Columnist Peter Benton: Circuits hand out yearly awards

Peter Benton

Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2002 | 9:48 a.m.

Peter Benton's golf column appears Wednesday.

Tiger Woods, Allen Doyle and Chad Campbell have been chosen players of the year on the PGA Tour, Senior PGA Tour and Buy.com Tour, respectively, by the membership of each circuit.

Woods won five times in 2001 and led the PGA Tour in earnings with $5,687,777. He also won the Byron Nelson Trophy for the third straight season, leading in scoring average with a mark of 68.81.

For the 53-year-old Doyle, who did not turn professional until he was 46, the 2001 season was a brilliant display of consistency. He won twice and posted 25 top-10 finishes in 34 starts.

Doyle was also the leading money winner, accumulating $2,553,582.

Campbell, a rookie on the Buy.com Tour in 2001, enjoyed a remarkable season that culminated in his third victory of the year and an automatic promotion to the PGA Tour.

Other award winners were Charles Howell and Bob Gilder, who were selected by their peers on the PGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour respectively as rookies of the year.

Howell, who began the year with no status on the PGA Tour, was selected by a narrow margin in a vote split primarily with Jose Coceres and Retief Goosen.

Utilizing sponsor exemptions, the 22-year-old Howell played his way onto the PGA Tour by earning $1,520,632. He made the cut in 20 of 24 starts.

Gilder, who earned a spot on the 2001 Senior PGA Tour at the 2000 National Qualifying Tournament, won twice among 13 top-10 finishes and earned $1,684,986.

The comeback player of the year on the PGA Tour is Joe Durant, while on the Senior Tour, John Schroeder was selected. Durant earned his accolade over Bob Estes, Jay Haas and Joey Sindelar, while Schroeder topped a list of nominees that included Jim Colbert and Jay Sigel.

All winners will be honored Jan. 30 during the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

He will be sorely missed.