PGA champion Tiger
Woods, Hale Irwin and Ryan Howison earned the Player of the Month honours
for August.
Woods not only earned
his second major title with a victory at the PGA Championship at Medinah
Country Club, but also won the NEC Invitational later in the month. The
NEC featured an elite 41-man field comprising the members of the Presidents
and Ryder Cup teams.
Woods, who also tied
for 37th at the Sprint International, has four wins in his last seven starts
and became the first player to surpass $4 million in earnings for a season.
Woods also won the
honour this past February and captured it three times in 1997. He has won
five PGA Tour events this year, becoming the first player to win five times
in a season since Nick Price in 1994.
Irwin, who also earned
the honour in May and July, did not win during the month of August, but
tied for third in Utah and lost playoffs in Boston and Canada. He became
the first Senior Tour player to win the honour without posting a victory
during the month.
Irwin also had a
string of 13 straight rounds in the 60s to set a Senior Tour record. He
has been chosen player of the month 11 times in his Senior Tour career.
Howison won a playoff
and lost a playoff in the month of August on the Nike Tour. He lost to
Fran Quinn at the Dakota Dunes Open, then beat Edward Fryatt in a playoff
at the Ozarks Open.
Howison has won twice
on the Nike Tour this year and needs one more victory this season to earn
a "Battlefield Promotion" to the PGA Tour.
