Scottie Scheffler Becomes First Back-To-Back PGA Tour Player of the Year Since Tiger Woods

For the second consecutive year, Scottie Scheffler has been voted PGA Tour Player of the Year. Last week, Scheffler was voted PGA Tour’s top golfer by his peers. After successfully defending his Phoenix Open title and winning the Players Championship a year ago, Scheffler will be looking to complete the rare three-peat in 2024. With the victory, Scheffler becomes the first player to win the Jack Nicklaus Award back-to-back since Tiger Woods won the award three times in a row from 2005 to 2007.

Scottie Scheffler wins PGA Tour Player of the Yea 2023

There were a total of five players nominated for the 2023 PGA Tour Player of the Year. Scheffler came out on top after receiving 38% of the vote.

During his 2023 PGA Tour campaign, Scheffler made 23 starts and won 2 two events. He also finished in the top 5 13 times last year. Scheffler was super close to winning events but lost in the stretch due to his putter.

He also set a new PGA Tour record for most official money earned in a single season with $16.5 million, breaking his own record set in 2022. Despite his putting woes, Scheffler’s stats were unbelievable in 2023. He had the 2nd best record of strokes gained tee-to-green (+2.615) ever in the last 20 years, coming second only to Tiger Woods.

Scheffler’s 2023 Jack Nicklaus Award Causes Controversy

At the end of 2023, Jon Rahm shocked the world after leaving the PGA Tour for LIV Golf. It was a shock to the golf world and received an automatic suspension from the PGA Tour.

While his departure was a shock, Rahm had one of the most successful seasons on the Tour. He won the Masters and won three other events including the Genesis Invitational. There was some controversy as Rahm had a better winning season than Scheffler.

Rahm announced he was leaving on December the 7th while the player polling was conducted between December 1 to 15. There is a chance that his departure has a role in why he wasn’t voted the 2023 PGA Tour Player of the Year.

However, Scheffler finished the year No.1 on the Official World Golf Ranking list and had one of the most statistically historic seasons ever.