Scottie Scheffler is headed into Tiger Woods territory.
Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player on the World Golf Rankings, has been overwhelmingly voted a third consecutive PGA Tour Player of the Year Award by his peers in recognition of a season that included seven official victories, highlighted by the FedEx Cup, the Masters, his second Players Championship in a row and an Olympic Gold Medal.
Scheffler is the first player since Woods (2005-2007) to win the award three years in a row. Woods won five in succession from 1999-2003.
Rory McIlroy is the only other player to have won the Jack Nicklaus Award three times in all (2012, 2014 and 2019) since its inception in 1990.
Scottie Scheffler won 91 percent of the votes
Scheffler is the ninth player to win the FedEx Cup and then be voted Player of the Year since the season-long points race began in 2007. The Tour said Scheffler was voted by 91 percent of the responding players.
Two-time major winner Xander Schauffele and McIlroy were also nominated.
Scheffler surprised during charity event
Scheffler was surprised with the award during a FedEx charity event on Tuesday at the PGA Tour Superstore in Plano, Texas, near his Dallas home.
Scheffler and his wife, Meredith, joined FedEx to help students from the charity, Behind Every Door, shop for holiday presents with PGA Tour Superstore gift cards.
“On behalf of the PGA TOUR, congratulations to Scottie Scheffler on a truly historic season, capped off with his first FedEx Cup title and today a third consecutive Jack Nicklaus Award as PGA TOUR Player of the Year,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement.
“Scottie took on challenges from the best players in the world on the biggest stages all season, and being honored as PGA Tour Player of the Year is the ultimate sign of respect from his peers.”
Scheffler cruised to a victory last week
Scheffler has won 13 official titles. After being idle since the Tour Championship, he won last week’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas by six shots.
He is the first to win The Players, a major and the FedEx Cup in the same season. He also won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the RBC Heritage, the Memorial and the Travelers Championship. Scheffler led the Tour with 16 top-10 finishes and did not miss a cut in 10 starts. He earned a record of more than $29 million.
Scheffler has now been the No. 1-ranked player for 82 consecutive weeks.
He won his Gold Medal in the Paris Games in his first Olympic start, and went 3-2 to help the U.S. win the Presidents Cup in Montreal.
Scheffler also won the Byron Nelson Award for the lowest scoring average at 68.65, his second in a row.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Scottie Scheffler wins a third Nicklaus Award as PGA Tour Player of the Year
