Scottie Scheffler wins Player of the Year, matching Tiger Woods’ record

What was inevitable on September 1st at the Tour Championship became official on Tuesday: the PGA Tour announced that World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has been named the recipient of the PGA Tour’s Jack Nicklaus Award for Player of the Year in 2024.

Scheffler has won seven official PGA Tour events in 2024, including his second Masters title in April and his second straight Players Championship in March.

The seven wins don’t count the two other victories the 28-year-old Texan has recorded this year: a gold medal at the Paris Olympics and last week’s Hero World Challenge.

Xander Schauffele at least made the tournament interesting this summer, winning two majors at the PGA Championship and the Open Championship. With those big wins, some wondered if Schauffele would be eligible for Player of the Year honors if he went on to win the FedEx Cup title. But Scheffler overturned that by winning the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup himself, along with his $25 million bonus.

Including his bonuses, Scheffler made more than $63 million on the course during his most recent Player of the Year campaign.

This is the third straight PGA Tour Player of the Year win for Scheffler, joining Tiger Woods as the only players to win the Jack Nicklaus Award three years in a row. Woods won the title twice, winning five in a row from 1999-2003 and three in a row from 2005-2007. In all Woods has 11 Jack Nicklaus Awards. Rory McIlroy is the only other player with three.

The Jack Nicklaus Award is determined by a vote among players who have competed in at least 15 PGA Tour events this season. Scheffler won with 91% of the vote according to the PGA Tour, with Schauffele and McIlroy also receiving votes.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan congratulated Scheffler in a press release announcing the award, writing, “On behalf of the PGA Tour, congratulations to Scottie Scheffler on a truly historic season, completing his first FedExCup title and today the Jack Nicklaus Award third in a row. as the PGA Tour player of the year. Scottie challenged the best players in the world on the biggest stages of the season, and to be honored as PGA Tour Player of the Year is the ultimate mark of respect from his peers.”

Scheffler’s seven Tour wins in his successful Player of the Year campaign were the most in a single season by any player since Woods in 2007, and Scheffler has been ranked at the top of the Official World Golf Ranking for 82 consecutive weeks. He also won the 2024 Byron Nelson Award for lowest scoring average for the second straight season, finishing the year with a 68.65 average.