The PGA Tour announced this week the nominees for the Jack Nicklaus Award (Player of the Year) and the Arnold Palmer Award (Rookie of the Year) for the 2024 season. Three players are nominated for the Jack Nicklaus: Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler. The four Arnold Palmer nominees are Nick Dunlap, Max Greyserman, Jake Knapp and Matthieu Pavon.
Both awards are determined by a vote of PGA Tour members who have played at least 15 tournaments during the 2024 season. Voting will close on Wednesday, December 4, and winners will be announced at the end of the year.
The favorite in the Player of the Year election is Scottie Scheffler, who had an amazing first part of the season. The world number one became the first player to successfully defend The Players and then won for the second time at Augusta. Finally, he closed the course with seven wins. The finishing touch to his historic season was the Olympic gold medal, a merit that is also taken into account for this vote. Before the Paris event, it was very open, as Xander Schauffele won two majors, the PGA Championship and the British Open.
Regarding the Rookie of the Year award, it should be noted that Dunlap became the first amateur in three decades to win on the PGA Tour with his victory at the American Express in January. Not only that, but later in July he won the Barracuda Championship. Pavon had a victory (Farmers Insurance Open) and so did Knapp (Mexico Open). However, Greyserman has five top 5 finishes, of which three are second places.