End-of-season dash for cash undermines world rankings

JUST about everybody by now has had their fling at picking their various sporting stars of 2011.

For golfers, the biggest surprise was the choice of cyclist Mark Cavendish as the BBC’s personality of the year considering that Luke Donald had made history by becoming the first player ever to win the orders of merit on both sides of the Atlantic and end the year as the game’s number one player.

Then you had Ireland’s two Major championship winners, Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke, who in turn were passed over for Donald by both the European and US PGA Tours. Here at home, it was a straight call between McIlroy and Clarke, with the former getting the nod from RTÉ television and the Irish Golf Writers’ Association award shared after they were unable to separate the two Ulstermen.