PGA Tour stars make their feelings clear on Jon Rahm defecting to LIV Golf
Jon Rahm missed out on PGA Tour Player of the Year honours to Scottie Scheffler following his much-publicised defection to LIV Golf.
Scheffler was a worthy winner, preaching consistency across the season to be voted the first back-to-back winner of the PGA Tour Player of the Year award since Tiger Woods in 2006-07. The World No. 1 enjoyed the best statistical season since the great Woods, leading the tour in all important categories along with scoring.
Remarkably, Scheffler had the seventh-lowest adjust scoring average (68.63) in PGA Tour history - the top six belong to Woods. The 27-year-old finished outside the top 10 only six times in 23 tournaments over a period spanning back to September 2022.
During the year, Scheffler enjoyed a stellar run of 18 consecutive starts where his worst finish was 12th. However, he didn’t win as much as Rahm. While the American won The Players Championship and the Phoenix Open, Rahm won four times - including his second career major as he triumphed at Augusta to win the Masters.
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Given Rahm’s record over the last 12 months, eyebrows may be raised over whether the Spaniard was penalised for his controversial move to LIV Golf. Scheffler pointed to his consistency as what secured him the award.
“Anything that you receive voted on by your peers is very special to me and being able to go home with this trophy two years in a row now is very special,” Scheffler said. “I think the body of work I put in last year ... I was very proud of that consistency.”
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Scottie Scheffler ended 2023 as the World No. 1 and the PGA Tour Player of the Year (Getty Images,)The PGA Tour revealed voting took place from 1-15 December. On 7 December, Rahm announced his lucrative move to LIV Golf, donning a LIV Letterman’s jacket as his deal worth up to £450 million was confirmed.
The PGA Tour did not disclose the voting percentage received by Rahm, FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland, U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark or Rory McIlroy in what was reportedly a tight race. Scheffler received 38 percent of the vote one month after insinuating Rahm may receive his vote as golf is ultimately about winning.
Asked if he was surprised to win, Scheffler said: “I guess this year they really kind of appreciated my consistency. The way I played the entire year - I think I maybe only had one or two starts that I would categorize as not great, but other than that I had a lot of starts where I just played really solid golf. And to do that for an entire season out here I think is very difficult.”
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