Spieth voted Player of the Year after ‘season to remember’

Jordan Spieth holds up his trophies after winning the final round of the Tour Championship by Coca-Cola at East Lake Golf Club – USATODAY Sports

REUTERS: World number one Jordan Spieth capped a sensational season on Friday when, as had been widely expected, he was voted the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year after a 2014-15 campaign highlighted by two major victories among his five wins.

Spieth landed the coveted honour after clinching the first two majors of the season – theMasters and U.S. Open – beforefinishing one shot out of a British Open playoff in July and being runner-up at the PGA Championship in August.

The 22-year-old American ended his campaign in triumphant style with victory at the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta last week where he also clinched overall FedExCup playoff honours and the $10 million jackpot.

Spieth made 21 of 25 cuts on the PGA Tour, including four runner-up spots, as his earnings for the season ballooned to $22 million because of the FedExCup bonus.

He set a record for official earnings on the U.S. circuit, his tally of $12,030,465 eclipsing the previous mark of $10,905,166 established by Vijay Singh in 2004.

Spieth claimed Player of the Year honours over rivals Jason Day of Australia, Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and fellow American Rickie Fowler in a vote of his peers.

Of that trio, Day pushed Spieth hardest in the battle for the prized accolade as he also triumphed five times on the 2014-15 PGA Tour while claiming his first major title at the PGA Championship.

“It was a season to remember,” Spieth told reporters on a conference call. “You don’t recognise it, I guess, as the year goes on. When you look at it in review, you can see exactly what we have done.

“It’s an honour to win Player of the Year because it is the MVP (most valuable player) of our league and it’s voted upon by the players. For them to recognise the hard work that we put in and what we’ve been able to do with it is truly special.”

Spieth, the youngest Player of the Year since a 21-year-old Tiger Woods won the award 1997, also earned the Arnold Palmer Award as the Tour’s leading money winner and claimed the Byron Nelson Award for adjusted scoring average (68.938).