Taiwan’s world No. 1 Yani Tseng, who triumphed 12 times across the globe this year, was named the female player of the year by the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA) on Thursday.
British world No. 1 Luke Donald added another accolade to his rapidly growing resume when he was named male player of the year by the GWAA, while US veteran Tom Lehman was named senior player of the year.
Donald, who won four times worldwide this year and became the first player to clinch the money titles on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, earned 88 percent of the GWAA votes.
Photo: AFP
The 34-year-old Englishman comfortably beat Americans Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson and Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy for the award.
Bradley won his maiden major title at the PGA Championship and McIlroy claimed his first Grand Slam crown at the Masters, but Donald eclipsed all his rivals with an extraordinarily consistent campaign.
He won twice on the USPGA Tour and posted a further 12 top 10 finishes in 19 starts. Donald took over at the top of the world rankings on May 30 and went on to win the this year’s PGA of America player of the year award and the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average.
On Dec. 13, he became the first Briton to be named USPGA Tour player of the year and just two days later was voted the European Tour’s golfer of the year.
Tseng, Donald and Lehman will be honored at the GWAA’s annual awards dinner on April 4.
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