Scheffler wins 2022 PGA Tour Player of the Year

Scottie Scheffler has won the peer-voted PGA Tour Player of the Year in a landslide victory. The 26-year-old demolished his nearest rivals, Cameron Smith and Rory McIlroy, in the Player of the Year race taking 89 percent of the end-of-season tally.

“Congratulations to Scottie on his remarkable season and his unprecedented achievements,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan.

Scheffler won his first major at the Masters in April (Credit: PGA Tour)

“Undoubtably, one of the highest compliments a player can receive is the endorsement from his peers, and the fact that Scottie’s season was both dominant and consistent spoke volumes to the membership. With young stars like Scottie leading the way, the PGA Tour is in great hands for many years to come.”

Scheffler came into this season following a superb 2020/21, which included a second and third placing amongst 8 top-10′s and $4.5 million in prizemoney.

2021/22 began in much the same way with another two runner-up finishes and a 4th place before Christmas but then everything changed.

In mid-February, Scheffler won his first PGA Tour title at the WM Phoenix Open in a playoff over Patrick Cantlay and began a stretch of golf that can only be described as Tiger-esque. Victories quickly followed at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in late March and the Texas Longhorn arrived at the Masters in April as the new World No.1.

A 69 on Masters Thursday saw Scheffler in a tie for third but a 67 on Friday was the round that saw him take the lead where he remained until close of play on Sunday, edging out Rory McIlroy and Cameron Smith in the process.

Another three runner-up finishes followed over the coming months including the US Open and the Tour Championship.

Scheffler’s season total of $14,046,910 set a new record for most money earned in a single PGA Tour season eclipsing Jordan Spieth’s $12,030,465 set in 2014-15. The earnings didn’t stop there with Scheffler earning a further $5.75 million bonus for finishing No. 2 in the FedExCup and $4 million thanks to the Comcast Business Tour Top 10 for finishing as the FedExCup leader.

Including an extra $1 million for winning the Aon Risk Reward Challenge, Scheffler took home an incredible $24,796,910 for the season…and that doesn’t include the sponsorship riches he earned off the course.

Scheffler also becomes the first player in the 32-year history of the awards to win Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year, PGA Tour Rookie of the Year and the PGA Tour Player of the Year – all within just four years.

He remains No.1 in the world after 25 consecutive weeks and looks set to remain there for at least some time yet with only Rory McIlroy close enough to dethrone the Masters champion any time soon.