The trophy belonged to Scottie Scheffler, but the year belonged to Xander Schauffele. As the Tour Championship concluded, Scottie Scheffler was rewarded with the title of Player of the Year, and well, Xander Schauffele, who entered with a second position, finished with a T4 along with Russell Henley, and Adam Scott.

Yet he took home a whopping $12.5 million bonus money. Additionally, the former No. 2 did also break several records this season, and there is certainly no denying that. The 30 YO added one last feather to his hat before ending this season.

Xander Schauffele becomes No. 1 in bogey avoidance

Scottie Scheffler was part of 19 events and did not miss any cut, while Schauffele too did not miss a cut, yet he appeared in 22 events this season. Additionally, Schauffele has 19 top-20 finishes, and Scheffler has 17. Xander Schauffele has been ranked No. 1 in four of the PGA Tour categories – Bogey avoidance, 3-putt avoidance, scrambling, and total putting.

Apart from the No. 1 record, he has also made history in the first two categories. Xander Schauffele has carded only 135 bogeys in the total 1422 holes that he has played this year. This takes his bogey avoidance rate down to 9.49%. Although Scheffler is just two bogeys away from him, yet there’s always one winner, and in this case, it is undoubtedly Schauffele.

Additionally, he has managed to putt only thirteen 3-putts, which brought his 3-putt avoidance rate to 0.96%, beating Maverick McNealy’s record of 0.97% last year. While he is ranked No. 1, Scheffler has dropped down to 19 on the list with 24 3-putts in this season.

Well, despite losing the Player of the Year title to Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele still would have won another trophy due to his outstanding performance throughout the season. It would be from the PGA of America. However, luck surely was not in his favor.

The PGA of America Awards was terminated in 2022

The PGA of America earlier had a similar Player of the Year trophy called the Vardon trophy. One major brings in 30 points, and bagging two of them brings in 50 bonus points. Having won the PGA Championship and the US Open this year, Xander Schauffele would have been in line for the annual award.

He would have been bearing 148 points, the bonus, and 19 points each for being second in scoring average and money. On the other hand, even after winning the Tour Championship, Scottie Scheffler would have been the owner of only 140 points. However, the PGA Award was stopped. Although there were no official announcements, after Rory McIlroy won the last trophy in 2022, it was stopped. All they said was, “We are no longer presenting the PGA Player of the Year and Vardon Trophy awards because similar awards are being given by the PGA Tour.”

What are your thoughts on the former No. 2’s performance this season? Let us know in the comments section below!