David Toms was named the winner of the 2011 Payne Stewart Award Tuesday before the start of the Tour Championship.
Toms, who is in the field this week, is the 14th recipient of the award named in honor of Stewart, who died in a plane crash en route to the Tour Championship in 1999. The award is presented annually to a player “sharing Stewart’s respect for the traditions of the game, his commitment to uphold the game’s heritage of charitable support and his professional and meticulous presentation of himself and the sport through his dress and conduct.”
The David Toms Foundation works with at-risk boys and girls to enhance character, self-esteem and career possibilities. He currently is working to develop the David Toms Golf Academy, set to begin construction in 2012, to provide underprivileged youth in the Shreveport/Bossier, La., area the opportunity to learn the game of golf. Toms also worked with the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund and helped raise more than $1.5 million.
Past recipients are Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Ben Crenshaw, Nick Price, Tom Watson, Jay Haas, Brad Faxon, Gary Player, Hal Sutton, Davis Love III, Kenny Perry and Tom Lehman.
“Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, all these people, the who’s who of golf, and to be mentioned with those people is truly an honor for me,” Toms said.
The award includes a $300,000 grant presented by Southern Company. The money is distributed as follows: $100,000 to the Stewart Family Foundation; $100,000 in Stewart’s honor to The First Tee of the Ozarks and $100,000 to a charity designated by the winner. Toms has chosen the David Toms Foundation.
Staying at No. 1
Luke Donald continues to hold a considerable lead as the world’s No. 1 ranked player. He leads the PGA Tour this year with 12 top-10 finishes, including his win at the World Match Play Championship.
Tiger Woods, who had a stranglehold on the No. 1 ranking for so long, has slipped to 49th.
“Obviously there has been a lot of change, especially in the world rankings,” Donald said Tuesday. “That’s how they work. If you don’t play and you don’t perform, you move down. If you play well and consistently, winning tournaments and having high finishes, you are going to climb up that world ranking pretty quickly. That’s obviously happened to me.”
Playing from the rough
A dry summer may help golfers playing from the rough this week at East Lake Golf Club. According to general manager Rick Burton the rough will be the desired height of 2 1/4 inches. However those who hit off the fairway won’t have to deal with a Bermuda grass as thick as in year’s past. The dry conditions contributed to the rough’s lack of bite.
Don’t rub it in
Donald, who plays both the PGA and the European Tours, was asked Tuesday who he thought would win player-of-the-year honors for Europe. Donald listed several players, including Thomas Bjorn, Charl Schwartzel, Rory McIlroy and himself, as contenders. When prompted that he omitted British Open champion Darren Clarke, Donald laughed.
“I forgot all these European tour members keep winning majors,” said Donald, who is from England. “Not to rub it in.”
Before Keegan Bradley’s win at last month’s PGA Championship, foreign players had won the previous seven major championships.
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