2008 PGA Tour Award Series: Underachiever Of The Year

2008 PGA Tour Underachiever Of The Year: Rory Sabbatini

Rory Sabbatini is known for being one of the most outspoken players on the PGA Tour, particularly when it comes to attacking other players in the media, including Tiger Woods.

But little was heard from Sabbatini in 2008, both on and off the course.

In 2007, Sabbatini finished sixth on the PGA Tour Money List with earnings of over $4.5 million. 

Sabbatini finished in a tie for second place at the 2007 Masters, followed shortly thereafter by a win at the Crown Plaza Invitational in May 2007.

Sabbatini finished fourth in the 2007 FedEx Cup final standings after top-10 finishes in each of the four playoff events. 

Sabbatini’s breakout year also earned him a spot on the 2007 President’s Cup team. 

Some time between last year’s FedEx Cup and the start of the 2008 season, Sabbatini saw his game disappear right from under him.

Sabbatini has not finished in the top-10 of a PGA Tour event since his third-place finish at the Buick Invitational back in January.  Since then, Sabbatini’s brightest moment came at the Masters Par-3 tournament, which he won. 

Sabbatini missed the cut at both the Masters and the British Open while finishing 39th at the PGA Championship and 58th at the US Open. 

Rory’s poor play in 2008 has resulted in a drop from sixth on the PGA Tour’s Money list in 2007 to 65th in 2008, with earnings of $1.4 million. 

Sabbatini reached as high as eighth in the Official World Golf ranking last year, but now finds himself as the 24th-ranked player in the world. 

Sabbatini’s significant drop-off in 2008 can be largely attributed to his putting and his poor driving accuracy. 

In 2008, Sabbatini has hit only 60 percent of fairways off the tee; that percentage ranks 130th on the PGA Tour. 

From the fairway to the green, Sabbatini has not been all that bad.  He is hitting just over 64 percent of greens in regulation, which ranks 80th on the PGA Tour—nothing to brag about, but not nearly as horrific as his driving accuracy and putting.

Once on the green, Sabbatini is averaging 1.8 putts per round, which sounds excellent to the weekend hacker, but that's certainly not going to cut it on the PGA Tour.  Sabbatini’s putting average ranks 130th on the tour. 

Sabbatini has been on the PGA Tour for some time now, but didn’t see any significant success until last year. 

At the age of 32, many believed Sabbatini would be an up-and-coming player to watch in the coming years. But in 2008, he has been anything but. 

Sabbatini is still in the early stages of his prime and has plenty of time to turn around this major letdown of a 2008 season. 

If the past two years are anything to go by, Sabbatini’s success in coming years can be largely measured by the number of egotistical comments we hear coming out of his mouth. 

As is true of many outspoken athletes, when times are good they are quick to throw out the punches in the form of critical comments. But when times are bad, all is quiet on that front.