Scottie Scheffler was voted PGA Tour Player of the Year by a large margin. With the award came the Jack Nicklaus Trophy, which quickly became the favourite of one adorable fan.
He is none other than Meredith and Scottie's son, Bennett. The seven-month-old was immediately drawn to his father's new trophy, as shown in a video posted by the PGA Tour on its social media profiles.
The post shows Scottie Scheffler showing off his new trophy to his wife and son. Bennett can be seen grabbing the trophy and tasting it with his mouth. Later, the baby crawls to reach for the trophy after his father places it on the ground in front of him.
Scheffler won the PGA Tour Player of the Year award with 91% of the votes from the tour's players. The remaining 9% went to Xander Schauffele in a vote in which Rory McIlroy was the third nominee.
The award caps a historic season in which Scheffler won seven PGA Tour events, including the Masters Tournament, the Players Championship, the Tour Championship, and four Signature Events. He also won the gold medal at a Olympic Games in Paris and the recent Hero World Challenge.
Scottie Scheffler also had nine other top-10 finishes during the season. Five of his wins and four of his other top 10s came after the birth of his son, Bennett, on May 8.
Scottie Scheffler joins Tiger Woods in remarkable PGA Tour Player of the Year record
By winning the 2024 PGA Tour Player of the Year Award, Scottie Scheffler joined Tiger Woods as the only players to win the award in three or more consecutive seasons. Woods accomplished this twice, first winning the award five times in a row (1999-2003) and then winning it back-to-back from 2005-2007.
Woods is also the all-time leading winner of the Jack Nicklaus Trophy (11 times). Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are the next closest with three wins apiece.
Two other players have won the Player of the Year Award in consecutive seasons. Fred Couples (1991, 1992) and Nick Price (1993, 1994). Other notable winners include Greg Norman, Mark O'Meara, Vijay Singh, and Padraig Harrington.
The PGA Tour Player of the Year Award was established in 1990 and the first winner was 12-time Tour winner Wayne Levi. It was preceded by the PGA Player of the Year Award, which began in 1948 with Ben Hogan as the first winner.
The two awards co-existed from 1990 until 2022, when the PGA Player of the Year award was discontinued. The last winner was Cameron Smith. Between 1992 and 2018, the same player won both awards.
Other awards presented by the PGA Tour each season include the Money List Winner, Rookie of the Year, and the Courage Award.