Tiger Woods Gets Player of the Year, Jordan Spieth Is Rookie of the Year

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem announced on Friday that Tiger Woods had garnered the votes from PGA Tour players to earn Player of The Year honors. In addition, Jordan Spieth is Rookie of The Year.  

Finchem said in a statement:

"

On behalf of the PGA TOUR, my congratulations to Tiger and Jordan for their impressive performances in 2013. Tiger’s five wins came against some of the strongest fields in golf including THE PLAYERS and two World Golf Championships while Jordan’s rookie season was historic in terms of his accomplishments for a player just 20 years old. The member vote reflects the respect their peers have for both players.

"

It is the 11th time that Woods has been voted PGA Tour Player of the Year. Recapping his season, he won five times, finished second in the FedEx Cup, was the leading money winner (to win the Arnold Palmer award) for the 10th time and earned the prestigious Vardon Trophy for a ninth time with a scoring average of 68.985.

Woods victories included the Farmer's Insurance Open, WGC-Cadillac, Arnold Palmer Invitational, The Players and WGC Bridgestone.

"The most significant win (of 2013) was probably The Players because I've only played well there twice," Woods said about his season. He cited the quality of the field at The Players, which was the deepest all year.

Regarding his performance in this year's major championships, Woods said, "I put myself there with a chance on the back nine on two of them. I have the same goal, and that is to win each and every event I tee it up in. That hasn't changed since I turned professional in 1996."

Spieth began the year with no PGA Tour status. He entered 23 events and was the youngest player to win on the PGA Tour since 1931. When he won the John Deere Classic, he beat the record that had been held by Ralph Guldahl, who won the 1931 Santa Monica Open at age 19 years, two months and four days.

Since 1900, Spieth is only the fourth player under age 20 to win a PGA Tour event. He was second at the Tour Championship despite being the youngest there, was 10th on the PGA Tour money and had nine top-10 finishes.

"It's a tremendous honor," Spieth said. "The way the year ran, I'm very fortunate and very blessed."

When asked abut his season, he said, "My mind is still really on next week (the Presidents Cup). I really have not had time to think about it."

He said shooting 62 at Deutsche Bank got him thinking about the possibility of being chosen for the Presidents Cup team because that was his only shot at participating.

Other Awards and Honors

Steve Stricker earned his first Byron Nelson Award for adjusted scoring average (68.945). He did have enough rounds to qualify for the Vardon Trophy.

 

Statistical Leaders

Driving Distance	Luke List	306.3
Driving Accuracy Percentage	Jerry Kelly	71.81
Greens in Regulation Percentage	Henrik Stenson	71.96
Strokes Gained - Putting	Greg Chalmers	0.854
Putting Average	Phil Mickelson	1.718
Total Eagles	Chris Kirk	15
Total Birdies	Brendon de Jonge	399
Adjusted Scoring Average	Steve Stricker	68.945
Sand Save Percentage	K.J. Choi	67.18
Total Driving	Graham DeLaet	53
All-Around Ranking	Tiger Woods	188
Top-10 Finishes	Bill Haas, Brandt Snedeker, Jordan Spieth	9
Ball Striking	Henrik Stenson, Graham DeLaet	4
Consecutive Cuts	Matt Kuchar	23 (27 overall)

First-time winners: 12

Russell Henley, John Merrick, Michael Thompson, Scott Brown, Kevin Streelman, Billy Horschel, Derek Ernst, Sang-Moon Bae, Harris English, Ken Duke, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed. Winners receive a two-year exemption to PGA Tour events.

Kathy Bissell is a Golf Writer for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand or from official interview materials from the USGA, PGA Tour or PGA of America.