The Player of the Year (POY) honor will be unveiled in a few days, and the two top shots in contention for the place are Scottie Scheffler (world no. 1) and Jon Rahm (world no. 3). Whether it should go to Scheffler, who won the WM Phoenix Open and the Players Championship with 17 top-ten finishes, or Jon Rahm, who secured four titles out of which two were back-to-back wins and one was his first major win at the Masters Tournament, is still a matter of discussion.
Rory McIlroy reflected on this debate and said, “I think it could come down to this week and who performs.” Close to Scottie and Jon is Viktor Hovland, who won the FedEx Cup playoffs and is a dark horse for the POY. But given the full-season performances, the competition is between Scheffler and Rahm this time. Let’s take a look at their entire year’s performances to ascertain who has a greater chance at the achievement.
Scottie Scheffler vs. Jon Rahm: 2023 Performance Overview
Scottie Scheffler finished outside of the top 12 just three times in his fourth year on the tour. He also finished second at the PGA Championship and third at the US Open this year. When it comes to his scoring average, it ranges around 68.63, the seventh-lowest on the tour. The other six were done by the legendary Tiger Woods. He made bogeys, or worse, on 10.73 percent of his holes.
Rahm had ten top-10 finishes this year and secured two runner-up finishes this year one of which was in the Open Championship. He also stood at T10 at the US Open.
Few golfers have expressed their thoughts on these two golfers and their chances. McIlroy believes that Scheffler has set a benchmark. His hits were as good as those of Tiger Woods in 2000. But the Jack-Nicklaus Award is not about ball striking. It’s about winning events and majors as well. That way, Rahm’s chances seem to come out better.
“Because Rahm won a major and how hot Rahm’s year was, winning four alone in the calendar year and in the first four months, this year it’s got to be Rahmbo” said PGA Tour pro Tony Finau.
Finau further talked about how winning is harder than consistency. That way, Rahm has the best shot. Even McIlroy agrees with Finau.
“Scottie’s won twice this year, Jon’s won four times. Jon’s won the Masters, Scottie’s won the Players. I think Jon probably has a little more to show for his year”.
Rickie Fowler, on the other hand, differs from Finau and puts more weight on consistency.
“If someone won two majors and another event and missed every other cut compared to someone who won three regular events and then played solidly throughout, you’d probably pick the one with the more consistent record”.
Although Rahm has a good shot at the POY award, there are reports that he is in the final stages of talks about joining the Saudi-backed league. What transpires ahead, only time will tell.
