
It won’t be long before the 2012 PGA Tour regular season gets underway with the Hyundai Tournament of Champions beginning PGA action January 6-9 from the Plantation Course at Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii. The tournament is worth 500 FedExCup points and will have a purse of $1.2 million dollars.
The Hyundai Tournament of Champions will begin a string of three consecutive weekends of action that will be televised on the Golf Channel before CBS join with the Golf Channel to cover the Farmers Insurance Open from Torrey Pines South Course in La Jolla, CA which runs January 26-29.
The first tournament that exceeds 500 FedExCup points will take place February 22-26 with the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship from Ritz Carlton Golf Course in Dove Mountain, Arizona as 550 points will be on the line.
There are some new names atop the Official World Golf Ranking as preparations begin for what promises to be a wide open 2012 season. Luke Donald rests atop the Official World Golf Ranking. The Englishman had two PGA wins last year and 14 top ten finishes with over $6.6 million in winnings. “The Donald” was voted the PGA Tour Player of the Year by his fellow competitors, which is a great compliment to his performance last year and his ability to dominate the future. Donald is something of a throwback and the antithesis of Tiger Woods in that he is small and not a powerful driver but instead an outstanding short game player.
Right behind Donald is another Englishman, Lee Westwood, who many consider to be the best player in the world. Westwood has certainly been a dominant player on the European Tour and is expected to join the PGA full time for 2012 which completely changes the dynamics of the race for the title. Westwood had over $10 million in career wins while focusing on action in Europe.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy is number three on the Official World Golf Ranking and has joined Westwood’s commitment to playing in the PGA for 2012. He is best known for his electrifying win in the US Open last year in which he captivated American’s search for a new golf hero.
America’s old golf hero, Tiger Woods, is coming off a much needed December win but many doubts remain about his ability to win consistently in 2012.