ATLANTA (AP) — Winning two majors in a year used to be a shoo-in for earning the points-based award for player of the year presented annually by the PGA of America since 1948. Xander Schauffele was in line to get at least one award this year.
A major is worth 30 points. Two majors comes with a 50-point bonus.
Schauffele, a San Diego native and the PGA Championship and British Open champion, effectively clinched the award last week when Scottie Scheffler did not win the BMW Championship. Schauffele would have had 148 points — two majors, the bonus and 19 points each for being second in scoring average and money. Even if he won the Tour Championship, Scheffler would have had only 140 points.
There’s just one problem — the PGA award no longer exists.
In a decision that was not announced at the time, the PGA of America two years ago quietly chose to end its awards for PGA Tour players — player of the year and the Vardon Trophy.
“We are no longer presenting the PGA Player of the Year and Vardon Trophy awards because similar awards are being given by the PGA Tour,” the PGA of America said in a statement.
The last PGA of America awards went to Rory McIlroy (Vardon) and Cameron Smith (player of the year) in 2022.
The PGA Tour’s award for player of the year is decided by a vote of the players, and this could go in any direction. Scheffler has been nothing short of astounding this year with the Masters, The Players Championship, four titles in signature events, an Olympic gold medal and the lowest scoring average since Tiger Woods.
But a number of players lean toward multiple majors, the most meaningful titles in golf. It could come down to one of them winning the FedEx Cup.
The PGA Tour award — named after Jack Nicklaus — dates to 1990. The only player who captured two majors and did not win the award was Nick Faldo that year and for good reason: He was not a PGA Tour member and thus was ineligible for the award.
The PGA of America had been regarded as little more than a footnote for several years, mainly because so much in week-to-week golf revolves around the PGA Tour.
But with a player-only vote comes the problem of who actually votes. Scheffler wasn’t sure how many times he submitted his ballot and said he wouldn’t vote for himself.
The greatest example of voter turnout was 2010, when the award for rookie of the year came down to Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy. Neither reached the Tour Championship. Their records were very similar except that McIlroy won at Quail Hollow. The vote went to Fowler.
The day after it was announced, Dustin Johnson was asked what he thought about the rookie award. He replied, “Man, that’s a tough one. I’m not sure who I’m going to vote for.” Just a hunch, but he probably forgot to vote.
The curious decision was ending the Vardon Trophy, which dated to 1937. The PGA Tour basically copied that award — the adjusted scoring average — with the Byron Nelson Award. The only difference was the Vardon required 60 rounds, while only 50 rounds were required for the PGA Tour version.
The winner typically was referenced as winning the Vardon, not the Nelson. But no more.
