Tiger Woods Wins His Ninth PGA Tour Player of the Year Award

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Tiger Woods was voted Golfer of the Year by his U.S. PGA Tour peers for the ninth time since 1997 after winning seven tournaments, including his 13th major.

Woods, who is hosting this week's Target World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California, earned the honor for the third consecutive year. Phil Mickelson, a three- time winner, was the only other player named on a ballot, the PGA Tour said in a press release. Vote totals aren't disclosed.

In addition to winning the PGA Championship in August, Woods closed the season with victories in four of his last five tournaments, including two of four playoff events to capture the first FedEx Cup title. He also won two World Golf Championships events.

Woods, 31, led all players with $10.9 million in earnings, the second-highest total in tour history, and won his eighth Byron Nelson Trophy with a 67.79 scoring average.

Fred Couples and Nick Price are the only other golfers to be voted Player of the Year by other tour members more than once in the award's 18-year history. Each won the award, also known as the Jack Nicklaus Trophy, twice.

Brandt Snedeker was selected as the PGA Tour's rookie of the year after capturing the Wyndham Championship and finishing in the top 10 six times. He won $2.8 million, the third-highest total for a rookie.

Steve Stricker, who ended a six-year victory drought with a win at the Barclays Championship, was voted comeback player of the year for the second consecutive season. He finished second in the FedEx Cup race behind Woods and had nine top-10 finishes.

Jay Haas, a four-time winner with 18 top-10 finishes in 27 starts on the Champions Tour, earned the player-of-the-year award on the over-50 circuit for the second consecutive season.

Australian Nick Flanagan became the first international player in the 18-year history of the Nationwide Tour to earn top honors. Flanagan won three times in 17 starts to earn an automatic promotion to the PGA Tour.