PGA: Cantlay edges Rahm for player of the year award

Patrick Cantlay closed out another victory, this time without hitting a shot.

Cantlay was voted PGA Tour player of the year by his peers, capturing the Jack Nicklaus Award that could be seen as a referendum on how players value winning the FedEx Cup.

His solid year became so much more over the final two weeks of the season when Cantlay won a six-hole playoff at the BMW Championship over Bryson DeChambeau and then captured the FedEx Cup with a one-shot victory over Jon Rahm in the Tour Championship.

“The fact that it’s voted on by my fellow PGA Tour players, I think that means a lot to me,” Cantlay said Tuesday. “It wasn’t something that I necessarily thought was on the radar middle of the year, but then I closed really well and played a lot of really nice golf towards the end.”

It presumably was a tight race over Rahm, the No. 1 player in the world who won the PGA Tour money title and the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average. The PGA Tour does not reveal the final vote.

Cantlay had four victories last season, twice as many as anyone else, and he wound up winning the FedEx Cup and its $15-million (U.S.) prize.

One of those victories was the Memorial, where Rahm tied the 54-hole tournament record and had a six-shot lead when he was notified he had a positive COVID-19 test and was forced to withdraw. Cantlay wound up beating Collin Morikawa in a playoff.

Another title was the Tour Championship, where Cantlay began at 10-under par with a two-shot lead because of his No. 1 seed in the FedEx Cup standings. Rahm finished one back of Cantlay.