Rory McIlroy Voted PGA Tour Player Of The Year

Rory McIlroy has been named the PGA Tour Player of the year after he turned around a losing season over the last two months to produce four high profile wins including an eight-shot victory at the PGA Championship.

McIlroy started the PGA season by missing three cuts but quickly rebounded his game to turn himself into one of the most talked about players of the year.

McIlroy also won this years money title and grabbed the lowest adjusted scoring average.

After learning of his player voted win, McIlroy said:

“It’s just a great way to end what has been a great year, my best season so far.”

McIlroy at 23 years old became the youngest player to win the PGA Tour player of the year since Tiger Woods claimed the title at 21 years old in 1997. McIlroy was also the third European player to win the player of the year title in the last three years.

While his season start was rocky, McIlroy eventually pulled away to win at Kiawah followed by the Deutsche Bank Championship and the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick. McIlroy also won at the Honda Classic where he defeated Tiger Woods to claim the No. 1 world ranking for the first time in his career.

Taking the rookie of the year award was John Huh who rose through the ranks by earning his card through Q-school. Huh finished off the season with an opposite-field win at an event in Mexico. Most notably, Huh was the only rookie to earn a stop on the Tour Championship. Huh, thanks to his performances in 2012, will play at the PGA Masters in 2013.

Speaking about his rocky season, McIlroy noted:

“I think everyone knows that my game wasn’t where I wanted it to be through the start of the summer and leading up to the PGA.”

Speaking of the accomplishment, PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem noted:

“He has handled himself in terrific fashion. He has been very direct with the media and entertaining to the fans inside and outside the ropes. He is at a very young age already making a very solid contribution to what is the most important asset of the PGA Tour, and that is the image of its players. For that, I thank him.”

McIlroy will start the new season on January 17 in Abu Dhabi where he will switch from Titleist to Nike.