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Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth duel to the finish in race for PGA Player of the Year award

By PGA of America
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Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth duel to the finish in race for PGA Player of the Year award

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (Sept. 19, 2017) – PGA Champion Justin Thomas and Open Champion Jordan Spieth will carry their duel to the final points event of the season – The TOUR Championship – in determining the 2017 PGA of America Player of the Year, one of the season-ending awards presented by the PGA of America for excellence by a PGA TOUR professional. 

Five-time winner Thomas saw his lead trimmed last weekend, 102-90 over Spieth, who returned to No. 1 in the season money list with a tie for seventh place in the BMW Championship. Dustin Johnson is next with 66 points, followed by Hideki Matsuyama with 56 and BMW Champion Marc Leishman with 44. Johnson and Matsuyama have each won four times this season, while Spieth owns three victories.

Since 1948, the PGA of America has honored the game’s best players with the PGA Player of the Year Award. It is presented to the top TOUR professional based on a point system for tournament wins, official money standings, and scoring averages. Points for the 2016-17 season began with the Safeway Open on Oct. 16, and conclude Sept. 24, at the TOUR Championship.

Spieth maintains his lead in the Vardon Trophy race with a 68.845 adjusted scoring average based upon 81 complete rounds. Rickie Fowler is next at 68.914, followed by Leishman (69.380), Thomas (69.439) and Matsuyama (69.486).

Since 1937, the Vardon Trophy, named by the PGA of America in honor of legendary British golfer Harry Vardon, has been presented annually to the touring professional with the lowest adjusted scoring average. It is based on a minimum of 60 rounds, with no incomplete rounds, in events co-sponsored or designated by the PGA TOUR. The adjusted score is computed from the average score of the field at each event.

The PGA TOUR also recognizes its annual Player of the Year, with the winner announced in early October, determined by a vote of the membership.

2017 PGA Player of the Year Standings

 
Player Victory points Money points Scoring points Total points
1. Justin Thomas 70 18 14 102
2. Jordan Spieth 50 20 20 90
3. Dustin Johnson 40 16 10 66
4. Hideki Matsuyama 30 14 12 56
5. Marc Leishman 20 8 16 44
6. Rickie Fowler 10 12 18 40
7. Brooks Koepka 30 6 N/A 36
8. Sergio Garcia 30 N/A 4 34
9. Jon Rahm 10 10 6 26
10. Si Woo Kim 20 N/A N/A 20

 

2017 Vardon Trophy Standings (through 9/17/17)

 
Player Points Adjusted scoring average
Jordan Spieth 81 68.845
Rickie Fowler 74 68.914
Marc Leishman 90 69.380
Justin Thomas 82 69.439
Hideki Matsuyama 79 69.486
Dustin Johnson 73 69.515
Paul Casey 90 69.520
Jon Rahm 86 69.596

 

Points are distributed based upon the following:

A) Tournament victories Points
PGA Championship 30
U.S. Open 30
Open Championship 30
Masters 30
The Players Championship 20
All other PGA TOUR and WGC events 10

B) PGA Tour official money list Points
1st 20
2nd 18
3rd 16
4th 14
5th 12
6th 10
7th 8
8th 6
9th 4
10th 2

C) Adj. scoring average: min. 60 rounds Points
1st 20
2nd 18
3rd 16
4th 14
5th 12
6th 10
7th 8
8th 6
9th 4
10th 2