From pgatour.com
Dustin Johnson was voted 2020 PGA Tour Player of the Year by Tour members for the 2019-20 season and Scottie Scheffler Rookie of the Year.
PGA Tour members who played at least 10 official FedExCup events during the 2019-20 season were eligible to vote.
Johnson, 36, of Jupiter, Florida, won the FedExCup for the first time in his career, winning twice in the playoffs and three times on the season.
The three victories, which came at the Travellers Championship, The Northern Trust and the Tour Championship, tied Johnson for the most with Justin Thomas and marked his fourth season with at least three wins.
Johnson moved to 27th on the all-time wins list with 23 PGA career victories and extended his streak of consecutive seasons with a win to 13, becoming the fourth such behind Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods.
“On behalf of the PGA Tour, my congratulations to Dustin Johnson,” said Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan.
“Dustin made it known throughout the season that the FedEx Cup was a priority and his performances in the playoffs were spectacular with two wins and a playoff runner-up at the BMW Championship.
“His demeanor and athleticism on the course make it look very easy, but behind the scenes, he’s worked incredibly hard coming back from injury and his 2019-20 season speaks for itself.”
Strong return
Johnson, who did not make a start in the fall due to injury, returned to competition in December 2019, representing the United States at the Presidents Cup for the fourth time.
DJ opened with a T7 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and recorded a T10 at the Genesis Invitational, before the pandemic halted the season.
When play resumed in June, Johnson remained outside the top 100 in the FedEx Cup until his win at the Travelers Championship in his third start, which moved him to 22nd in the standings.
Three starts later, Johnson began a streak of 12 rounds in the 60s, starting with the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational (T12).
In the first major championship held since June, Johnson took the lead into the final round of the PGA Championship before finishing runner-up for the second year in a row.
That made him the first player to finish second in the event in consecutive years since Jack Nicklaus (1964, 1965).
Wide margin
Johnson won The Northern Trust with a 72-hole total of 30-under 254 and by 11 strokes, the largest margin of victory since 2006 (13, Phil Mickelson at the BellSouth Classic).
The victory, his fifth in the playoffs, moved him to no. 1 in the FedEx Cup and back to world no. 1 for the first time since May 2019.
At the BMW Championship, Johnson fell to Jon Rahm in a playoff, after making a 43-foot plus birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force extra holes.
He however, maintained the top spot in the FedEx Cup standings to begin the Tour Championship on top of the starting strokes handicap system.
Johnson entered the final round at the Tour Championship leading by five strokes, becoming the first player since Tiger Woods in 1999 to hold the 54-hole lead/co-lead in four consecutive starts.
After five top-five finishes in the FedExCup in 11 previous seasons, Johnson claimed the FedEx Cup for the first time and won the Tour Championship for his sixth career playoffs title, the most of any player.
In all, Johnson recorded seven top-10s, with three wins and two runner-up finishes (PGA Championship, BMW Championship), and made 11 cuts in 14 starts, ending the season no. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Johnson will receive the Jack Nicklaus Award. He was voted in ahead of Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm, Webb Simpson and Justin Thomas.
Scheffler’s run
Scheffler, 24, of Dallas, finished fifth the FedEx Cup as one of eight PGA Tour rookies to qualify for the playoffs and one of two to advance to the Tour Championship.
With his fifth-place finish, Scheffler became the second rookie in the FedEx Cup era to finish the season in the top five of the standings (Xander Schauffele, 2016-17).
In 23 starts, Scheffler recorded seven top-10s, six of which were top-fives, highlighted by a third-place finish at The American Express.
Scheffler receives the Arnold Palmer Award and was selected ahead of Harry Higgs, Viktor Hovland and Maverick McNealy.
Also read: Johnson caps stellar run with Tour C’ship, $15m payout
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