Tiger Woods reclaimed the No. 1 spot on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) this year. With four wins, he ended the regular season as the leading money winner on the PGA Tour and No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings.
Woods failed to win a major title again this year and it leaves the door in the race for PGA Tour Player of the Year slightly ajar.
He was T-4 at the Masters and T-6 at Muirfield in the Open Championship. His T-32 at the U.S. Open and T-40 in the PGA Championship were disappointing.
Four wins this season has proven that Woods is once again near the top of his game and can win big golf tournaments. It has been over five years now since Woods last won a major. His age and health are becoming an issue for future performance in the majors.
Woods was in position to win the Barclays this weekend until back spasms dropped him to the ground and nearly forced him to withdraw during the final round on Sunday. He still managed to finish runner-up in the first FedEx Cup playoff event and solidify his hold on the top spot.
Adam Scott broke through at Augusta National for his first major victory in April and is having a very good 2013 season. His win in the Barclays gives him another quality win and gets him to $4.6 million in earnings this season. He moves ahead of Phil Mickelson for the No. 2 spot on the OWGR and in the FedEx Cup standings.
He has six top-10 finishes this year, in addition to his Masters win, was T-3 at the Open Championship and T-5 in the PGA Championship.
Does a Green Jacket plus a FedEx Cup playoff win beat four regular season wins?
Phil Mickelson is the other name floating around for Player of the Year honors. He has two wins including his win at the Open Championship, two runners-up and two third-place finishes this year. He has earned over $5 million and his final round five-under par 65 moved him up to a T-6 finish at the Barclays.
Mickelson is holding what would appear to be a full house. Is that enough to get him the Player of the Year trophy?
Brandt Snedeker and Justin Rose are long shots and would need at least one win in the playoffs plus capture the FedEx Cup to put their names in contention for Player of the Year.
Matt Kuchar's triple-bogey seven on the ninth hole on Sunday at the Barclays may have just ended his chance for Player of the Year. He went on to shoot a final round 78 and fall from near the lead to T-19.
An interesting dark horse is Jordan Spieth. He just turned 20 years old and began the year with no status on any professional tour. One win and two runners-up earned him a PGA Tour card and has climbed to No. 8 in the FedEx Cup standings. He has even entered Fred Couples’ radar for a spot on the Presidents Cup team next month.
Spieth would be a story made for Hollywood and winning Player of the Year would be the fairy tale ending.
The last three events of the 2013 season will determine the PGA Tour Player of the Year. If Woods, Scott or Mickelson could manage to win the FedEx Cup, the decision would become an easy one.