PGA Tour announces nominees for player and rookie of the year

The PGA Tour announced its list of nominees for the Jack Nicklaus Award, led by Scottie Scheffler, the winner for the past three years.

Scheffler – who won six of 20 starts this season, including the PGA Championship and the Open Championship – is the favorite to win the Nicklaus Award again and joins Tiger Woods as the only players to claim at least four consecutive POY titles. Woods, an 11-time Nicklaus Award winner, was voted POY by his peers five years in a row from 1999 to 2003.

Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Ben Griffin were also nominated for the Nicklaus Award. McIlroy won three times on the PGA Tour this season, including The Players and the Masters, the latter completing his career Grand Slam. Griffin was also a three-time winner, finishing 10th^e on the points list at the end of the season. Fleetwood won the Tour Championship for the first time on Tour and claimed the FedExCup title.

The Arnold Palmer Award competition for rookie of the year promises to be more intriguing, with newcomer Michael Brennan earning a spot on the ballot thanks to his win at the Bank of Utah Championship in just his third Tour start. Steven Fisk (Sandersons Farms Championship), William Mouw (ISCO Championship), Karl Vilips (Puerto Rico Open) and Aldrich Potgieter (Rocket Classic) were also winners during their rookie seasons, but Potgieter was the only newcomer to qualify for the playoffs. The South African finished 56th^e on the final points list.

The polls open for membership voting on Thursday. The voting ends on December 12.