Rory McIlroy has been selected as the PGA Tour Player of the Year and John Huh as PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, as voted on by the Tour’s membership for the 2012 season.
McIlroy, 23, becomes the youngest player to earn Player of the Year honors since Tiger Woods in 1998. He receives the Jack Nicklaus Award in recognition of the honor.
McIlroy won four times on the PGA Tour in 2012, capturing The Honda Classic, PGA Championship, Deutsche Bank Championship and BMW Championship. McIlroy’s eight-shot win at the PGA Championship was the largest in tournament history, breaking Nicklaus’ record of seven shots in 1980. With six career Tour victories, McIlroy became the third player since 1960 to win six or more times before the age of 24, joining Woods (15) and Nicklaus (8).
He earned the Arnold Palmer Award as the Tour’s leading official money winner ($8,047,952) and was the runner-up in the FedExCup. He also was the winner of the Byron Nelson Award and Vardon Trophy for adjusted scoring average (68.87). McIlroy recorded a total of 10 top-10 finishes in 16 starts, tied for most on Tour with Bo Van Pelt.
Following his victory at The Honda Classic in March, McIlroy took over No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking and has held the top position for a total of 24 weeks (currently 17 consecutive) through December 3.
The Northern Ireland native is the third European to earn the Jack Nicklaus Award, joining England’s Luke Donald (2011) and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington (2008). McIlroy was selected over Jason Dufner, Brandt Snedeker, Bubba Watson and Tiger Woods.
Huh, 22, was the only rookie to qualify for the Tour Championship by Coca-Cola and just the fifth rookie to qualify for the Tour Championship since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007. He was also the youngest player to qualify for the Tour Championship since Sergio Garcia did so at the age of 21 in 2001.
A graduate of Cal State Northridge, Huh broke through for his first win at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in February, enduring an eight-hole playoff with Robert Allenby. He finished 29th in the FedExCup and 28th on final official money list ($2,692,113) and totaled four top-10 finishes in 28 starts, including a tie for second at the Valero Texas Open.
Huh, who was born in New York City and currently resides outside Dallas, is the first player of Korean descent to be voted PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.
Huh was selected over Charlie Beljan, Jonas Blixt, Bud Cauley and Ted Potter, Jr.
