Donald says POY Ballot Delay is 'Sketchy at best'

Just when you thought the 2011 PGA Tour Player of the Year race was all wrapped up, the PGA Tour announced on Monday they would be delaying the ballots until after the HSBC event in two weeks.

World's No. 1 Luke Donald, to many the odds on favorite to win this award, was on the Golf Channel's Morning Drive [audio here] this morning and took a few issues with the Tour's decision.

During his interview, Donald said, "I think the decision to add the HSBC is a little bit sketchy at best."

"Why suddenly change the rule the day after Disney? It doesn’t make much sense to me."

Now just to clarify as I did in my article on the Tour's decision to do this. Last season, the HSBC was before the final event of the Fall Series, not after like it is this year.

Donald went on to say, "To be honest, everything needs to be simplified a little bit for the PGA Tour. There doesn’t seem to be a beginning and an end."

"You finish the FedEx Cup and you think the season’s over, then you’ve got the fall series, and you think after Disney it’s over, and now they’re adding another event."

"I feel like even if I went to HSBC and won, they’d find another event."

And who can actually blame Donald at this point of the season?

Has he not done enough to convince his peers (who vote for POY anyway) that he was the best player on the PGA Tour in 2011?

Donald only finished in the top-10, 74-percent of the events he entered this season.

He had two wins, 14 top-10's, 16 top-25's, won the 2011 Money Title and had the lowest scoring average on Tour.

Now of course since the HSBC event is now in play, another player who was/is in the running for Player of the Year [Keegan Bradley] will be in Shanghai to tee it up and try to become the only player in 2011 to win three events.

That win would go along with his win at the PGA Championship as well.

All in his rookie season.

Nonetheless -- Donald, to me and many others has proven he is deserving of the Player of the Year award and this "delay" could just be prolonging the inevitable.

However, if by some feat Bradley does go to the HSBC and secures his third win of the season, many will question the Tour's motives for delaying the ballots going out until after the event.

So the plot thickens after the end of the 2011 PGA Tour season. Rather, what we thought was the end of the PGA Tour season.