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Rory McIlroy begins a three-event stretch to finish his 2026 PGA Tour season this week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
McIlroy has experienced a strange 2026 season in the sense that he hasn’t actually played that much.
After winning The Masters in April, the 37-year-old Northern Irishman has played just six tournaments, with only three of those being non-majors.
Rory McIlroy has 30 PGA Tour wins to his name and he is still one of the biggest stars in the game, if not the biggest.
However, McIlroy admitted he has struggled with motivation for regular PGA Tour events since his Masters win.
It’s fair to say that unless the six-time major winner does something very special during the FedEx Cup playoffs, he will not be winning the PGA Tour Player of the Year award this year.
Scottie Scheffler, Cam Young, Matt Fitzpatrick, Chris Gotterup and Wyndham Clark appear to be the frontrunners for that award right now.
Rory McIlroy discusses the PGA Tour Player of the Year race
McIlroy addressed the media at TPC Southwind on Wednesday ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
The 37-year-old was asked who he would vote for if the PGA Tour Player of the Year award was being decided today.
And McIlroy gave a really insightful answer.
“Oh, geez, it’s a hard one because I think right now it’s objectively there’s no one that really stands out, but subjectively it depends what you value,“ he explained.
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“So if you value winning the biggest tournaments, you would say it could be Cameron Young and Wyndham Clark in terms of one won THE PLAYERS, one won the U.S. Open. Obviously Matt Fitzpatrick has had a great year. Scottie’s had an unbelievably consistent year without the wins that he’s had the last couple years.
“Again, it all depends on what you value, I guess. I guess I value like the bigger tournaments and guys having the bigger moments. It doesn’t really answer your question who I would vote for, but I guess it’s sort of what do you value?“
Leading candidates to win the PGA Tour Player of the Year award
Scheffler has undoubtedly been the most consistent golfer on the PGA Tour in 2026.
The world number one leads so many of the key statistical categories as well.
But as McIlroy said, it depends how you view the Player of the Year award.
If it is about consistency alone, Scheffler would be the runaway leader. However, the likes of Wyndham Clark, Cam Young, Chris Gotterup and Matt Fitzpatrick have all won more times than the 30-year-old this season.
Much will depend on how those players perform during the playoff events.
If Scheffler wins a couple of them, the race for the Player of the Year award will surely be a foregone conclusion.
However, if Clark, Young, Gotterup or Fitzpatrick succeed in one of the next three weeks, the award may well be heading their way.
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