Justin Thomas on Tuesday earned the PGA of America’s points-based Player of the Year award, edging Jon Rahm.
Thomas collected 66 points to capture the PGA’s top annual award for the second time. Rahm was second, with 56 points, while Collin Morikawa (54), Webb Simpson (52) and Dustin Johnson (42) rounded out the top 5.
The points-based scoring system takes into account tournament wins, official money standings and scoring averages for the pandemic-affected season that began at the Greenbrier and concluded Monday at the Tour Championship.
Thomas, who also claimed this honor in 2017, received 30 points for winning the CJ Cup, Sentry Tournament of Champions and WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, plus 20 points for the season money title and 16 more for finishing third in the scoring race.
Simpson won the Vardon Trophy for the lowest adjusted scoring average, at 68.978.
In the PGA’s scoring system, the low 72-hole finisher at the Tour Championship receives the 10 victory points, so Xander Schauffele (who was 15 under for the week at East Lake) was credited with the win.
Johnson is the favorite to claim the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year award, as voted on by the Tour membership. The newly crowned FedExCup champion is credited with three Tour victories this season, including two in the playoffs. The winner of that award is expected to be announced sometime this month.
Last year, Brooks Koepka was named the PGA Player of the Year, while Rory McIlroy earned the PGA Tour Player of the Year award.