There are many men in the world of celebrities who could put up a very solid argument for being Man of the Year 2011 and we are certain that you will all argue for your favourites. It is always difficult to determine whose work out does whose and who has had a better impacting personal life on the public. When it comes down to it, everybody has their favourite stars. However, we have chosen the Man of the Year 2011 for his achievements in his own field.
We first considered going down the movie star route and, while everyone else has been giving the deserved praise to Michael Fassbender, we were going to suggest Tom Hardy. Obviously Tom has not had a great deal of movies out this year but his performances in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Warrior were superb and have really shot Tom Hardy to Hollywood super stardom. However, he did not do quite enough and we are sure that he will blow everyone away in 2012, when he appears as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, not to mention the long awaited Wettest County.
Next we thought we would have a look around the men in music. Obviously Jay-Z has been popping up everywhere as the Man of the Year 2011 for the music category, as he has had quite the year. Not only has Jay-Z once again confirmed his status as the King of Hip Hop, with his work with the J Cole album and the music event of the year, Watch the Throne. He has also had a great year on a personal level, announcing that he and his wife Beyoncé were expecting a daughter, due to be born in the New Year. However, this was also not quite enough for us.
In the end, we decided to go for somebody that you might find rather unexpected. We feel that his achievements this year have not received the credit that they deserve and that he has had one of his best years ever. The whole point of having a Man of the Year 2011 is to recognise the achievements of somebody in their field, in relation to their previous years, as well as that of others. That is why we have opted to name English golfer Luke Donald as our Man of the Year 2011.
Many of you will argue that Luke Donald has not won a Major, so how can he be considered but we do not see why that should matter, considering what Luke has achieved this year. Luke Donald became the World Number 1 golfer after beating Lee Westwood in a play-off to win the PGA Championship at Wentworth and has held the Number One spot ever since. That means that Luke Donald has been golf’s World Number 1 for 31 weeks, the longest run of any golfer since 1997, except for the great Tiger Woods.
Add to that the fact that Luke Donald has achieved something in golf that no other golfer has ever achieved before. Luke managed to make golfing history by winning the money list in both the US and in Europe, a feat that has never been achieved before and will be difficult to achieve again. His game has come on in leaps and bounds and he is by far the most consistent golfer on the planet. The only thing that could have made Luke Donald’s 2011 any better would have been to win a major but we believe that will come next year. For all of the above reasons, and not to mention the fact that he is a genuinely great guy, we make Luke Donald our Man of the Year 2011.
