huh’s;our;pick;iN;rookie;race

four rookies broke through with victories on the pga tour in 2012—John Huh at the mayakoba classic, ted potter Jr., at the greenbrier classic, Jonas blixt at the frys.com open and charlie beljan at the children’s miracle network classic—but only one had a truly breakout year. Huh, who didn’t turn 22 until may, was second after 54 holes in just his second pga tour event (farmers insurance) and won in mexico in his fifth. He was the only rookie to qualify for the tour championship, eventually finishing 28th in earnings with $2,692,113, not including another $180,000 for his 29th-place standing on the fedex cup playoff points list. with

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those results, Huh is Golf World Monday’s choice as pga tour rookie of the Year. the southern californian turned pro at 18 when he was denied a scholarship by the ncaa after attending cal state northridge for two weeks. He played the Korean tour—winning the shinhan bank open at 19—and the confidence he gained there spurred him into giving Q school a try. He was such an unknown after getting his card a year ago that he had to show his tour id when he tried to practice at tpc valencia at the start of the year. there’s no question people know who he is now. —John Antonini (@johnantoninigw)