Lehman named Champions Tour Player of the Year

• By Will Gray
• Dec 14, 2012 2:42 PM ET

For the second consecutive year, Tom Lehman has been named the Champions Tour Player of the Year, the Tour announced Friday. 

With a win at the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Lehman became the first player in the 12-year history of the Charles Schwab Cup to win the season-long race in consecutive years. He also claimed his third Champions Tour major title in May at the Regions Tradition.

"When you have your peers voting on this award and they select you, it's a great honor," said Lehman, who won the vote over six other nominees."To win two awards in a row is very special."

Amassing nearly $2 million in earnings, Lehman had 12 top-10 finishes in addition to a pair of wins in 19 starts this season. He is the fifth player to win Player of the Year honors in consecutive years, joining Jim Colbert (1995-1996), Hale Irwin (1997-1998), Jay Haas (2006-2007) and Bernhard Langer (2008-2010).

"Tom had another amazing year on the Champions Tour," added Champions Tour president Mike Stevens. "He is very deserving of this award."

Other season-ending award winners included Langer, who claimed the Arnold Palmer Award as leading money winner, Fred Couples, who took home the Byron Nelson Award for low stroke average, and Kenny Perry, who was named Rookie of the Year.