Rory McIlroy has beaten world number one Brooks Koepka to win the PGA Tour Player of the Year award. This is the 3rd time in his career that the Northern Ireland golfer has won the award.
The 30-year-old claimed the honour ahead of Koepka. Koepka who won the PGA Championship and finished second in two of the season’s three other majors. McIlroy also won the Tour Championship for a second time last month, to secure the FedEx Cup title. Rory also had two other title wins with victories in The Players Championship and the Canadian Open.
“Rory’s season was a model of consistency punctuated by milestone victories and ultimately the FedExCup in Atlanta.” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan.
Shortly after McIlroy was announced as the the player of the year voted by his fellow tour pro’s. The tour Tweeted a video of the 4 time major champion being informed of his latest award by 18-time major champ Jack Nicklaus. Rory later said he was, “at a loss for words,” in a teleconference with reporters.
“I’ve got goosebumps.”
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) 11 September 2019
No one better to surprise @McIlroyRory with the Jack Nicklaus Award than @JackNicklaus himself. ?#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/cK28uMu8WY
McIlroy opened the 2019 calendar year with top-six finishes in his first five competitions before winning The Players to claim his 15th career PGA Tour victory.
That saw Rory join Tiger Woods and Henrik Stenson as only the 3rd player to win The Players, a major, the FedExCup and a WGC event.
McIlroy’s win in Atlanta came after he suffered disappointment in The Open when he failed to make the cut at Royal Portrush by one shot following a disastrous opening round, starting with a quadruple bogey 8 on the first hole.