PGA Tour: Will Sportsmanship Impact Player Of The Year Voting?

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If it hasn't been obvious by now, I do not care about the "Player of the Year" award as voted on by the players, though after reading Shipnuck's year-end wrap, it will be interesting to see if Tiger Woods does not win only because it will mean players have issues with his recent rules run-ins (five wins normally would carry the day, even if he didn't win a major in stirring fashion the way Adam Scott or Phil Mickelson did.)

We'll find out Friday if this, as written by Alan Shipnuck in his year-end awards, impacts the voting.

Yeah, he won five times at the places where he always wins, but that's not what lingers from Woods' schizophrenic season. No, it will be remembered for his inexplicably bad weekend play at the majors and a handful of rules dust-ups. When Masters officials proffered a dubious loophole after Woods had signed an incorrect scorecard, he was within his rights to play on, but he missed a golden opportunity to do the right thing -- withdraw -- and forever join Nicklaus in the pantheon of good sportsmanship. More revealing was how Woods handled an imbroglio at the BMW Championship. Even after being confronted with video that showed the ball changed positions while he tried to remove debris around it, Woods stubbornly insisted the ball had merely oscillated and returned to its exact same spot. Among his peers oscillate immediately became an all-purpose punch line. The one place Woods' character has always been beyond reproach is between the ropes. But throw in another penalty in Abu Dhabi and a much-debated drop at the Players, and that, sadly, is starting to change.