Scottie Scheffler on beating Jon Rahm in the PGA Tour Player of the Year title race - “I'm proud of both of my wins”

Scottie Scheffler was voted the 2023 Player of the Year by PGA Tour on Wednesday (January 3). The World No. 1 golfer beat the likes of Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm to win the title. With this, he became the first golfer since Tiger Woods in 2007 to win the title in two consecutive years.

According to reports, Scheffler received 38 per cent votes in the title race. Players like Hovland and Rory McIlroy picked the Texas native. Having had two wins, 13 top-five finishes and 17 top-10 finishes, the 27-year-old golfer was deemed the most consistent player on the circuit by the voters. However, the fact that he overshadowed Masters champion Jon Rahm derived some criticism.

Following the title win, Scheffler came out to state that he had a “really solid year” and was “proud” of how he played. The golfer further noted that he "doesn’t focus too much on the past."

Replying to a query on comparing his and Player of the Year competitor Jon Rahm’s years, Scottie Scheffler said at The Sentry 2024 pre-event press conference:

"I don't focus too much on the past or the future. Looking into the past, I'm very proud of the body of work that I put in, the consistency that I put in last year. I'm proud of both of my wins and then I guess all three of them now, including the Hero. And it was a really solid year. And I'm proud of how I played.”

It is pertinent to note that Rahm arguably had the best year of his career. The Spaniard, currently sitting at No. 3 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), recorded four victories including the Masters. The golfer’s wins at Augusta, the Sentry, the American Express, and the Los Angeles Open saw him amass around $16 million in 2023.

Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler, who successfully defended his title at the WM Phoenix Open and won the Players Championship, was voted the Player of the Year. He joined the elite club of Fred Couples, Nick Price and Tiger Woods by winning two consecutive years.

---

Scottie Scheffler on prioritizing his ‘approach’ at events

The Player of the Year winner opened up about how he approaches each event while speaking on Wednesday. The PGA Tour star, at a press conference in Hawaii, noted that his ‘approach’ is the only thing he can control in the game and it relates directly to him having a successful week.

Opening up about his game ahead of The Sentry, Scottie Scheffler said:

"My priority list, at the top like how I define success has always been my approach. If I show up to tournaments and I'm prepared and I'm ready to play, I show up with a good attitude and a good approach. So that means not getting too frustrated not overthinking things. Just trying to go out there and execute the shot and controlling what I can control and that's my approach.

"Once I hit the ball, I can't control whether or not the putt going to go in, whether it's going to hit a bounce and bounce off the line or if I'm going to get gusted by the wind. All I can control is my approach and when my approach and attitude are great then that's a successful week."

It’ll be interesting to see how Scottie Scheffler fares in The Sentry’s stacked field this weekend. He will go up against the likes of Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa, Matt Fitzpatrick, Brian Harman, and Wyndham Clark, among others at the event.