Golf Lesson 101: How the PGA Figures Out the “Player
of the Year”
By Ken
Freeman
Well here’s
an almost completely useless bit of information that I never knew. The PGA Tour
and the PGA of America are completely separate organizations.
The PGA Tour is a tax-exempt membership
group of professional golfers that plays more than 100 official-money
tournaments on three Tours - the PGA Tour, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour.
Its’ headquarters is located in Ponte
Vedra Beach, Fla., southeast of Jacksonville.
The PGA of America is the Professional
Golfers’ Association of America, a membership organization for the nation’s
club professionals. The PGA runs the PGA Championship, Senior PGA Championship
and Ryder Cup Matches, among other championships. The PGA headquarters is
located in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
The PGA Tour and PGA of America were
affiliated until 1968, when the tournament players, a small subset of the total
PGA membership, broke away to form the Tournament Players Division and gain
more control of their finances and tournament schedule. The Tournament Players
Division was renamed the PGA Tour in 1975. While the two organizations work
closely together today, the PGA Tour and PGA of America are separate entities.
How’s that for golf trivia?
Now, here’s the main purpose of this
article. Remember those word puzzles we had to solve in math class. You know,
if train A leaves Los Angeles at 90 mph and train B leaves New York at 105
mph……. Well I was watching a golf match and heard the commentator say something
like this. “Tiger is number 1, but if Vijay wins this tournament, and Tiger
comes in worse than 5th place, then Vijay becomes number 1 and Tiger slips to
number 2, unless Phil wins the British Open next week—then Phil will be number
2”. Now I know at one time or another you’ve wondered just how the heck the PGA
figures out the “Player of the Year”. Here’s the answer along with a few
additional bits of useless information.
The PGA of America, founded in 1916, is a
not-for-profit organization that promotes the game of golf, while continuing to
enhance the standards of the profession. The Association is comprised of more
than 28,000 men and women PGA Professionals who are dedicated to growing
participation in the game of golf.
Since 1948, The PGA of America has
honored the game’s best players with The PGA Player of the Year Award. The
award is currently presented to the top touring professional based on a point
system for tournament wins, official money standings and scoring averages.
Points are tabulated from Jan. 1 through The Tour Championship, ending Nov. 7.
In addition, 50 bonus points are awarded to players with more than one major
championship in the same year, and an additional 25 points for each additional
major championship.
Points are
distributed based on the sum of the following:
1. Tournament Victories
PGA
Championship 30
U.S. Open
30
British
Open 30
Masters 30
Players
Championship 20
All Other
PGA Tour & WGC events 10
2. Money Winnings: PGA Official Money List
1st 20 6th
10
2nd 18 7th
8
3rd 16 8th
6
4th 14 9th
4
5th 12 10th
2
3. Adjusted
Scoring Average (Minimum of 60 Rounds)
1st 20 6th
10
2nd 18 7th
8
3rd 16 8th
6
4th 14 9th
4
5th 12 10th
2
The PGA Player of the Year Award was
first bestowed in 1948. Beginning in 1990, two different Player of the Year
awards have been named. One is given by the PGA of America, the other is given
by the PGA TOUR.
PGA Player
of the Year
The award given by the PGA of America has
been based on a points system since 1982, with points awarded for
accomplishments throughout the year (wins, top 10 finishes, bonus for wins in
majors, plus the player’s standing on the money list and scoring average).
PGA Tour
Player of the Year (Jack Nicklaus Award)
Beginning in 1990, the PGA Tour began
handing out its own award. This award is based on a vote by PGA Tour members.
So there you have it. The PGA Tour and the PGA of America are separate organizations. The PGA Tour members vote for their “player of the year”, and PGA of America names its “player of the year” based on a not so complicated formula-once you understand it. Reprint permission from www.bstmllc.com.