Ranking the Top Candidates for the 2015 PGA Tour Player of the Year

The FedEx Cup playoffs have concluded and a PGA Tour champion had been crowned in Jordan Spieth, but who will take the title of 2015 PGA Tour Player of the Year when the winner is announced October 2?

The obvious money is on the 22-year-old, who won back-to-back majors and came a whisker away from claiming two more on his way to breaking numerous records. However, looking at the last six months, it would be impossible to count out Jason Day and his blistering run of form.

Is the Aussie’s sudden need for a major-trophy cabinet renovation enough to beat Spieth to the title? Or could Rory McIlroy or Rickie Fowler influence their duopoly at the top by collecting some votes of their own? And what about British Open winner Zach Johnson?

Logic seems to suggest it’s a two-horse race, but there’s reason to consider the accomplishments of the other contenders. Before we look at the official nominees for PGA Tour Player of the Year, let’s give a nod to some of the players who had fantastic years but just missed the cut.

Honorable Mentions

John Amis/Associated Press

Henrik Stenson

The Swede was one of the favorites to win the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup playoffs. Obviously, that didn’t happen, but the greater reason for Stenson’s absence from this list is the fact that he did not register a single win anywhere on tour this season. In that context, it doesn’t matter if he had eight top-10 finishes. Without wins, you can’t be PGA Tour Player of the Year.

Dustin Johnson

Johnson had a win at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, but that was it. Unfortunately for the man from South Carolina, he will likely be remembered more for his near misses in 2015 than his accomplishments (two runners-up and 11 top-10 finishes in total).

When documentaries chronicle Jordan Spieth’s breakout year, they won’t be able to avoid mentioning Johnson’s performance at the U.S. Open or his pairing with the 22-year-old at St. Andrews.

Justin Rose

Rose had a number of great finishes this season—tied for second at the Masters, tied for sixth at the U.S. Open, fourth outright at the PGA Championship, tied for second at the Tour Championship—but he lacks the marquee wins necessary to be taken seriously as a contender for player of the year. A win at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans is still a win (his only one of the year), but it’s not the kind of result to top a POTY resume.

Zach Johnson

Zach Johnson won the British Open. As far as marquee wins are concerned, though, that’s about it. Outside of his one victory, Johnson’s best finishes were a tie for third at the John Deere Classic, a tie for fourth at the Barclays and a fifth-place finish at the AT&T Byron Nelson. Overall, he had 10 top-10 finishes, which scores points for consistency, even if that consistency didn’t yield many trophies.

Bubba Watson

This year, Bubba Watson had the opposite of Zach Johnson’s problem: He lacked a major victory but had a boatload of top-five results.

Watson won both the Travelers and WGC-HSBC Championships in playoffs, tied for second at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, finished second outright at the RBC Canadian Open and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, earned third place at the WGC-Cadillac Championship and claimed another at the Barclays.

In retrospect, and considering the strength of the field in those tournaments where Watson excelled, the only thing his 2015 resume is missing is a major championship. The fact that he didn’t win one of the four, however, bounces him from the top two on this list.

4. Rory McIlroy

John Amis/Associated Press

In some ways, you could say Rory McIlroy had an excellent year, all things considered.

The Northern Irishman missed the entire month of July but still managed to collect seven top-10 finishes from only 12 starts. Among those, he won the WGC-Cadillac Match Play and the Wells Fargo Championship to go along with a fourth-place finish at the Masters and a tie for fourth at the BMW Championship during his post-injury rebound.

As far as the other majors are concerned, McIlroy managed a respectable showing by tying for ninth at the U.S. Open and finishing 17th at the PGA Championship, but that’s nowhere near good enough to overshadow Spieth’s and Day’s respective majors performances.

His nomination for this award can be considered more of a sign of respect for the level of play he has demonstrated in the past (and will again in the future) than an accurate representation of his play this year compared to the two main contenders.

3. Rickie Fowler

Jay LaPrete/Associated Press

Twenty years from now, we may be looking back on 2015 as Rickie Fowler’s breakout year.

He didn’t finish in the top five at every major like he did in 2014, but he did collect two very impressive tour wins—one in a playoff at the Players Championship and the other at the Deutsche Bank Championship during the playoffs—to silence the critics who thought he was overrated.

Overall, the 26-year-old collected seven top-10 finishes, including taking second place at the Quicken Loans National, a tie for third at the WGC-HSBC Championship and a tie for fourth at the BMW Championship (also a playoff event).

Though Fowler didn’t place his personal stamp of ownership on this tour season, he has established himself as a serious contender who is also capable of winning on his day. He won’t be this year’s POTY, but he deserves consideration for the performances he’s turned in over the course of 2015.

Associated Press writer Paul Newberry (h/t USNews.com) said of Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day: “Golf’s in very capable hands, even more so when you throw Rickie Fowler into the mix.”

2. Jason Day

Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

The 2015 PGA Tour Player of the Year race really only has two contenders: Jason Day and Jordan Spieth. It’s a no-brainer.

They both had incredible seasons, but unfortunately for Day, Spieth won two majors (the Masters and U.S. Open), while the Aussie only won the PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy summed up the situation nicely when he said, per PGATour.com’s Brian Wacker: “(Day has been) great. He’s been the best player for the last three months, but...I feel like you’ve got to go on majors, and Jordan has been the best player in those tournaments this year.”

If Day had won the Tour Championship instead of Spieth, this would be more of a contest, considering the Australian’s last three months included a tie for ninth at the U.S. Open, a tie for fourth at the British Open and wins at the Canadian Open, the PGA Championship, the Barclays and the BMW Championship.

While at East Lake, Day himself even conceded the crown to the Texan, per Wacker: “If I do win [the Tour Championship], yeah, it may turn some heads, may turn some of my peers. But to be honest, I think [Spieth has] played better.”

1. Jordan Spieth

John Amis/Associated Press

Jordan Spieth is the 2015 PGA Tour Player of the Year. No, it’s not official yet—but it might as well be.

The 22-year-old broke the record for most earnings in a single year on tour when he brought in $22 million, per CNN.com’s Matias Grez, surpassing Tiger Woods’ 2007 total of $20.9 million. He got there by winning the Valspar Championship, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the John Deere Classic and the Tour Championship.

Add to those four wins another four runners-up—at the Valero Texas Open, the Shell Houston Open, the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonia and the PGA Championship—and Spieth’s 2015 starts to look the like highlights of a respectable professional’s entire career.

Also, per the PGA Tour’s Twitter account:

• Youngest player since Horton Smith (21) in 1929 to win five times in a season
• Returned to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings
• First player to win the Masters and Tour Championship in the same season
• Third player to win the U.S. Open and Tour Championship in the same year
• Spieth is the youngest winner of the Tour Championship by Coca-Cola and the FedEx Cup at 22 years, two months

The 2015 season belonged Jordan Spieth. That’s how the history books will remember it, and it’s how the voters will remember it when they cast their ballots for Player of the Year by October 1.