ATLANTA — At the conclusion of this week’s Tour Championship, the nominees for player of the year will be finalized, after which the PGA Tour members have until Oct. 1 to cast their votes for what amounts to the sport’s Most Valuable Player Award.
The timing suggests that the results of the 29-man event at East Lake Golf Club here will factor into the voting, and that the 72-hole season-finale matters. Yeah, right.
The testimony of the players suggests golf’s most prestigious individual honor is like baseball’s National and American League M.V.P. awards, decided before the playoffs get underway, without consideration of who comes up big when everyone but the best falls away.