Thoughts on Farrell Evans’ Hypothetical PGA Awards
A pseudo-FJM? Sure, why not…and it’s only pseudo because I like the premise and I agree with some of the selections.
This comes from ESPN’s Farrell Evans, a relative newcomer to the field of golfy scribblin’. Link.
The premise is simple enough…what awards should exist to supplement the current ones given out officially, though I will say Evans stumbled right out of the gates.
Still, it would be fun for the players to vote on a variety of year-end awards to add some flavor to the proceedings. So I worked up my own list of awards to hand out for 2011.
Warning: I don’t claim to be exhaustive or unbiased. Steve Stricker might well be a better putter than Luke Donald, and Webb Simpson might be a better iron player than Charles Howell III.
Webb Simpson IS a better iron player than Charles Howell III. That’s not opinion, that’s not bias…just fact. CHIII is ranked outside the top 100 in approaches from 100-125 yards, 125-150 yards, 150-175 yards, 175-200 yards, 200-225 yards, 225-250 yards and from 275 and farther. He’s in the top 30 from 100 and in and 63rd from 250-275 yards. Conversely…Webb Simpson is 4th in 100-125 yards, 3rd in 150-175 yards and is in the top 90 in every other category.
So it’s pretty simple to say that yes, definitively, Webb Simpson is a better iron player than Charles Howell III. And that’s not even getting into their respective swings where Webb is accurate from pretty much any angle while CHIII, despite being on Tour for a DECADE, still can’t hit a ¾ shot. Gotta love those Leadbetter students.
As for best iron player? David Toms is pretty damn good and is top 50 in five of the seven accuracy ranges for approach shots, so we’ll go with him or Webb or Luke Donald, who I didn’t really want include because otherwise he would’ve won every non-driving category. Though, when it comes to striking irons, it’s hard not include Sergio Garcia.
Rest after the jump…
Best putter: Luke Donald
Based on the PGA Tour’s new strokes-gained putting statistic, Donald, who won twice this year in the United States, is the best putter on the PGA Tour, beating out Stricker, who, 7 out of 10 players probably would tell you, rolls the ball better than anybody on the planet.
No problems here as Donald is an excellent choice and Stricker a solid also-ran. I’d also nominate Kevin Na, Freddie Jacobson, Brandt Snedeker and Jason Day.
Best wedge player: Phil Mickelson
Anyone who has played on the PGA Tour knows that wedge play is the difference between becoming a great player and one who struggles every year to keep his card. Year after year, Mickelson is the best wedge player in the game. From 50 to 75 yards to the green, no one was better this year than the 41-year-old San Diego native.
Disagree.
Can Phil do more things with a wedge than almost any player on Tour? Probably, and he’ll be the first one to tell you that. Does that mean he has the best wedge game? No. Does one single instance where he had a stock, full wedge to a hole he’s played 50 million times that nearly went in from 90 yards at the end of a tournament mean he’s still the best wedge player in the game? That’s an awfully small sample size, even if it was fun.
The best wedge players in the game also happen to be two of the best putters in the game…Donald and Stricker. It’s not how high you can flop or how many shots you can pull off with a lob wedge, it’s about getting up and down, and both those guys do it better than anyone else.
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