Scottie Scheffler, his wife Meredith and son Bennett pose with the trophy after winning the 2025 CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas.

On Wednesday morning, the PGA Tour announced the finalists for the Jack Nicklaus Award, the Tour's Player of the Year award. Those four players are Tommy Fleetwood, Ben Griffin, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. The PGA Tour Player Directors and members of the Player Advisory Council (PAC) selected the nominees.

But only one player can take home the hardware, and the latter two have set themselves apart from the field this year. No offense to Fleetwood, who won the Tour Championship for his first victory on the PGA Tour, or Griffin who had a breakout season with three wins, but McIlroy and Scheffler were the cream of the crop.

Who should be the favorite to win the award? It's hard to go wrong with either player, but let's break down their resumes.

Rory McIlroy 2025 stats

  • 16 events, 3 wins (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Players Championship and Masters), became sixth player to complete career Grand Slam
  • Finished No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking, T-23 in the FedExCup
  • Second in scoring average (69.083)
  • Eight top-10s, missed one cut (RBC Canadian Open)

Scottie Scheffler 2025 stats

  • 20 events, 6 wins (CJ CUP Byron Nelson, PGA Championship, Memorial Tournament, Open Championship, BMW Championship and Procore Championship)
  • Finished No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, T-4 in the FedExCup
  • Winner of the Byron Nelson Award for low scoring average (68.131)
  • 17 top-10s (best on Tour), no missed cuts

The case for Rory McIlroy

McIlroy's victory at the Masters cemented his legacy among the greatest golfers of all-time. He became just the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam. He won three times before Scheffler earned his first win in 2025, dominating the first part of the season. But the Masters win is among the most meaningful in the history of the sport, which is his big bullet point on the resume.

The case for Scottie Scheffler

Scheffler didn't win his first Tour title until the hometown Byron Nelson in early May, then in typical fashion he flat out dominated the rest of the year. He won six times, including the PGA Championship and Open Championship for his third and fourth major titles. He won the BMW Championship in the playoffs. He also had the lowest scoring average on Tour by nearly a full stroke.

Who should win Player of the Year?

The award considers only a player's achievements on the PGA Tour, so McIlroy's Race to Dubai win and Scheffler's solo's victory over McIlroy in the Ryder Cup won't necessarily be taken into account. It depends on how someone weighs their resumes. Even with Scheffler's six victories, including two majors, McIlroy had the biggest win of the year at the Masters. As far as who was the better player over the year, that titles goes to Scheffler yet again.

Both players have a tremendous case for the Jack Nicklaus Award. It's a win-win situation for the Tour, regardless of who wins.

The Player of the Year award is determined by a member vote, with members who played in at least 15 official FedExCup events during the 2025 season eligible to vote. Voting opens Thursday, Dec. 4 and closes Dec. 12, with the winner announced at a later date.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Scottie Scheffler or Rory McIlroy? Who deserves PGA Tour Player of the Year

Reporting by Cameron Jourdan, Golfweek / Golfweek

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