Scottie Scheffler has been voted PGA Tour participant of the 12 months 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 modify 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.
“Something that you simply obtain voted on by your friends could be very particular to me and with the ability to go residence with this trophy two years in a row now could be very particular,” Scheffler stated. “I believe the physique of labor I put in final 12 months … I used to be very pleased with that consistency.”
What he lacked, in contrast with Rahm, was profitable.
Scheffler gained The Gamers Championship and the Phoenix Open. Rahm, nevertheless, gained 4 instances, together with his second main when he captured the Masters.
The PGA Tour stated voting befell from Dec. 1 via 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 acquired 38 p.c of the vote in what was believed to be a good race. It didn’t disclose the voting proportion acquired 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 proportion of gamers voted.
In one other shut race, Eric Cole was voted rookie of the 12 months over Ludvig Aberg of Sweden. The award comes 50 years after Cole’s mom, Laura Baugh, was the LPGA rookie of the 12 months. 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 12 months 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 vital, “we play this sport to win.”
Requested if he was shocked to win, Scheffler stated all of it trusted what mattered essentially the most to gamers who voted.
“I assume this 12 months they actually sort of appreciated my consistency,” Scheffler stated. “The way in which I performed all the 12 months — I believe I perhaps solely had one or two begins that I’d categorize as not nice, however aside from that I had a number of begins the place I simply performed actually strong golf. And to try this for a whole season out right here I believe could be very tough.”
Cole additionally was a gradual 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 12 months since Todd Hamilton in 2004.
Cole had two runner-up finishes and two third-place finishes, and he performed effectively 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 gained the season-ending RSM Basic by tying the PGA Tour scoring file for 72 holes at 253. He beforehand gained 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 probably was rewarded for the total physique of his rookie 12 months, having performed 37 instances in a 15-month season.