THE Rookie of Any Year...EVER!

It’s awards season on the PGA Tour. Just don’t expect to tune in for a balck tie event on the Golf Channel to see the winners. The candidates were announced, literally via press release, with all the pomp and circumstance of hearing your order being called over the speaker at the local In ‘N’ Out.

Kudos PGA Tour for rolling out a veritable stained Astroturf carpet for this event.

The crown jewels went to Patrick Cantley for Player of the Year, whereas the Rookie of the year went to Will Zalatorisover fellow greenhorn Garrick Higgo.

Zalatoris had a phenomenal season, considering he wasn’t a full member that could earn FedEx Cup points throughout the season:

• No victories, 21/25 cuts made, 8 top-10s, including runner-up finish at The Masters
• Finished season 29th in World Ranking, 26th in FedEx Cup Points
• Playing as a Special Temporary Member, though, wasn’t eligible for the playoffs
• Earned full status for the 2021-22 season, without playing in the playoffs. Incredible

You know what’s even more incredible? Perhaps THE greatest rookie season ever in professional golf. Ladies, gentlemen and folks that can be classified as neither, we present to you the accomplishments of Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez in 1978:

• Won her first tournament In February at the Bent Tree Classic in Sarasota, Florida.
• Starting In April, she won five straight tournaments, including the LPGA Championship
• Followed this streak with 7 more top 10s, more wins, totalling 9 wins on the year
• Also had two sudden death playoff losses in the season
• Still only player to win ROY, POY and Vare Trophy honors in the same season

Lopez earnings for all this hardware? A record setting at the time $200K. Zalatoris’ winnings on the year for not winning anything? $3.935 million!.

Congrats to Zalatoris for one hell of a season played with no actual status (and winning stacks of cash to boot).

However, let’s sit back and marvel at Nancy Lopez’s rookie year; that lone season would have been an outstanding career for just about any other player. You Go Girl!