Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood lead PGA Tour award nominees - CBS Sports

The PGA Tour Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year nominees were announced on Wednesday. Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Ben Griffin make up the four-man race for the Jack Nicklaus Award, while Michael Brennan, Steven Fisk, William Mouw, Aldrich Potgieter and Karl Vilips are among those vying for the Arnold Palmer Award.

Scheffler has become familiar with getting his hands on the Jack Nicklaus Award in recent years. The world No. 1 joined Tiger Woods as the only golfer to claim the title three years in a row when he secured the award last season. Woods earned the honor five straight seasons from 1999 to 2003 and three straight from 2005-07.

By doing so himself in 2024, Scheffler became the third golfer to be named Player of the Year three times in his career, joining Woods (11 times) and McIlroy (three).

Scheffler has a fantastic opportunity to make it four in a row thanks to his 2025 campaign that was not without some early adversity. Sidelined at the onset of the season due to an injury over the holidays, the right-hander returned with intent at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

He entered 20 events, finished inside the top 25 in all of them and ticked off six more victories along the way. In addition to wins at PGA Tour stops like the CJ CUP Byron Nelson, Procore Championship and BMW Championship, Scheffler successfully defended his win at the Memorial. His other two victories came in the form of major championships as he raised the Wanamaker Trophy at the PGA Championship and became the Champion Golfer of the Year at The Open when he raced away from the field at Royal Portrush.

Scheffler's season is difficult to stack up against, but if there was one to do so, it would be the one had by McIlroy. The world No. 2 shot out of the gates in 2025 by winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and winning the Players Championship for the second time in his career.

All of this led up to the Masters where McIlroy once again won in a playoff to become