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Mark Schlabach
World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler, whose six victories in 2025 included the PGA Championship and Open Championship, won the Jack Nicklaus Award as the PGA Tour Player of the Year.
Scheffler, 29, is the first golfer since Tiger Woods (1999-2003) to win the award in four consecutive seasons.
Remarkably, Scheffler finished first in 30% of his 20 starts this past season, was in the top 10 in 17 events and in the top 25 in all of them.
“I think overall the thing that I’m most proud of when I look at the last couple years is just consistency,” Scheffler said Monday in a teleconference with reporters. “It’s not very easy to just show up and finish in the top 10 each week. I think that’s something that’s very difficult to do, and something I’m very proud of, bringing the intensity that I need to in these tournaments and being prepared as I need to in order to perform well week in and week out.”
South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter, who survived a playoff at the Rocket Classic in Detroit to become the PGA Tour’s ninth-youngest champion since the start of the 1983 season, was named the Arnold Palmer Award winner as the Rookie of the Year.
“On behalf of the PGA Tour, congratulations to Scottie Scheffler on being named PGA Tour Player of the Year and Aldrich Potgieter on earning PGA Tour Rookie of the Year honors for 2025,” PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said in a statement. “Scottie’s consistent level of success has been nothing short of spectacular as he continues to chase history on the PGA Tour, and we’re excited to see what he will deliver in 2026.
“What Aldrich has achieved at such a young age is truly remarkable. He has captivated fans across the globe including his home country of South Africa and the Tour is thrilled to see what his future holds.”
PGA Tour members who competed in at least 15 tournaments were eligible to vote on the award from Dec. 4 to Dec. 12.
Along with his tour-leading six victories, Scheffler captured the Byron Nelson Award for best scoring average (68.131) for the third season in a row. He ranked first in scoring average in the first (67.45), second (68), third (68.4) and fourth (68.1) rounds, becoming the first golfer since Woods (2000) to lead the PGA Tour in all four rounds in a single season.
“I don’t necessarily need to look at statistics,” Scheffler said. “I think a lot of how I’ve felt over the years typically aligns with what the statistics say. So, when I look back at this season, I definitely saw an improvement in my putting inside of 15 feet. That was something that we were hoping to see from using that claw grip, and it was really nice to be able to get some results from that.
“It really helped me contend in some events where my ball striking wasn’t in the same spot where it was in 2024. I’d say that’s probably the area where I made the most improvement when you look at last year.”
After cutting his hand in a holiday cooking accident in December 2024, Scheffler missed the first month of the 2025 season. He picked up his first victory with a 72-hole total of 31-under 253 at The CJ Cup Byron Nelson on May 4, matching the lowest scoring total on tour since 1983.
Two weeks later, Scheffler picked up his third major championship with a five-stroke victory at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. On June 1, Scheffler became the first player since Woods (1999-2001) to defend his title at the Memorial Tournament with a four-stroke win.
Then on July 20, Scheffler completed the third leg of the career Grand Slam by finishing four strokes ahead of the field in the Open Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland.
After winning the Masters in 2022 and 2024, Scheffler needs only to win the U.S. Open to become the seventh golfer to complete the career Grand Slam.
Scheffler also captured the BMW Championship, the second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs, and the Procore Championship in Napa, California, which was a warmup for the Ryder Cup.
Scheffler has won 19 times on tour since the start of the 2022 season and has earned about $99.5 million in on-course prize money during his career. He collected about $27.7 million during the 2025 season.
FedEx Cup champion Tommy Fleetwood, Masters champion Rory McIlroy and three-time winner Ben Griffin were also nominated for the Jack Nicklaus Award.
Potgieter was the only PGA Tour rookie to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs after finishing in the top 10 in three of his 20 starts. On June 29, he defeated Chris Kirk and Max Greyserman in a three-man playoff to win the Rocket Classic.
Ranked 81st in the Official World Golf Ranking, Potgieter led the tour in driving distance (325 yards) and was eighth in strokes gained: off tee (.572).
He is the third South African to win the Arnold Palmer Award, joining Ernie Els (1994) and Trevor Immelman (2006).
Rookies Michael Brennan, Steven Fisk, William Mouw and Karl Vilips were also nominated for the Arnold Palmer Award.
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