HOUSTON (Dec.18, 2006) – Tiger Woods, Lorena Ochoa and Jay Haas have been named 2006 Players of the Year by the Golf Writers Association of America.
All three players will be honored at the GWAA’s Annual Awards Dinner April 4, 2007 in Augusta, Ga.
Woods has won the award a record eight times in the last 10 years. He won five consecutive awards before losing to Vijay Singh in 2004. It is the first POY award for both Ochoa and Haas.
Woods collected 97 percent of the vote, while Ochoa pulled 87 percent and Haas pulled 86 percent.
Woods’ victory at his own Target World Challenge – the last event of the year — was his ninth win of a season that blended triumph with tragedy. Woods won the opening and closing events of 2006, but lost his father Earl to cancer May 3. He took nine weeks off to grieve his loss, then, after missing the cut at the U.S. Open, went on an incredible run, finishing second at the Cialis Western Open and winning six consecutive events, including the final two majors of the year. It was the fourth multiple-major season of his career.
His PGA TOUR win streak began with an emotional win at the British Open and ended with the WGC- American Express Championship. He led the TOUR money list with $9.9 million in a career-low 15 starts and had the lowest scoring average (68.11) in 55 rounds.
Haas had the most productive season of his career, winning four times on the Champions Tour, including the Senior PGA Championship. He won both the money title and Charles Schwab Cup after down-to-the-last-putt-of-the-year races with Loren Roberts. Haas, who had 16 top 10 finishes, led the money list with $2.4 million. Haas was honored with both the ASAPSPORTS/Jim Murray Award and the Bob Jones Award in 2005.
Ochoa won a career-high six times on the LPGA Tour to end Annika Sorenstam’s five-year run. The 24-year-old, who was also named Mexico’s Female Athlete of the Year, captured the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average and led the money list with $2.592 million. She had five second-place finishes, including a playoff loss at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
The GWAA, founded in 1946, has more than 950 members. The professional organization takes an active role in protecting the interests of all golf journalists, works closely with all of golf’s major governing bodies and the World Golf Hall of Fame and facilitates a scholarship/internship program which is currently helping students at 17 major U.S. universities.
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Contact:
Melanie Hauser
Golf Writers Association of America
713/782-6664
