Who Should Win PGA TOUR’s Player of the Year?
By Matt Cochran
A hot debate making its way around the bars and barbershops in the world of golf is, “Who should win the Player of the Year?” Obviously, the choices come down to Jason Day and Jordan Spieth, but that’s where many come to a crossroads. With the seasons that these two golfers have had, it’s a shame both golfers can’t get the award.
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There are two Player of the Year awards given out each year. The PGA Player of the Year uses a point system and takes into account wins, money list standing, and scoring average, while the PGA TOUR Player of the Year is voted on by the golfers themselves. Most of the time, the same golfer wins the award, but with the debate that has been going on, this may not be the case.
Spieth started off the season like a madman, but has slowed down towards the end of the season, while his counterpart Jason Day has picked up where he left off.
Let’s break down the seasons both golfers have had and see if we can come to a conclusion on who the rightful owner of the award should be.
Jason Day
Wins – 5 2nd – 0 3rd – 1 Top 10s – 10 Top 25s – 14 Made Cut – 17 Cut – 2
Jordan Spieth
Wins – 4 2nd – 4 3rd – 1 Top 10s – 14 Top 25s – 18 Made Cut – 20 Cut – 4
Jason Day is currently the No. 1 golfer in the world and first in the FedEx Cup standings. His recent string of success is one of the most impressive performances golf has seen in ages. Day has won four times in his last six starts and placed T-12 in the two that he didn’t win.
He’s only missed two cuts in 19 starts and collected his first major of the year at the PGA Championship.Were it not for his play as of late, it wouldn’t be hard to hand the hardware to Spieth, but the Aussie is definitely stating his case. If he can pull out a win this week at the TOUR Championship and win the FedEx Cup, then it would almost have to go to Day.
However, it’s called the Player of the YEAR for a reason. It’s not the Player of the Last Two Months. For that reason, Jordan Spieth is the current frontrunner to win the award.
He’s may have less wins, but Spieth’s overall season has been better than Day’s. Not to mention he’s won two majors to Jason’s one. Spieth also has four more second place finishes, four more top 10s, and four more top 25s.
One strong piece of evidence pointed out by PGA TOUR beat writer Steve Elling is that every Player of the Year winner that has won two majors in a season has won the award.
Every player who has won 2+ majors in same season has won PGA Tour's top-player honor since it was first awarded in 1990.
— Steve Elling (@EllingYelling) September 21, 2015
In the two other majors that Spieth didn’t win, he still placed T-4 and solo second, while Day T-28, T-9, and T-4 in the majors he didn’t win. If you consider world ranking points to compare the two golfers’ seasons, Spieth wins in that category as well with 532.31 to Day’s 444.85.
Spieth has had record setting performances in the majors and played consistently better than Day throughout the year. Sure, Jason is the hottest player in golf right now, but that’s why we take the whole season into account.
If he can somehow pull it off this week at East Lake Golf Club, then it will be a crapshoot for who wins POY. I’m just glad I’m not the one who has to make the decision.