Scottie Scheffler was chosen by fellow players on Wednesday as the 2019 PGA Tour Player of the Year, taking first place over Jon Rahm who won four official tournaments and one major.
PGA Tour officials did not release the percentages of votes cast for Rahm, FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland and U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark.
Scottie Scheffler’s Year
On Wednesday, PGA Tour members elected Scottie Scheffler the recipient of the Jack Nicklaus Award for Player of the Year for 2022-23 season. Scottie Scheffler from Texas becomes the first person since Tiger Woods to achieve three consecutive awards since 2005-07.
While Scheffler only won two tournaments on the PGA Tour this season, his consistency earned him 17 top-10 finishes – more than any player has done since 2000! This marks a record level performance.
Jon Rahm was the focus of much discussion regarding this decision; having won four times and earned his second major victory at the Masters Tournament, Jon has proven his credentials.
The PGA Tour does not publicly release vote totals, however it is believed that Scheffler won against Rahm, FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland, U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark and Rory McIlroy. Unfortunately it’s unknown what percentage of votes went towards other candidates since only player votes count towards winning this competition.
Rahm’s Year
Scottie Scheffler was an instantaneous success on Tour, winning four times during his inaugural year and setting an official on-course earnings record with official on-course earnings from official on-course earnings leading the tour in terms of tee to green scoring, stroke gained and total stroke gain. Furthermore, he won The Players Championship decisively which propelled him into No. 1 worldwide ranking status.
But since The Players, his results were mixed; he posted two top-10 finishes post-The Players but missed out on making the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Scheffler was not surprised to edge out Rahm in the player vote. Although Rahm had an outstanding year, his success relied too heavily on his putter than on being consistently great from start to finish – something Scheffler was. Scheffler finished in 17 top-10 finishes including finishing second at both the PGA Championship and U.S. Open. That consistency combined with two victories puts Scheffler ahead of his Spaniard counterpart.
The Vote
Scheffler had a memorable 2022-23 season on the PGA Tour. She won twice and finished in 17 top-10 positions out of 23 events played – more than any player had since Tiger Woods won three consecutive years from 2005-2007.
After The Players Championship, he wasn’t successful in winning another tournament but showed impressive consistency. He achieved two second-place finishes as well as tied second placings at both the PGA and US Opens.
What Rahm does have in his corner is major victories; but that does not preclude him from becoming Player of the Year.
On the other hand, this decision does raise some ethical concerns over who should win Player of the Year; Eric Cole edged out Ludvig Aberg for this honor in an exciting race and won Rookie of the Year honors by just one vote.
The Final Word
Scottie Scheffler was honored by his peers Wednesday when they chose him as PGA Tour Player of the Year – making history at Sentry Tournament of Champions with two consecutive Player of the Year wins since Tiger Woods achieved that feat from 2005-07.
Golfers who competed in at least 15 official FedEx Cup events during the season were eligible to vote for the Jack Nicklaus Award, with Scottie Scheffler receiving 38 percent of votes, overtaking Wyndham Clark, FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland, and Rory McIlroy who all received votes but the PGA Tour did not release these figures.
Ludvig Aberg and Eric Cole were also nominated as finalists and both won multiple times this season on the PGA Tour, so Scheffler can count himself lucky that his victory also comes with an enormous financial reward; he earned $2 Million as Player of the Year!
