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Tiger Woods was comfortably golf’s biggest earner in 2010, despite a difficult year both on and off the golf course for the Californian.

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Greame McDowell is up to a career high fifth in the latest world rankings.

by Setanta Staff

The Portrush golfer enjoyed a memorable 2010 as he claimed four tour wins, including the US Open, and helped Europe win back the Ryder Cup.

In addition he was named joint European Tour Golfer of the Year and claimed the Golf Writers Association of America prize.

Lee Westwood remains the world number one, ahead of Tiger Woods, Martin Kaymer and Phil Mickelson.

Rory McIlroy remains in tenth place, while Padraig Harrington has dropped to 25th

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I view my columns as children. Sometimes I like them, sometimes they’re annoying, sometimes I seriously question whether they actually spawned from my, um, “creative process.”

And sometimes I need to keep a little secret from them. This is one of those times.

Paul Casey's all-around game isn't suited for any one specific major venue. Might the Englishman grab his first major in 2011?

So to all of my other columns, I have one word: “Earmuffs” Or at least: “Blindfold.” Because you’re not going to like what I’m about to write.

This is my favorite column of every year.

I know, I’m supposed to treat all of my “children” equally and regard them with the same measure of support and disgust. But I can’t do it. This is the one who always cleaned its room, finished its vegetables and took out the trash. I call it “The Leap.”

You see, anyone can make predictions for specific tournaments. I do it all the time. Of course, not just anyone can be right about ‘em. That takes either a keen sense of inside knowledge or dumb luck. I’m usually fresh out of both.

This column is a little different, though. Rather than attempt to predict the winner of a certain tournament, I will choose players to make “The Leap” to the next level. As such, each player listed below will be chosen to move up in professional status via certain results during the upcoming season.

Of course, it’s a hit-or-miss proposition. Last year, Jeff Overton and Francesco Molinari reached the goals I set for them, while Geoff Ogilvy and Ai Miyazato notably came up short. I expect a similar mixed bag of results again this year, but at least I’ll have fun coming up with ‘em.

After all, it’s always nice to have your favorite kid around again.

Paul Casey
The Leap: Major championship winner
With 11 top-20 results in 31 career major appearances, he’s been close in the past. And yet, his best finish didn’t come until last year’s Open Championship, when he played in the final pairing at St. Andrews and closed with a share of third place, though still a mile behind winner Louis Oosthuizen.

Well, it’s time for the 33-year-old Brit to step it up a notch. An elite talent, Casey drives the ball a long way, hits a high percentage of greens and is a solid putter, but it’s his penchant for hitting the ball a mile high that really helps at majors. Add in the fact that his game is suited to win any of the four and we should expect this major breakthrough to happen at any of ‘em this year.

Ben Crane
The Leap: Major championship contender
Even most casual golf fans likely know two things about Crane: He plays painfully slow and he’s the dude with the hilarious workout video spoof. That’s one bad thing and one good thing, so let’s break the tie: He’s also one of the world’s best putters.

In 2010, that translated into wins at Torrey Pines and Malaysia, but it’s only a matter of time before he takes things to the next level. In 19 career major championship appearances, he owns just a single top-10 — he tied for ninth at the 2004 PGA Championship — but a guy who rolls the rock this smoothly won’t go much longer without finding himself on some leaderboards.

Jason Day
The Leap: Top-10 in Official World Golf Ranking
For years, he has owned a ton of potential. Now he’s really starting to fulfill it. Day won for the first time near his adopted hometown of Fort Worth at last year’s Byron Nelson Championship. He followed by making a late-season run that included three top-10s in his final five starts to finish the year inside the top-40 on the world ranking. He’s only going up from there, though. By year’s end, Day could very well surge past a few dozen top players en route to a single-digit next to his name.

Noh Seung-yul
The Leap: Top-25 in the Official World Golf Ranking
If the current OWGR held for another six weeks or so — and surely it won’t — Noh would sneak into the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship as the last man in the field at No. 64, barring no withdrawals. Not too shabby for a 19-year-old, but it’s only the beginning.

Noh already owns a victory on the European Tour and the ball-striker supreme has as much talent as any other young phenom, be it Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler or Matteo Manassero. Against inferior competition on the Asian Tour, but with solid world ranking points still available, expect him to ascend this list in a hurry.

Ryan Moore
The Leap: Presidents Cup team member
Before turning pro, Moore was all-everything, winning nearly every big-time collegiate and amateur tournament that exists. Since then, he’s been solid but not spectacular, often battling injuries to carve a nice career that includes 23 top-10 results in a half-dozen seasons.

Now a seasoned vet, he’s ready to make the leap into the next echelon. That could mean a few more wins, a jump in the world ranking or a number of other things. The prediction here is that by season’s end it will result in Moore securing a place as one of the 12 players on captain Fred Couples’ roster at the Presidents Cup.

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Warren Little/Getty ImagesAt the 2010 British Open, Charl Schwartzel was trumped by countryman Louis Oosthuizen. Don't expect Schwartzel to play second fiddle for very long.

Charl Schwartzel
The Leap: PGA Tour Rookie of the Year
Funny story: While Louis Oosthuizen was busy blitzing the field at St. Andrews last year, there was an issue of Golf Digest on the newsstands proclaiming his good buddy Schwartzel to be the next great South African player. Well, it might have been bad timing, but the headline wasn’t wrong.

Not long after Schwartzel finished runner-up at Doral to Ernie Els did his countryman congratulate him on clinching his PGA Tour card. With that result alone, he paved the way for this process — and with a handful of worldwide wins already to his name, don’t be surprised to see him bag his next one here in the U.S.

Brendon de Jonge
The Leap: Tour Championship competitor
You’ve seen this beefy guy before. He sort of looks like a lost Stadler. Fortunately for him, he plays like one, too.

After quietly racking up more than $2 million in earnings last season, de Jonge is ready to take another step. He usually plays better as the year progresses, so while he might elevate to a PGA Tour winner or top-50 on the OWGR, the pick here is that he pulls off another late surge, securing himself a spot in the elite field at East Lake GC in September.

Kris Blanks
The Leap: PGA Tour winner
Consider this both good news and bad news: Blanks is a very streaky player. It’s bad news because, well, every player strives for better consistency. The good news, though, is even better, as a few top-five results are usually more beneficial to a player’s progress than, say, a season full of 25th-place finishes.

Blanks might never be the type of player who cashes a check every week, but when he does, he can cash a big one, as evidenced by a runner-up finish in Puerto Rico and a T-5 at Harbour Town last season. Next up: His first career victory. Streaky players can do that, you know.

Jhonattan Vegas
The Leap: Top 75 on PGA Tour money list
First things first: Yes, this guy’s name is a headline writer’s dream.

“What Happens to Vegas…” “Vegas, Baby!” “Jackpot!”

That’s not the only reason he’ll be making headlines, though. Last season, he finished seventh on the Nationwide Tour money list, with one win and three other top-three finishes. This year, the big hitter will become the first native of Venezuela to be a full-time member of the PGA Tour. “What happens to Vegas” will likely be a lot of made cuts and a few title contentions in the big leagues.

Bobby Gates
The Leap: Top 125 on PGA Tour money list
Ladies and gentlemen: This is what the future of golf looks like. Listed at 6-foot-6, 225 pounds, Gates is straight out of the Dustin Johnson/Ricky Barnes mold, looking more like a linebacker or small forward than professional golfer.

That said, he can play a little golf, too. Last season, the 25-year-old had a win and a third-place finish in his first two Nationwide Tour events, cruising to his PGA Tour card from there. He won’t be a breakout star, but expect solid results in some lower-tier events to clinch his playing privileges for 2012, too.

Kyle Stanley
The Leap: PGA Tour driving distance leader
Quick: Name the longest hitter — statistically speaking — on the PGA Tour in 2010. Nope, it wasn’t Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, J.B. Holmes or even John Daly. The correct answer is Robert Garrigus, who popped off at an average of 315.5 yards while no one else topped 310. His counterpart on the Nationwide circuit, though, was Stanley, a former Clemson University player who was two yards longer than Garrigus on the developmental tour. Now a full-timer in the big leagues, the youngster might win the title because he’s not only long, but he can hit ‘em straight and keep ‘em rolling on the fairways pretty often, too.

Mika Miyazato
The Leap: Top-10 in Rolex Rankings
Ask an LPGA fan about simply “Miyazato” and you’re likely to hear all about the many talents of Ai. That’s for good reason, but Mika — no relation — has proved that she’s a pretty talented Miyazato in her own right.

Though she compiled just five top-10s in 23 starts on the LPGA last year, it’s worth noting that each came in her last 11 starts of the season and doesn’t even include her first professional victory in Japan, a week before turning 21 in October. Moving from 22nd in the world to inside the top 10 might not seem like a major leap, but considering she could pass the likes of Paula Creamer and Michelle Wie on the way, it’s certainly noteworthy.

Jessica Korda
The Leap: LPGA Rookie of the Year
Korda passed through Q-School with flying colors, finishing in second place at the annual December grindfest. She was rewarded with an exemption stating she can be a full-time member prior to turning 18. (Of course, she’ll reach that magic number in February, meaning this was the equivalent of a six-inch putt being conceded.)

Considering her immense talent, getting there might have been the toughest part. The daughter of ex-tennis star Petr Korda, she was runner-up at last year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur, played on the winning Curtis Cup team and competed in her third U.S. Women’s Open. Success on the pro level isn’t a matter of if, but when.

Fredrik Andersson-Hed
The Leap: Top-10 on European Tour money list
He is a tall, broad-shouldered Swede whose appearance could draw comparisons to countrymen Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson, but Andersson-Hed has found it much more difficult to make his mark in the professional ranks.

After going through Q-School on 14 separate occasions and finally earning his first win in 245 starts last season, he’s primed to join the other big boys of the Euro circuit. Last year he ranked first in putts per round and sixth in putting average while finishing 22nd in the Race to Dubai. Expect him to easily surpass that result this time around.

Thorbjorn Olesen
The Leap: European Tour Rookie of the Year
Full disclosure: This potentially great Dane already has a leg up on the competition. In his first two starts on the 2011 schedule, Olesen finished runner-up and T-9 — which doesn’t come as a surprise to most observers.

After failing to earn his playing privileges for last season by a stroke at Q-School, he embarked on a Challenge Tour campaign that saw him easily graduate to the big leagues this year. His pair of top-10 results took place prior to his 21st birthday on Dec. 21; expect him to only get better with age.

Joost Luiten
The Leap: European Tour winner
If not for injury, this soon-to-be 25-year-old likely would have made this leap already. Sidelined for parts of 2008 and most of 2009 with a wrist injury, he finally played a full year in 2010 and compiled a half-dozen top-10 finishes. He knows how to close, too, having once fired a final-round 61 to win a Challenge Tour event.

All of that talent should lead to yet another leap for him soon: Best golfer ever from the Netherlands. Granted, the likes of Rolf Muntz, Maarten Laafeber and Robert-Jan Derksen aren’t much competition, but Luiten could be the country’s first golfing superstar.

Tommy Biershenk
The Leap: Nationwide Tour graduate
One stroke. One measly stroke. Through six rounds of 108 holes at Q-School, that’s all that separated Biershenk from reaching his long-stated goal of reaching the PGA Tour. The Clemson University product was a regular on the developmental circuit in 2000-03 but has since been kicking around the mini-tours, finishing second on the eGolf Professional Tour money list last season.

Now 37, he’s back to a tour on which he made cuts in four starts a year ago. Expect that trend to continue now that he’s a full-timer, eventually meaning he won’t need to sweat out Q-School again.

Siddikur
The Leap: Top-100 in Official World Golf Ranking
The list of single-named athletes is a short one. There are a bevy of Brazilian soccer players, from Pele to Ronaldo, and then there’s … Siddikur.

In golf circles, this might be a first; heck, even Tiger has a last name. But the rising star from Bangladesh goes simply by just one name. Currently ranked 199th in the world, it might be wishful thinking for him to make such a vault in one calendar year, but he’s definitely a name worth watching — especially since we only have to watch half as much of a name as anyone else.

Jason Sobel is a golf writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Jason.Sobel@espn.com.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida — Bernhard Langer has been voted Player of the Year on the Champions Tour for winning five times, including successive majors against the 50-and-older set.

Langer became the first Champions Tour member to win Player of the Year and lead the money list for three straight years.

The two-time Masters champion from Germany had the most wins in a season since Craig Stadler won five times in 2004. Langer had top 10s on the circuit in 15 of 23 tournaments.

Fred Couples was voted Champions Tour Rookie of the Year, while Ken Green was Comeback Player of the Year for returning to competition after losing his left leg in crash that killed his girlfriend and brother.

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Karl Morr

The announcement follows confirmation that the Moray Firth coast has been named one of the world’s top coastal destinations by National Geographic Traveller magazine.

“It’s an exciting time for the area and everyone associated with Nairn and golf in the Highlands,” said Alister Asher, chairman of a specially formed Festival committee. “This is an extraordinary part of the world where you can find some of the finest golf courses in Europe. The Nairn Golf Festival is really about celebrating that as well as getting everyone primed for the year ahead.”

Dropping a hint that the Scottish Open is heading for Castle Stuart, Asher added: “It’s also the beginning of what will be an exciting year for golf in the Highlands.”

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Saltman’s sibling, Lloyd, fired a 65 for a ten-under 202 and a share of fourth, while Jack Doherty, with younger brother Paul on his bag, rocketed up to a ten-under tally with a sparkling seven-under 63.

Frontrunner Elliot, 28, admitted he never expected to be leading the pack at the halfway stage of the six-round marathon, but the Archerfield pro is confident he now has the head for heights. “It’s a great position to be in, but there are three rounds to go and I’ll just focus on keeping my head, ” said Saltman, after a neatly assembled five-birdie round.

Saltman’s brother, Lloyd, with youngest sibling Zack acting as caddie, demonstrated his growing confidence with a bogey-free round, but it was Doherty who fashioned the lowest Scottish score of the day as he powered into contention for one of the 30 Tour cards on offer in his first appearance at the q-school final.

The former Australian Amateur champion ignited his round with a 6-iron to ten feet at the tenth hole – his first – and was swift to praise the ‘Team Doherty’ input of bagman Paul, the former Scottish Boys’ champion. “Paul and I are great friends and he knows my game better than anyone,” he said. “This is a whole new experience for me and Paul is helping me to relax.”

Chris Doak, the Scottish PGA champion, indulged in the birdie-feast on the Tour course with a 64 for 204 to hoist himself into 14th, while Alastair Forysth continued his clamber up the rankings with two birdies on his last three holes in a three-under 67 for a three-under 209.

However, Marc Warren’s desperate season looks set for a dispiriting conclusion as he sagged to a 76 for a six-over 220 and slid towards an early exit.

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Bramlett shot a closing four-under-par 68 at Orange County National to finish at 11-under for six rounds, tyi

“This has been my dream since I was a little kid,” said Bramlett, who grew up outside San Jose in a multi-racial family.

Like Woods, he learned the game by emulating the swing of his father in a mirror and, also like the world No 2, he went to Stanford University.

Woods was quick to take notice of Bramlett’s performance, congratulating the soon-to-be rookie on making it through qualifying school via Twitter.

Woods tweeted: “Congrats to Joe Bramlett for making it through q-school. Amazing feat considering he sat out a whole year with wrist injury. Can’t wait to play with him next season.”

Bramlett became the youngest player at the time to qualify for the US Amateur at the age of 14.

He helped Stanford win the NCAA men’s team title in 2007. The day after he graduated from there earlier this year, he was at Pebble Beach playing practice rounds for the US Open with Woods

Adrian Stills was the last black golfer to pass the qualifying test. “It’s been too long,” said Bramlett. “To finally end that 25-year drought means the world to me, my family and everyone who has helped me along the way.”

Billy Mayfair closed with a two-under 70 to secure top spot in the Qualifying School, finishing at 18-under, a shot ahead of William McGirt (68).

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CALGARY – Chris Baryla didn’t let a Sunday swoon affect his card game.

There he was back at the table Monday, putting together one final hand in a bid to make the grade at PGA Tour Q-School in Winter Garden, Fla.

His payday? After shooting a sizzling 6-under — including five straight birdies to start the back nine — during the sixth and final stage, the Calgary-born Baryla earned a PGA Tour card, joining five other Canadians for the 2011 season.

“Just less bogeys,” said Baryla, 28, with a sigh of relief after Monday’s final round lifted him into the top-25 qualifiers to gain tour status. “I really did find my game. I tried to stay very focused on being in the present.”

That after he fell Sunday out of the top 25.

His 2-over 74 on the Panther Lake course in the fifth round dropped him three strokes below the cut-line. It followed rounds of 72, 61, 73 and 71 at Orange County National Golf Center & Lodge.

“I didn’t let Sunday bother me,” said Baryla, who carded a six-round, 12-under 417 to finish tied for 12th place among 153 hopefuls. “The Panther course was not my favourite to begin with, but I knew if I could just get around it (Sunday), I would have a chance.”

Baryla, who pocketed just US$24,245 playing in seven PGA events this past season, was back in Q-school this fall trying to earn full-time status after his rookie year on tour was dashed by health issues and multiple injuries.

The only other Canadian to make the cut at Q-school was Ontario’s Matt McQuillan, who posted an 11-under 418 to tie for 16th.

McQuillan, 29, shot one-under-par 71 in his final round on the Crooked Cat course, notching key pars on the final two holes.

A round of five-under on Sunday put McQuillan in the hunt and he played consistently on Monday to stay in the top 25.

The total purse on the 2011 PGA Tour is estimated to be US $288 million.

McQuillan and Baryla will be among six Canadians on the PGA Tour in 2011. He joins former Masters champion Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., Stephen Ames of Calgary, David Hearn of Brantford, Ont. and Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask.

The 2011 PGA Tour schedule opens with the Sony Open of Hawaii, Jan. 13-16 in Honolulu.

The next week is the Bob Hope Classic in La Quinta, Calif. — traditionally the first tournament for many Q-School graduates.

The RBC Canadian Open is July 21-24 in Vancouver.

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Mike Weir is ready to test his right elbow under tournament conditions and plans to return to action this weekend at the Shark Shootout.

The Canadian lefty will be paired with South Korea’s K.J. Choi at the tournament, which runs Friday to Sunday in Naples, Fla.

Golf is in what is known as its “silly season” and the Shark Shootout is not an official PGA Tour event.

It will be Weir’s first event since the Wyndham Championship in August, where it was discovered that he had a partially torn ligament in his right elbow.

Weir elected not to have surgery. The bulk of his injury rehabilitation involved exercises with bands that are designed to build strength.

The Shark Shootout offers an opportunity to ease his way back into action in a stress-free setting. The three-round format includes one day each of alternate shot, better ball and scramble.

Weir’s goal is to return to top form right from the beginning of the 2011 season. A medical exemption will allow him five tournaments to bring his 2010 earnings up to the equivalent of 125th on the money list — meaning he’ll need to earn roughly US$227,885 to keep his card.

Otherwise, he can use one of two special exemptions he holds because of career earnings to play the PGA Tour in 2011, but that’s something he hopes to avoid doing.

The time away from the game gave Weir the chance to reflect on his approach and make some changes. He’s decided to rely less on swing coach Mike Wilson, choosing instead to make key decisions on his own.

“I really don’t think I need a teacher,” Weir told The Canadian Press in October. “I need a set of eyes — whether it’s Mike or someone else — to keep an eye on what I know and give some feedback. I’m taking ownership of what I’m trying to accomplish when I make a swing.

“I feel like I don’t need anybody to tell me what to do. I know what I need to do.”

The 2010 season was one of the toughest of Weir’s career. After finishing sixth at the Bob Hope Classic in January, he failed to crack the top-10 in his remaining 18 tournaments. He missed eight cuts along the way and only broke 70 in two rounds after May.

The 40-year-old remains tied with George Knudson for the most PGA Tour victories by a Canadian at eight. His last win came at the 2007 Fry’s Electronics Open.

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Between them, Pace and Davies have already earned more than £540,000 on the LET circuit alone this season and, with a total prize fund of around £400,000 up for grabs in this week’s event at The Emirates Golf Club, it is easy to see why emerging European players are no longer in a rush to jump on a plane to try their luck on the LPGA Tour.

Krystle Caithness, a 21-year-old who lives in Cupar but cut her golfing teeth as a member of the St Regulus Club in St Andrews which is the home of golf’s first female Tour professional, joined the European circuit last year, finishing 41st on the money list. With one event to go, she’s sitting ten spots higher this time around with earnings of just over £58,000.

She’s not in a position yet to go out and buy her own flat or house so still lives with her parents, but, in terms of her career, the foundations have certainly been laid and, along with the likes of Vikki Laing, Pamela Feggans, Kylie Walker, Lynn Kenny and Carly Booth, Caithness is hoping to make Scotland’s presence felt on the European stage over the next few years.

“I always thought I wanted to try for the LPGA Tour and even had plans to do it this year. But now I just don’t know. The LET is strong and I like the fact we get to travel around Europe. We’re in a different country each week and we have lots of tournaments (26 this year],” Caithness told The Scotsman.

“It’s not a good time to go over to the LPGA Tour. I see Laura Davies up there and Lee-Ann Pace, too. They’ve made a good living this year and, though it may not be as much as the players on the LPGA Tour, I really enjoy playing on the LET. I’m not as comfortable as I would like. I have goals to buy a house, for instance, and I can’t afford to do that just now. I have to perform better to do that.

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With the season complete on all three major tours, Q-school finals in the books on the PGA Tour and Silly Season underway, you probably thought golf would settle into a short winter’s nap, right? Not even close. The controversy and newsworthy items are piling up as fast as ever and CBS Sports.com senior writer Steve Elling and Augusta Chronicle columnist and golf writer Scott Michaux are here to eyeball and argue the pros and cons of it all.

In a first, the European Tour on Tuesday morning named Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer as co-Players of the Year for 2010. If you’d been asked to vote, who would you have picked?

ELLING: Last week, the Golf Writers Association of America e-mailed to its members its ballot for awards for both the men’s and women’s players, which annoyed me because the LPGA season hadn’t been completed. Little did anybody know what McDowell had in store for us at the Chevron event on Sunday, when he erased a four-shot lead by tournament host Tiger Woods and made two unforgettable putts on the 18th hole to force, and eventually win, a playoff with the former world No. 1. Coupled with three official worldwide wins, including a U.S. Open title in which he outlasted multiple major championship winners Woods, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson on a brutal Pebble Beach venue, I am hereby voting for the Northern Irishman. Kaymer had a great year, and yes, McDowell’s handiwork at the Ryder Cup and Chevron events were not in full-blown tournaments, per se, but voting is a subjective matter, isn’t it? McDowell shot down Woods on his home turf, in his backyard tournament, and it was as riveting as anything we have seen all year. Yeah, it was a veritable exhibition, with only 18 guys in the field, but if you saw the look on Woods’ mug on Sunday, he was playing for blood in his last chance to win anything in 2010. McDowell finished off his breakthrough season in eye-popping fashion. I am casting my GWAA ballot today — Graeme gets the nod.

MICHAUX: First of all, I ended up voting for Martin Kaymer to be the GWAA’s Male Golfer of the Year (there is no tour delineation). And all of the reasons for it are very solid. After finishing T8 and T7 in the U.S. and British Opens, Kaymer played spectacularly in winning a very hotly contested PGA Championship. That kicked off a Tiger-like stretch of dominance on the Euro Tour with two more wins in succession wrapped around a stout Ryder Cup performance. He had four real tour victories on the year, tops in the world. I’m not taking that vote back just because McDowell beat Tiger in a glorified exhibition. That said, I happen to think the European POY indecision deserves a wisdom of Solomon shoutout. This was a European Tour award, and there is no arguing the impact those two players had on that circuit this year. Kaymer won the most events and the overall money thingy. McDowell prevailed over a marquee leaderboard (Woods, Mickelson and Els all in his dust) to end a Euro drought in the U.S. Open and he was an absolute rock at the decisive moment in the Ryder Cup, the tour’s most important event. If Lee Westwood had won the Masters on his way to No. 1, they would probably have been justified making it a three-way — which would have been a fitting tribute to 2010, don’t you think? This was a very big year for the Euro Tour, and there was a lot of praise to be passed around.

There’s been plenty of critical blowback over the PGA Tour’s Rookie of the Year Award, which was given to Rickie Fowler over Rory McIlroy. Again, you guys, make the call.

ELLING: I can probably end this discussion before it begins with the simple disclosure that Rory McIlroy voted for Rickie Fowler and said he didn’t want to win the PGA Tour’s top-rookie award because, as a third-year pro, he doesn’t consider himself a rookie. Sure, Rory Mac was a first-timer on the U.S. tour this year and was absolutely eligible for the honor, but the PGA Tour regulars who voted decided Fowler, who turned pro in mid-2009 after leaving college, deserved the nod. That didn’t stop world No. 1 Lee Westwood — who has the same agent as McIlroy — from going nuts on his Twitter account, accusing the tour of protectionism by giving the award to a Yank who didn’t win an event over McIlroy, an Irishman who won in Charlotte. That’s a tough charge to substantiate, frankly. The vibe I got from tour players at Q-school last week is that some voted for Fowler for three reasons. First, because he played more often (28 starts to 16 for McIlroy) and was thus a better-known quantity, personally. Second, because Fowler outplayed McIlroy at the Ryder Cup and made a couple of huge putts on the final green in Wales. Third, because not everybody was crazy about McIlroy’s decision to drop his membership on the PGA Tour after one season. You want to know the real idiocy here? That the PGA Tour does not release voting totals. I suspect it was a close tally — just like with Kaymer and McDowell overseas.

MICHAUX: I have to agree with the critics on this one. It was a travesty to not give that award to McIlroy. No contest. Fowler had a nice season as a rookie in the truest sense, but he won nothing. Even his most enduring moment – the late comeback to give the U.S. life in the Ryder Cup singles – got trumped that day by the Northern Irishman, who also rallied for a tie against Stewart Cink in what proved to be a pivotal boost for the European cause. It really was an inexcusable vote considering the fashion in which McIlory won at Quail Hollow (closing 62) and how he finished third in two majors (British and PGA) and tied the all-time major-championship scoring record (63) in the first round at St. Andrews. There is simply no measurable way that Rickie topped Rory in 2010, except on the player ballots and possibly in a who-has-the-worst-haircut contest (I’d like to have their problem). To that point, I think Lee Westwood was spot on with his extended Twitter rant: “Is this yet another case of protectionism by the pga tour or are they so desperate to win something! Wouldn’t have something to do with Rory not joining the tour next year? Maybe the PGA tour just employs the same voting process as FIFA!” This decision came down to pure politics, which is too bad. As Steve Spurrier would say, you can’t spell Rory without ROY. The PGA Tour failed on this count.

For the first time in exactly a quarter-century, a player of African-American heritage has earned his PGA Tour card via the Q-school route. What took so long?

ELLING: Joseph Bramlett’s 2011 season as a rookie on the PGA Tour is going to be a frenetic one. First, he has to navigate the particulars of professionalism — courtesy cars, direct-deposit banks accounts, paying the IRS, dealing with agents and caddies, grasping insanely complex tour bylaws and conducting media interviews — while playing courses he has never before seen. It’s the media part that’s going to prove most difficult, I suspect, because Bramlett on Monday became the first player with African-American blood since 1985 to earn his card via Q-school. For all the right reasons, he is going to be a big story at every tour stop and the genial Stanford graduate seems up to the task. It’s quite a responsibility he will be shouldering. No question, throughout his junior years, Bramlett had benefits not enjoyed by many black players in that his family had a country club membership in San Jose. There’s not a scintilla of doubt in my mind that if you can play, there’s a spot for you regardless of race, creed or religion — the Q-school finals Monday produced Korean, Canadian and Brazilian players who earned cards and another of Hispanic descent. But that doesn’t mean the game doesn’t discriminate in other ways. It can cost a fortune to play, especially for those hoping to compete at the highest levels, like for the parents of juniors on the prestigious AJGA circuit who travel the country. Many have coaches, sports psychologists and trainers already. For most of the folks I know, be they hues of white, black or green, that’s a financial deal-breaker. Hopefully, Bramlett opens some doors as well as some eyes, and prompts more kids of various colors to take up the game. Middle-class kids can make it if they want it bad enough — look no further than Tiger Woods or Rickie Fowler as proof. Like Bramlett said after his round as it relates to bridging this particular cultural gap, “it’s been too long.” Amen to that.

MICHAUX: Since implementing the all-exempt PGA Tour in 1983, only two African-American golfers had ever gained first-time entry into the fraternity. The first was former South Carolina State golfer Adrian Stills, who lasted one season after making it through qualifying school in 1985. The second was Tiger Woods, who avoided Q-school altogether. Now Joseph Bramlett makes it three. It seems strange that during a more exclusionary era in our nation’s social history, the PGA Tour was filled with more black faces. But the tour is completely different now, and the competition from all over the world is greater and economics still play an immense part. Woods said 10 years into his reign in 2006 that he was disappointed to still be alone on tour. But he was not surprised. “At the junior level there are some (black) players with some talent,” he said. “But as you continue throughout golf and continue to move up in levels, the process of screening kind of weeds them out. It’s hard to make it out here.” It took generations to turn racial inequality around and in the right direction, and golf is no different. “Time and the tools — the pyramid effect,” Woods said of what it will take to ultimately change the face of the PGA Tour with more black pros. “You need to have a bigger base. Yes, I’ve seen a bunch of junior golfers that have a lot of skill. But as you grow up through the ranks from local junior golf to state and national and college and amateur golf, at each level you think this guy is a can’t-miss, and he doesn’t make it. Then you go on the mini-tours and progress up to the elite level to our tour. That process, you need to have a bigger base. If you only have 10 guys, what are the chances of those 10 guys versus a million?” Thankfully, Bramlett is one in a million.

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WINTER GARDEN, Fla. — The ink was barely dry on his scorecard when he made the phone call home.

Joseph Bramlett had a short, but poignant, conversation with his father.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard my dad cry before,” Bramlett said.

Joseph Bramlett shakes off a rough start in the final round to rally into the top 25, securing his PGA Tour card for 2011. (AP) The Bramletts have had plenty of reasons to celebrate this year. Joseph graduated from Stanford in less than four years with a degree in communications this summer and played a few days later in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. On Monday, the lanky 22-year-old became a member of another small group, earning his card on the PGA Tour in his first crack, right out of college.

But there’s a social context to the latter accomplishment that means at least as much in the larger scheme of things, given the incomprehensible drought for a certain segment of American society as it relates to golf.

When Bramlett birdied five holes in the middle of his round on Monday, moving inside the number required to cement his rookie status on tour in 2011, he became the first player of African-American descent to play his way through Q-school in 25 long, lean, incomprehensible years.

He will join another Stanford grad of mixed ethnicity next year in the big leagues, which was pretty apropos given the celebration Bramlett unveiled when he made a dicey 6-footer for par on his 108th and final hole at Orange County National. Bramlett let out a yelp and unleashed a huge uppercut fist pump when the putt rolled in to secure his card. Where have we seen that move from a Stanford product before?

“I don’t know,” Bramlett said. “But I’ve heard he’s pretty good.”

So is Bramlett’s story. Not to mention long overdue and entirely welcome.

The last African-American player to earn a card at Q-school was Adrian Stills in 1985. While inroads have been made in impressive numbers by other ethnicities and nationalities — for instance, Alex Rocha on Monday became the first Brazilian to earn his card — the wave of African-Americans we thought Tiger Woods would precipitate hasn’t remotely materialized. In fact, other than Woods, the lone black player this year on one of the major U.S. tours was Madalitso Muthiya on the Nationwide, and he’s from Zambia.

Bramlett has been conducting interviews all week on the social implications of what he faced this week and delivered the goods in special fashion. He said he’s more than ready to carry the banner formerly championed by guys like Charlie Sifford, Jim Thorpe and Calvin Peete.

“It’s an honor, it truly is an honor,” Bramlett said. “Like I’ve said before, it’s been a long time. I’m just thrilled to see it start to change.”

Will it be an earth-shaking development? He’s from the right locale. Bramlett grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where his dad is a member of San Jose Country Club. Dad threw a club in the crib at a young age and Joseph was swinging it before he even realized what it was.

As Joe grew older, he began to mirror the swing of his dad, Marlo, which sounds a little Tigeresque, too, to say the least.

Marlo Bramlett’s cell phone all but blew up on Monday after his son cracked the big leagues as a ceaseless stream of text messages, e-mails and calls from well-wishers flowed. Swing coach Butch Harmon called to express his congratulations.

The elder Bramlett, who is black, let out a deep breath as he tried to put the cultural accomplishment in context and ended up borrowing from the script offered by his son, who is a tremendously composed kid.

“Joseph said it best when he said it’s been too long,” Marlo Bramlett said. “We’ve come so far in a lot of ways.

“There are some men coming up that are exceptional players that will make it. But hopefully we look at it one day we look at this deal as 156 golfers, and not 156 golfers and one African-American and three of Asian descent, just 156 players.

“I hope we get there, I really do.”

The fact that Bramlett climbed a steep mountain wasn’t missed by Woods, who for his entire career has been the lone player of African-American heritage on the tour. Within moments of Bramlett’s par-saving putt on the last hole, Woods sent out two messages on his Twitter page.

Wrote Woods: “Amazing feat considering he sat out a whole year with wrist injury. Can’t wait to play with him next season.”

I showed the Twitter posts to Bramlett on my laptop and he beamed broadly, as you might expect.

“So he was watching?” Bramlett said. “That’s kind of a cool shout-out.”

Bramlett was a member of Stanford’s NCAA national championship team in 2007, then injured his right wrist working out. Worse, he crashed his bike on the way to class a few months later, reinjuring the same wrist. As a senior this year, however, he played well enough to claw his way into the U.S. Open via the difficult sectional qualifying route and played a practice round with Woods at Pebble Beach the day after he graduated from Stanford.

A total of 252 holes of Q-school angst later, here he is in the majors — though it was surely touch and go for a while. Bramlett started the sixth and final round two strokes outside the projected number needed to secure his card. Then he bogeyed the second and third holes to fall back to 5 under overall. Somewhere, he needed to pick up at least five strokes coming in.

“To be honest, I got off to a terrible start,” said Joseph, who shot a 4-under 68. “Then it just kind of clicked.”

Like tumblers in a safe combination, it all fell into place. He reeled off five straight birdies starting at the eighth to move into the mix. Then he made a 25-footer for birdie on the 17th to move to 11 under, which ended up being two strokes inside the number at T16.

His caddie, Don Allio, an assistant pro at the Bramlett’s home club, caddied for him and didn’t seem the least bit surprised that the 6-foot-4, 195-pound beanpole was able to scratch his way back on a day that began with the thermometer at 40 degrees.

“I kept feeling like I was hot, and I just wanted to keep riding it,” Bramlett said. “This isn’t the time to take your foot off the gas pedal. I was just trying to give it everything I had.”

Besides, why would the frigid weather bother Bramlett when he apparently has ice water in his veins? “He’s amazing, and he has been like that since he was a kid,” said Allio, 39, who has known the family for about 15 years. “He’s so clutch that you almost expect it to go in.”

For the game, his ascension is a massive relief in many ways. If Woods had a dollar for every time he has been asked about the absence of black players in the professional game despite the existence of many newer programs such as the First Tee, he could buy a second mansion in Jupiter with cold cash. It has become an awkward subject for players of all colors and creeds.

Woods did his part and opened the game to an entirely new audience. He blazed a trail, did clinics, tried to raise interest among under-represented groups of youngsters. But even 14 years after he turned pro, that hasn’t translated to date into bigger numbers at the higher levels.

Golf is a brutal meritocracy, where shortcuts are hard to come by for all players regardless of their socioeconomic status, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be coldly exclusionary to some. First and foremost, it’s prohibitively expensive to play in an era of $400 drivers and the seemingly compulsory need for swing coaches for prospects at young ages. Teens travel the country playing in top events. Anybody trying to climb the ladder on hardscrabble muni courses is at a distinct disadvantage developmentally.

A junior golfer has to shell out a wallet-full of his dad’s hard-earned jack for clubs, range balls, a glove and green fees — and that’s if he can get a ride to the course, where it takes five hours to walk 18 holes. Meanwhile a kid with a basketball can play for hours in his driveway by himself, for free.

OK, end of social sermon.

Maybe Bramlett’s rise to the majors will inspire a few more kids to take up a game they might otherwise have ignored for whatever reason. It certainly meant plenty to Marlo Bramlett, from the cultural context.

“It means a whole lot, it really does — he got me started when I was a little baby,” Joseph said. “Not only for my old man, but for a lot of people who have been there for me over the years. I think it’s going to mean a whole lot.”

For the sake of the game’s diversity, I hope the kid’s right. He has a degree from Stanford, so I am not about to argue with him.

Being a dad myself, I asked Marlo what made him most proud, that he had a Stanford grad or a PGA Tour member as a son. He didn’t hesitate with his answer.

His genial son seems well-positioned and fortified to handle the spotlight that his accomplishment will surely generate. Twenty-five years is a long, long drought.

“People say that it is cliché but it really isn’t — the first thing that comes across from people when they talk to me about Joseph is what a good young man he is,” Marlo said.

“It doesn’t matter what happens on the golf course and it doesn’t matter where his career takes him. It’s about the quality of the individual.”

If Bramlett delivers quality, and somehow makes up for a sobering lack of a certain social quantity, then the whole game will be the better for it.

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