Edited by Anand Datla
October 02, 2014: Rory McIlroy, who tees up in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland this week as he continues his quest to win the Race to Dubai on The European Tour, has been named as the PGA Tour Player of the Year for the second time in three years. The World Number One receives the Jack Nicklaus Award after being voted PGA Tour Player of the Year by the PGA Tour’s Membership.
McIlroy, now 25, became the youngest player to earn the award since Tiger Woods in 1999 when he first claimed the honour in 2012. McIlroy becomes only the fourth player to receive the honour multiple times, joining 11-time winner Tiger Woods and two-time winners Greg Norman and Nick Price, since the first PGA Tour Player of the Year Award in 1990.
McIlroy won three times on the PGA Tour this season, doing so in impressive fashion by winning in consecutive starts at The Open Championship, World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and US PGA Championship – with the latter representing his fourth Major Championship. He became the first player since Padraig Harrington (2008) with wins in back-to-back major championships.
McIlroy also earned the Arnold Palmer Award as the PGA Tour’s leading official money winner ($8,280,096). He also was the winner of the Byron Nelson Award for adjusted scoring average (68.83).
“It’s a very important honour for players to be voted Player of the Year by your peers,” said McIlroy. “They’re the guys that you’re trying to beat week in, week out, and the guys see you put the hard work in. To know that they appreciate what you’ve put into it and how well you’ve played, it’s a great honour and a great honor to win twice in the space of three years. Hopefully I can win it for many more years to come.”
The Northern Irishman is one of three Europeans to earn the Jack Nicklaus Award, joining England’s Luke Donald (2011) and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington (2008). McIlroy was selected over Billy Horschel, Martin Kaymer, Jimmy Walker and Bubba Watson.
Meanwhile, Chesson Hadley was voted as PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year ahead of Frenchman Victor Dubuisson, who burst onto the world scene this year with outstanding performances in the WGC – Accenture Match Play and The Ryder Cup among them, and Brooks Koepka, who won three times on the Challenge Tour last year.
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Content sourced and edited from the European Tour website
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