TOUR Insider: Who's the top rookie at the halfway mark?
By Stan Awtrey, PGATOUR.COM Contributor
They ran the Kentucky Derby a few weeks ago and the result confirmed the fact that the horse that bolts from the gate the fastest is rarely the one who ends up wearing the spray of roses and surrounded by women wearing fancy hats. Normally you need to wait until the halfway pole to get a feel for which of the horses is going to cross the line first.
The same is true on the PGA TOUR when it comes to evaluating the rookies. A fast start doesn't mean someone is going to still be charging hard as the finish line approaches. Now, with half the season in the bag, it is time to begin evaluating the contenders to see who might end up as the Rookie of the Year. This has been a fairly strong rookie class, which means there will very likely be some excitement produced by the first-year players this summer.
Here's one stab at rating the rookies, in the reverse order of their status:
Matt Every: The former All-American from Florida has one top-10 (Phoenix), but has missed the cut in three of his last four starts.
Josh Teater: A rough start saw the former Morehead State star either miss the cut or finish outside the top 50 in nine of his first 10 starts. It's been better lately, with a tie for 16th in New Orleans and tie for 14th in Houston. His best was a tie for fifth at Pebble Beach.
Graham DeLaet: The Boise State product has missed the cut seven times in 12 starts, but contended in Houston, where he finished third.
Troy Merritt: Another feast-or-famine guy from Boise State. He's missed the cut nine times in 14 starts, but could have won in New Orleans, where he finished third.
Blake Adams: An up-and-down year for the man from South Georgia. The good: A tie for 10th at Pebble Beach. The bad: six missed cuts in 13 starts. Still, he's hanging in there, and is 116th in FedEx Cup points.
Jeev Milkah Singh: The veteran from India, who is playing the TOUR on a fulltime basis for the first time, got a late start because of a new baby. Now he's battling a bum shoulder. Singh took a cortisone shot for and sat out three weeks before returning to miss the cut in San Antonio. He's won on nearly every professional tour; no reason to think he won't win in America. Once healthy he'll contend.
Alex Prugh: The University of Washington product was the hottest rookie in the early going, but stumbled about six weeks into the season, and is just regaining his momentum. He's missed five cuts in the last eight events, but had three consecutive top-10s at the start of the year, including fifth-place showings in back-to-back weeks at the Bob Hope Classic and at Torrey Pines.
Derek Lamely: A Nationwide graduate, Lamely was the first rookie to win on TOUR in 2010 when he finished first at the Puerto Rico Open. Lamely also showed well at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but has missed the cut in his most recent three events. Still, Lamely looks like he's going to hang around.
Rickie Fowler: Four top-10s in the first 13 events, including a runner-up finish at Phoenix and a tie for fifth at Torrey Pines. You can give Fowler a little grief for his wardrobe; few can pull off the all-orange look. But his game is beyond reproach. It won't be long before he wins.
Rory McIlroy: Is it really fair to call the lad from Northern Ireland a rookie? After all, he nearly won the Race to Dubai on the European Tour in 2009. Still, he is official a rookie on the PGA TOUR, so you have to place him at the head of the class. McIlroy flashed a peek of his brilliance at the Quail Hollow Championship when he closed with a final-round 62 to pick up his first win on TOUR.
This could be a week to watch Fowler. He needs a top-five finish at the HP Byron Nelson Championship to qualify for the U.S. Open and a victory would take care of a lot of issues.
"Winning is the goal every week," Fowler said. "I would say the long term goals for the year, I want to keep playing well and play with a little more consistency." Fowler said he wants to qualify for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola and possibly have a chance to compete for a spot on the Ryder Cup team.
McIlroy already has his first win, is almost a lock to be named to the European Ryder Cup team, and wouldn't mind a Rookie of the Year title.
So as the horses approach the halfway point, you'd have to say that McIlroy is ahead of Fowler by half a length. Both are well ahead of the other rookies. While a longshot, such as Lamely, could move around the pack as they head down the home stretch, this appears to be a two-horse race.
Stan Awtrey is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR.
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