Xander Schauffele's recent win at the Open Championship has opened up a race for the PGA Tour Player of the Year. Scottie Scheffler has won back-to-back Jack Nicklaus awards and for most of 2024, he has been the favorite to bring it home again. He won his second major championship when he stormed through Augusta National to win The Masters by four shots. That was in the middle of a ridiculous run where he finished in the top ten in seven consecutive events. Now, a two-horse race heads into the playoff season.
One of those seven straight top-tens for Scheffler was a tie for eighth at the PGA Championship. A hectic week for Scheffler that saw him spend his Friday morning in a jail cell was a historic week for Schauffele. The 30-year-old won his first major that week at Valhalla, holding off Bryson DeChambeau's Sunday charge. He then pulled away from a crowded leaderboard, which included Scheffler, at the Open Championship to win his second career major. Those wins pushed him toward contention for the Player of the Year. Is it enough to steal it from Scheffler?
The case for Xander Schauffele to win Player of the Year
Xander Schauffele was putting together a really solid season before the PGA Championship. He has close calls at The Players Championship and the Wells Fargo Championship but could not close the door on Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, respectively. As he stood over the winning putt at the 18th hole at Valhalla, golf fans across the country thought he would miss it. That was the season Schauffele was putting together to that point; missing the big putt. When that ball lipped in, his entire season and career outlook.
Fast forward to Sunday at the Open Championship and both Schauffele and Scheffler were lurking behind leader Billy Horschel. While Schauffele shot a bogey-free 65, Scheffler rode the rollercoaster of a one-over 72 and finished eight shots back. His candidacy is not just resting on his two majors in the same season, it helps that he eviscerated a contending Scheffler both times.
While Schauffele does not have a win on the PGA Tour to back up the majors, that should not matter. The bifurcation of professional gold has left the major championships as the only time the best players in the world all play together. LIV golfers DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka have won majors since the league began and Jon Rahm always poses a threat at the sports' biggest events. Defeating those players more often than Scheffler did is the reason why Schauffele could win the Player of the Year.
The case for Scottie Scheffler to win Player of the Year
Scheffler is the best golfer on the planet. He leads all players in stroke gained overall this season, per DataGolf, and won multiple of the PGA Tour's new signature events. Those events pit the best players remaining on the Tour against one another. His wins at The Players, The Memorial, Travelers, and RBC Heritage were all against strong fields. They are, however, not as strong as major championship wins due to the lack of LIV Golf players.
Scheffler's victory at The Masters was a dominating win. As top contenders Ludvig Äberg and Max Homa faltered around Amen Corner, Scheffler shot a 68 to win the green jacket. The thought that Scheffler would finish the year with just one major championship would have been crazy after that win. With the majors now over, he only won one and sits at two for his career. The season was far from a disappointment, but the fact that the Player of the Year is a conversation shows just how much things can change in three months.
And the winner is…
If one of Scottie Scheffler or Xander Schauffele wins the FedEx Cup, they will win Player of the Year. While it is a cheap answer, it feels like the most likely outcome. They are currently the top two players in the FedEx Cup standings and will likely go into the Tour Championship in those positions. Whichever player defeats the other at East Lake in August will likely go home with two pieces of hardware instead of one.
If a different player wins the FedEx Cup, the race will still be between Schauffele and Scheffler. No player has won enough to jump into contention in the short time remaining. If this is the case, Scottie Scheffler should be the Player of the Year. Only Tiger Woods (four times), Vijay Singh, and Tom Watson have won more in a single season than Scheffler this year. That makes him the best player of 2024.
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