The PGA Tour season is going strong so far this year as we have seen Phil Mickelson win a tournament at the wild Phoenix Open, a warrior in Brandt Snedeker battling through and is still among the game’s elite, and a classic Masters duel between Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera. The season has brought nothing but greatness so far this season and it’s only a few months in. We still have three majors to go which means more classic moments are on the way. Not to mention The Players Championship will be coming around sooner than most people think which has also proven to be a legendary tournament at the Pete Dye designed TPC Sawgrass which features arguably, the most famous hole in all of golf, the island green 17th.
The game is getting stronger each tournament and new players and current stars rise up to the challenge each as a former superstar in Greame Mcdowell won the RBC this past weekend. The sport of Golf keeps evolving and evolving and looks to keep the flow going moving forward this season and into next season. There are so many different players out there with many unique styles and each are popping up on the leaderboards each week and that’s a beautiful thing to see because it adds more suspense to each golf tournament. Yes, fans love Tiger Woods but we must understand that there are other players on Tour as well that are just as talented as Woods’ is right now. I would put guys like Snedeker or Jason Day up against Woods any day of the week as both players have shown they can compete with anybody on Tour. Justin Rose has quietly had a good season as he is one of the top 10 ranked players in the world and is always squeezing his way on the leaderboard and very well could get his first victory this year and possible his first major.
His best finish at a major was third just last year at the PGA Championship and he also has 13 professional wins making two wins shy of being hall of fame eligible and getting a major may certainly seal the deal and his place in St Augustine Florida. In five events this year, Rose has three top ten finishes and has finished in the top 25 in all events he has played in so far although he barely squeeked his way into the top 25 at The Masters a couple of weeks ago. Luke Donald still has a chance to be really good this year as he has already proven time and time again that he is the real deal. He, like Rose is very close to being hall of fame eligible, all Donald needs is one more victory to possibly have his place in the hall and both he and Rose have an excellent shot to do that this year which is one of the many reasons why this season is special.
Donald, a former Northwestern golf star under legendary coach Pat Goss has finished well in majors with his best finishes being tied for third at The Masters in 2005, tied for third at the PGA Championship in 2006, tied for 12th at the U.S. Open in 2006 and two ties for fifth at The Open Championship in 2009 and last year in 2012. All these players are great and this season should be a blast moving forward especially the majors and the Players Championship, so without further ado, here are my top 10 players of the 2013 PGA Tour season thus far.
1. Adam Scott: Although he hasn’t had strong finishes at non-major events, he has finished strong in the last few majors and his win at The Masters might just make him hungrier.
2. Brandt Snedeker: The way he has been playing this year has been amazing and the fact that he led The Masters at one point while battling an injury is incredible. He remains one of the most dangerous players on Tour in 2013.
3. Jason Day: He always seems to be in the top 10 in every tournament he participates in which is mind boggling. It will be a huge shock if he doesn’t win a couple of tournament this year. He only has one PGA Tour win in his career
4. Justin Rose: He’s one of the top 10 players in the world and has quietly had a solid season. The expectations were set fairly high for the future hall of famer this season and he has been playing well but just didn’t get the victory yet.
5. Tiger Woods: He has shown this year that he can win tournaments again and he finished in the top five in The Masters for the third straight year but still needs to win a major if he wants to be the Tiger of old.
6. Matt Kuchar: Matt Kuchar only has four top 10 finishes this year in nine chances but has a victory on his 2013 resume and is still one of the top players in the world and is always going to be towards the top in majors. A guy to definitely look for at the U.S. Open.
7. Kevin Streelman: Missed the cut at The Masters but has a victory at the Tampa Bay Championship and finished third at the RBC. Look for him to redeem himself at the U.S. Open at Merion.
8. Luke Donald: The world’s number five player in the world has only two top 10’s this year but has two strong finishes in his last three events. Look for the former number one to make a quick turnaround.
9. Greame McDowell: A former U.S. Open champion, McDowell has one victory this season which was just last week, winning the RBC and proving that he is still extremely dangerous on Tour. Look for the Irishman to make an impact in the next three majors.
10. Steve Stricker: Although he has been fairly quiet this season, he still is a threat on the course and still has a chance to win a tournament before it’s all set and done. He finished second at the Cadillac tournament.