Why Wyndham Clark Deserves Player Of The Year Honors

It’s been a strange season in professional golf.

For the first time in many years, the majors were dominated by underdogs. Aaron Rai and Ryan Fox were among the most unlikely major victors of the 21st Century.

And then there was the lack of a standout season. A handful of players had solid showings but nobody slammed the door shut on the Player of the Year discussion. Even now, it’s open to debate.

Still, I’m convinced the conversation should be closed: Wyndham Clark deserves to be the 2026 PGA Tour Player of the Year.

Winning has to matter for something

Let’s take a look at some of the top candidates for the award (yeah, there are a lot of guys involved here).

Each player’s Data Golf ranking is next to their name.

• Scottie Scheffler (No. 1)
  • Wins: 2 (American Express, FedEx St. Jude Championship)
  • Majors: 2, T14, T4, T4
  • Top-10 Finishes: 12
  • Stroke Average: 68.6 (1st)

• Rory McIlroy (No. 2)
  • Wins: 1 (The Masters)
  • Majors: Win, T7, T32, T40
  • Top-10 Finishes: 5
  • Stroke Average: 69.3 (2nd)

• Matt Fitzpatrick (No. 4)
  • Wins: 3 (Valspar Championship, RBC Heritage, Zurich Classic of New Orleans)
  • Majors: T18, T14, 22, MC
  • Top-10 Finishes: 8
  • Stroke Average: 69.5 (4th)

• Wyndham Clark (No. 7)
  • Wins: 3 (CJ Cup Byron Nelson, U.S. Open, BMW Championship)
  • Majors: T21, MC, WIN, MC
  • Top-10 Finishes: 6
  • Stroke Average: 69.6 (6th)

• Chris Gotterup (No. 13)
  • Wins: 3 (Sony Open, WM Phoenix Open, John Deere Classic)
  • Majors: T24, T10, T43, T18
  • Top-10 Finishes: 6
  • Stroke Average: 69.7 (7th)

• Cameron Young (No. 15)
  • Wins: 2 (The Players, Cadillac Championship)
  • Majors: T3, T26, T43, 2
  • Top-10 Finishes: 8
  • Stroke Average: 69.7 (12th)

I’m going to work backwards here and eliminate the players from this list who shouldn’t win, even with a Tour Championship victory this week in Atlanta.

Gotterup had an awesome year but he won three tournaments that were not majors nor Signature Events. His supporting results are not strong enough to make a complete case given his lack of good showings in top-tier events.

A similar story can be written about Fitzpatrick. One of his three wins was a Signature Event (RBC Heritage) but the Valspar and Zurich (a team event) don’t rate as highly. Most notably, he didn’t contend in any of the four majors which should be a prerequisite for being named Player of the Year.

I think even McIlroy would agree that the totality of his effort in 2026 isn’t deserving of POTY. He has the major victory but that is his only win on the year. He had a good season but lacks pop in his other results.

That leaves us with Scheffler, Clark and Young.

Look, Scheffler is the best player among this trio. Pick a stat and he’s likely No. 1 in that category. He has 12 top-10 finishes … and they’ve all been top-five finishes.

But Scheffler didn’t win enough. OK, he blew away the field in Memphis. He won a lower-tier event in Palm Springs. He could add the 30-man Tour Championship to his record and it would still be a disappointing year by his standards.

Compare that with Clark who won a major, a playoff event and a lower-tier tournament. The wins aren’t even close.

Fundamentally, I think you have to win a major to be considered Player of the Year. These are the four events that matter to guys the most. Clark is the only realistic candidate on here with a major win.

Scottie is easily the better golfer, both this season and in general, but Clark had the more meaningful results in 2026. Winning has to count for something.

Now to Young. A win at the Tour Championship would definitely spark a debate given how he won The Players and a Signature Event at Doral. His three wins would be somewhat close to Clark’s wins.

But then you look at their stroke average and Data Golf ranking—Clark has Young beat there by a healthy margin.

And, ultimately, the Clark major win is yet another tiebreaker in his direction.

Clark has stated his case

His victory at the BMW Championship cemented Clark’s case.

When we are talking about Player of the Year honors, I prefer to start with major wins, then go to Signature Event wins, then to lower-tier wins. Supporting data like top-10 finishes, stroke average and Data Golf ranking shouldn’t be the main basis for winning the award.

That is my opinion but I know others disagree (evergreen statement).

Who would you pick for POTY? Do you need to see the Tour Championship to make a final decision or are you ready to pull the trigger? I don’t weigh the FedEx Cup that highly, but I may be in the minority there.

Let me know in the comments below.

Top Photo Caption: Wyndham Clark captured the U.S. Open, BMW Championship and CJ Cup this year. (GETTY IMAGES/James Gilbert)