Ballots for PGA Tour Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year were sent to players on Monday, but considering the candidates for both awards – with Rory McIlroy and John Huh the heavy favorites for their respective awards – there may be more intrigue regarding what is not on the year-end ballot.
For the second consecutive year, the Policy Board and Player Advisory Council didn’t nominate anyone for Comeback Player of Year, although there seemed to be worthy candidates.
The leading candidate for Comeback POY would be J.B. Holmes, who underwent brain surgery last September to repair Chiari malformations but played 25 events in 2012 and kept his Tour card with $1.17 million in earnings.
Stuart Appleby was the last player to win the award in 2010, and Steve Stricker collected the honor twice in 2006 and ’07, prompting Jerry Kelly to joke on Sunday at Disney, “I want to be the third player from Wisconsin to win Comeback Player of the Year (in 2013).”
The ballots for Player and Rookie of the Year are due on Nov. 30, although GTC has learned that the Tour considered expediting the process and reducing the polling period to three or four days. Officials considered that option as a tune up for next year when the Tour Championship will end the 2013 season, followed by the Frys.com Open two weeks later to begin the 2013-14 campaign.