Most seasons the PoY race has already been decided<\/a> by the time the Tour lands in Memphis to start the post-season \u2013 like last year when Scottie Scheffler began the playoffs with four victories, including two majors. By comparison, this season is a bona fide free-for-all<\/a>.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s ballot would include Scheffler, who has been a model of consistency with 16 top-25 finishes in 17 starts but just a single victory in January at The American Express. Just behind Scheffler on the regular season points list is No. 2 Matt Fitzpatrick with three victories (RBC Heritage, Zurich Classic and Valspar Championship), No. 3 Cameron Young with two titles (The Players and Cadillac Championship), No. 4 Wyndham Clark (U.S. Open and CJ Cup Byron Nelson) and No. 5 Chris Gotterup, who also has three Tour tilts this season (Sony Open, WM Phoenix Open and John Deere Classic).<\/p>\n Rory McIlroy, who won the Masters for the second consecutive year, thankfully narrowed the field this week when he dismissed himself from the PoY ballot unless he were to go on a post-season run that could tip the current status quo. He also put into context how players, who vote for PoY, might tackle a decision with no obvious choice.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, geez, it\u2019s a hard one because I think right now it\u2019s objectively there\u2019s no one that really stands out, but subjectively it depends what you value,\u201d McIlroy said. \u201cSo if you value winning the biggest tournaments, you would say it could be Cameron Young and Wyndham Clark in terms of one won The Players, one won the U.S. Open. Obviously Matt Fitzpatrick has had a great year. Scottie\u2019s had an unbelievably consistent year without the wins that he\u2019s had the last couple years.<\/p>\n \u201cIt all depends on what you value. I guess I value like the bigger tournaments and guys having the bigger moments.\u201d<\/p>\n For context, Tour players tend to be insular types who focus on the task at hand \u2014 playing really good golf. They are not as up to speed on the nuanced possibilities of PoY candidates. It\u2019s an understandable reality that led to this exchange with Adam Scott.<\/p>\n \u201cCam Young has two wins?\u201d Scott asked. \u201cAnd The Players is one.<\/p>\n \u201cWyndham\u2019s got two with the U.S. Open. Who\u2019s got three, Gotterup and Fitz?\u201d<\/p>\n And then Scheffler, who Scott jokingly dismissed with a laugh, \u201cHe\u2019s won [the Nicklaus Award] plenty.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLook, I think there\u2019s not much separating them. Maybe it\u2019s the next three weeks that decides who it is,\u201d Scott said. \u201cI can build cases for all of them if you want, but it might come down to these playoffs to see who get the vote.\u201d<\/p>\n Wait and see is the most popular and easiest approach to the closest PoY race in a decade and even when pressed for a vote today, with three events remaining that could easily swing the outcome in any of the contender\u2019s direction, most choose to ride the fence.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really depends on what the person that\u2019s clicking the button values more or who they may like more,\u201d Gotterup said. \u201cThere\u2019s no bad answer is what I\u2019m trying to say. I think if you said anyone, no one would be like that\u2019s BS, like someone got screwed.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A detailed look at the player of the year debate in golf.<\/p>\n When pressed for an answer, Keith Mitchell offered the only possible option with so much meaningful golf remaining \u2014 and such a thin margin between the would-be winners. <\/p>\n \u201cIf you just go off wins it\u2019s impossible to choose,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause you\u2019ve got guys with majors and signature events, you\u2019ve got guys with three [victories]. And if you go off the points race you\u2019ve got Scottie leading, he\u2019s got the least amount of wins but the most amount of points.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard not to go with Scottie since he\u2019s got the most points,\u201d Mitchell added. \u201cI want to give 51 percent [of his vote] to Scottie, 49 percent Cam Young.\u201d<\/p>\n Scheffler, who has won the Nicklaus Award the last four years, made a PoY statement Friday at TPC Southwind with birdies at six of his first seven holes on his way to a second-round 61<\/a> to take a three-shot lead heading into the weekend.<\/p>\n Ultimately, the vote may end up having nothing to do with wins or FedExCup points and come down to the most basic political bias \u2013 likeability. The PoY vote, like any vote, is a popularity contest, a truth that was proven in the race to the 2019 Nicklaus Award.<\/p>\n McIlroy and Brooks Koepka finished the \u201919 season with three victories each. McIlroy\u2019s haul included The Players, Tour Championship and RBC Canadian Open; while Koepka won the PGA Championship, FedEx St. Jude Championship and CJ Cup (which was played in the fall of 2018). In what could be viewed as an upset, McIlroy won the Nicklaus Award.<\/p>\n The same personality dynamics could also decide this year\u2019s race, but it seems more likely that someone from the impossibly crowded PoY field separates themselves on the course before the season ends<\/a> later this month in Atlanta.<\/p>\n![\"player](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786772540_117_.jpeg\")
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