Scottie Scheffler, of the United States, poses with the Hero World Challenge PGA Tour trophy as Tiger Woods smiles in the background, at the Albany Golf Club in New Providence, Bahamas, Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Scottie Scheffler has been voted PGA Tour player of the year over Masters champion Jon Rahm, a player vote that raises questions of whether Rahm was penalized for defecting to LIV Golf.
Scheffler is the first back-to-back winner since Tiger Woods in 2006-07. The world's No. 1 player had the best statistical season since Woods by leading the tour in all the important categories from the tee to the green, along with scoring.
What he lacked, compared with Rahm, was winning. Scheffler won The Players Championship and the Phoenix Open. So remarkable was his consistency that Scheffler did not finish worse than 12th until July.
Rahm, however, won four times, including his second major when he captured the Masters.
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The PGA Tour said voting took place from Dec. 1 through Dec. 15. Rahm, who for 18 months had been an ardent supporter of the tour, donned a LIV letterman's jacket and announced he was joining the Saudi-funded rival league on Dec. 7.
The tour said Scheffler received 38% of the vote in what was believed to be a tight race. It did not disclose the voting percentage received by Rahm, FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland, U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark or Rory McIlroy.
The tour previously did not release any vote totals for the award. Now it withholds what percentage of players voted.
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In another close race, Eric Cole was voted rookie of the year over Ludvig Aberg of Sweden. Cole was the only player to reach the second round of the FedEx Cup playoffs, a longtime player in golf's minor leagues who made $5 million in his first year on tour.
Aberg didn't turn pro until June. He won the season-ending RSM Classic by tying the PGA Tour scoring record for 72 holes at 253. He previously won on the European tour and went from leaving Texas Tech in June to playing in the Ryder Cup for Europe in September.
