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

What became inevitable on Sept. 1 at the Tour Championship became official on Tuesday: The PGA Tour announced that world No. Scottie Scheffler was named the recipient of the PGA Tour’s Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year Award in 2024.

Scheffler won an incredible seven official PGA Tour events in 2024including his second Masters title in April and his second consecutive Players Championship in March.

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

Xander Schauffele at least made the competition interesting this summer, winning two major titles at the PGA Championship and The Open Championship. With those big wins, some wondered if Schauffele would deserve Player of the Year honors if he went on to win the FedEx Cup title as well. But Scheffler ruled out this possibility by winning himself the tournament championship and the FedEx Cupalong with her $25 million bonus.

Including his bonuses, Scheffler earned over $63 million during his most recent Player of the Year campaign.

This is Scheffler’s third consecutive PGA Tour Player of the Year win, joining Tiger Woods as the only players to win the Jack Nicklaus Award in three consecutive years. Woods accomplished the feat twice, winning five in a row from 1999-2003 and three in a row from 2005-2007. Throughout Woods there are 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 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, capped off with his first FedExCup title and today an award of third consecutive Jack Nicklaus as PGA Tour Player of the Year. Scottie took on challenges from the world’s best players on the biggest stages all season long, and being honored as the PGA Tour Player of the Year is the ultimate mark of respect from his peers.”

Scheffler’s seven Tour victories 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 installed 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 a second consecutive season, finishing the year with an average of 68.65.