The competition for the 2026 PGA Tour Player of the Year award is becoming more intense, exciting, and closely contested with only three events remaining in the regular season. Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, and Ben Griffin were the nominees for the award last year, but the race came down to the World No. 1 and the Grand Slam winner. Scheffler eventually won the honor, but the decision will be much tougher this year.

Many professionals have had a great season so far. So, ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, when the media asked McIlroy who could win the award this year, he didn’t have a definitive answer. However, he named Scottie Scheffler, among others, as having a good chance and explained why.

“Oh, geez, it’s a hard one because I think right now it’s objectively there’s no one that really stands out, but subjectively it depends what you value. So if you value winning the biggest tournaments, you would say it could be Cameron Young and Wyndham Clark in terms of one won The Players, one won the U.S. Open. Obviously, Matt Fitzpatrick has had a great year. Scottie’s had an unbelievably consistent year without the wins that he’s had the last couple years.

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“Again, it all depends on what you value, I guess. I guess I value like the bigger tournaments and guys having the bigger moments. It doesn’t really answer your question who I would vote for, but I guess it’s sort of what do you value?”

To Rory, Scheffler stood out for consistent performances this year. His 11 top-5 finishes in 17 starts—five as runner-up—reveal a player who stays in contention.

Scheffler also leads the FedExCup (4,123 points), Presidents Cup (13,456), and PGA Tour scoring average—a trifecta of dominance.

Scheffler revealed the secret to his consistency while interacting with the media at the 2026 WM Phoenix Open: stay near the lead to increase the chances of winning. He added that he is most proud of his consistent results.

But McIlroy’s other candidates have equally compelling cases.

Matt Fitzpatrick has three wins, more than any other player this season. Although Cameron Young has two, they’re more significant: the Players Championship and the Cadillac Championship.

Wyndham Clark also has two victories this season: the U.S. Open and the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, making him an equally strong contender.

McIlroy himself stands a chance. He successfully defended the Masters this season, joining Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, and Tiger Woods to do so.

Different analysts have had different views on this. Brandel Chamblee felt Scheffler was still ahead in the race, but later changed his stance, highlighting that no winner so far has won the PGA Tour just once. Johnson Wagner picked Fitzpatrick as the favorite to win, while Ryan Lavner picked Young.

As McIlroy pointed out, it all depends on what you value the most.