Paul McGinley has objected to a Player of the Year debate on air, citing PGA Tour bias. Matt Fitzpatrick, one of four golfers to have won at least two PGA Tour events this season, won the Zurich Classic with his brother Alex. So when the Golf Channel panel, which included Jim Nantz, was discussing whether he should get the Player of the Year award if he wins The Open, McGinley pushed back on the discussion.
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He highlighted what he believes is a huge flaw in that award: PGA Tour-centric voting ignores global achievements.
“I have an issue with all of this player stuff. I think it’s too PGA Tour-centric, and it’s voted on by the players. Basically, what you do after the middle of August is not really important. Some huge events happen after the middle of August… Player of the Year is a massive title, and it’s been hijacked by the PGA Tour.
“It should be the PGA Tour Player of the Year, and it should be identified as what you did in the PGA Tour season. Player of the Year is a huge thing in golf, and it should be around the 12-month period of what you do all around the world, not just what you do on the PGA Tour and be American- centric.”
McGinley’s criticism centered less on the eventual winner and more on what he sees as an identity issue with the award. While the Jack Nicklaus Award recognizes the PGA Tour’s best player and is voted on by PGA Tour members, he argued that calling it simply “Player of the Year” creates the impression that it reflects the best season in all of golf.
Take, for example, Rory McIlroy.
He capped a historic 2025 by winning the Masters, becoming only the sixth golfer to complete the career Grand Slam. The victory ended an 11-year wait to win at Augusta National, the lone major that had eluded him. Not just that, he also dramatically won his second Players Championship after prevailing in a Monday playoff at TPC Sawgrass.
Internationally, McIlroy won the Irish Open and claimed his seventh Race to Dubai title, matching Seve Ballesteros. He is only one shy of Colin Montgomerie. These achievements even helped him earn the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
Yet Scottie Scheffler still took Player of the Year.
Scheffler’s achievements were no less, though. His six PGA Tour wins, including majors at the PGA Championship and The Open, earned him Player of the Year over McIlroy, Fleetwood, and Griffin.
Nantz tried to remind McGinley of this.
“Yeah, I know he did win two majors, but Rory won the Players’ Championship. You call that a major. And also, Rory stood up at the Ryder Cup and led his team to victory. Scottie was nowhere to be seen at the Ryder Cup. Now, that, for me, is a massive thing. So if you want to call Player of the Year, it should be world-centric. What you did in the 12-month character period, not during a small period of time,” McGinley replied.
For McGinley, achievements such as the Ryder Cup, Race to Dubai, and other elite international events deserve greater consideration alongside PGA Tour results when judging a player’s overall season.
This isn’t a one-off case. McGinley has repeatedly called out the PGA Tour and its American members on multiple things. For instance, speaking on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast, he said that the PGA Tour needs to learn one thing from LIV Golf. According to him, the tour should ask its elite players to tee off at key events. He even called out the American pros’ reluctance to travel.
But will his voice about the Player of the Year award be heard?