Scottie Scheffler has been voted PGA Tour participant of the yr over Masters champion Jon Rahm, a participant vote that raises questions of whether or not Rahm was penalized for defecting to LIV Golf.
Scheffler is the primary back-to-back winner since Tiger Woods in 2006-07. The world’s No. 1 participant had the perfect statistical season since Woods by main the tour in all of the essential classes from the tee to the inexperienced, together with scoring.
He had the seventh-lowest alter scoring common (68.63) in PGA Tour historical past — the highest six belong to Woods — and completed out of the highest 10 solely six instances in 23 tournaments from a season that started in September 2022. At one level, Scheffler went 18 consecutive begins the place his worst end was twelfth.
“Anything that you receive voted on by your peers is very special to me and being able to go home with this trophy two years in a row now is very special,” Scheffler stated. “I think the body of work I put in last year … I was very proud of that consistency.”
What he lacked, in contrast with Rahm, was successful.
Scheffler received The Players Championship and the Phoenix Open. Rahm, nevertheless, received 4 instances, together with his second main when he captured the Masters.
The PGA Tour stated voting came about from Dec. 1 by means of Dec. 15. Rahm, who for 18 months had been an ardent supporter of the tour, donned a LIV letterman’s jacket and introduced he was becoming a member of the Saudi-funded rival league on Dec. 7.
The tour stated Scheffler obtained 38 % of the vote in what was believed to be a decent race. It didn’t disclose the voting share obtained by Rahm, FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland, U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark or Rory McIlroy.
The tour beforehand didn’t launch any vote totals for the award. Now it withholds what share of gamers voted.
In one other shut race, Eric Cole was voted rookie of the yr over Ludvig Aberg of Sweden. The award comes 50 years after Cole’s mom, Laura Baugh, was the LPGA rookie of the yr. Cole was the one participant to succeed in the second spherical of the FedEx Cup playoffs. A longtime participant in golf’s minor leagues, he made 5 million USD in his first yr on tour.
Scheffler had hinted within the Bahamas final month that his vote would possibly go towards Rahm as a result of whereas consistency is essential, “we play this game to win.”
Asked if he was shocked to win, Scheffler stated all of it relied on what mattered essentially the most to gamers who voted.
“I guess this year they really kind of appreciated my consistency,” Scheffler stated. “The way I played the entire year — I think I maybe only had one or two starts that I would categorize as not great, but other than that I had a lot of starts where I just played really solid golf. And to do that for an entire season out here I think is very difficult.”
Cole additionally was a gentle hand, particularly for somebody who had performed solely two common PGA Tour occasions earlier than lastly getting a card. At age 35, he’s the oldest rookie of the yr since Todd Hamilton in 2004.
Cole had two runner-up finishes and two third-place finishes, and he performed properly sufficient to maneuver into the highest 50 on the planet rating to earn a spot within the Masters.
Aberg didn’t flip professional till June. He received the season-ending RSM Classic by tying the PGA Tour scoring file for 72 holes at 253. He beforehand received on the European tour and went from leaving Texas Tech in June to enjoying within the Ryder Cup for Europe in September.
Aberg performed 11 instances since turning professional. Cole seemingly was rewarded for the total physique of his rookie yr, having performed 37 instances in a 15-month season.