four times, including a hole in one from 189 yards on Thursday. Not even Rocco himself could believe it.

Number Four: Arjun Atwal Breaks Through at the Wyndham Championship
Arjun Atwal certainly has an interesting backstory. One-upping Tiger Woods, Atwal is the original Windermere, Florida, golfer turned bad driver. In 2007 he was investigated in Florida for street racing but was never charged, but his golf career appeared to be in jeopardy. In 2008, Atwal came back strong, winning once on the European Tour, once on the Asian Tour, and once on the Nationwide Tour.

This year was different though. By July, Atwal’s injury exemption from a shoulder injury had run out, and he hadn’t earned enough money to keep his PGA Tour card. In August he was able to Monday qualify for the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, NC. Atwal came into Sunday with a 3 shot lead, but was in a three way tie with just three holes to play. On the par 3 16th, he knocked his tee shot to within 6 feet, and rolled in the birdie putt that put him on top for good. Pars on the last two holes secured his win.

By winning, Atwal became the first golfer in 24 years to be victorious after winning the Monday qualifier, and the first Indian-born player to win ever on the PGA Tour. Although he didn’t receive any FedExCup points for his win, Atwal secured his Tour card for the next two years.

Number Three: Adam Scott Victorious at the Valero Texas Open
Adam ScottAdam Scott might be the biggest tease in professional golf today. After winning several top-flight Tour events like the Players Championship, the Deutsche Bank Championship, and the Tour Championship, Scott appeared to be the next big thing. Though the two have been on-again-off-again the past few years, Scott and his swing coach Butch Harmon have, over the years, created a beautiful swing, one similar to that of a vintage Tiger Woods. Even though it seems like Scott and Harmon are separated for good now, I wouldn’t expect that swing to change much.

Scott’s recent struggles have been well documented. Many people, myself included, thought that he would come on strong last year after his early season T2 in the Sony Open, but he didn’t break the top 30 in any tournament on the PGA Tour the rest of the year. This year’s start still wasn’t great, but after shooting rounds of 66 and 67 on the final day, Scott pulled out a win at a rain-soaked Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio.

Number Two: Graeme McDowell at the U.S. Open
How many people out there thought that a golfer from Northern Ireland would win a major? After Rory McIlroy’s win at the Wells Fargo, a lot of people thought he had a chance. Well, someone from Northern Ireland did win, but it was Graeme McDowell who held off a strong leaderboard to win the 110th U.S. Open, not the shaggy haired young gun. Thanks in part to Dustin Johnson’s Sunday collapse, McDowell became the first Northern Irishman to win a major since 1947. McDowell first major not only earned him a five year PGA Tour exemption, but it started Europe down the path of a year long period of domination.

Number One: Louis Oosthuizen Wins The Open Championship
As with McDowell, many people thought that a South African would win a major this year, but very few thought it would be Louis Oosthuizen. Thanks to strong starts to the season by Ernie Els, Reteif Goosen, Tim Clark, and Charl Schwartzel, Louis got lost in the shuffle. After a strong first-round 65 at the Open Championship, Louis was just two shots behind Rory McIlroy, who looked poised to make it two-for-two in the major opens for the Northern Irishmen. A second-round 80 by Rory propelled Louis into the lead, and he never looked back. Through wind, rain, and the cold, Oosthuizen remained strong through all four rounds and walked away with the Claret Jug. Since the 2010 Open Championship, many golfers have drawn red dots on their gloves as a trigger, but still very few people know the correct pronunciation of “Ooshuizen.”

Closing and Your Thoughts?
Thanks to the relative poor and infrequent play of the world’s top players, the PGA Tour saw a lot of surprise winners in 2010. Some old, some young, and some no one has heard of. And while it often left us scratching our heads, wondering when the top players would step up, this season was certainly never dull.

So what did you think? Did you like the relative parity on the PGA Tour? Or would you like to see the more popular players win some more?

Photo Credits: © Erik J. Barzeski/The Sand Trap.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *