Multiple victories or one major? PGA Tour members have to decided between Patrick Cantlay, Jon Rahm

The PGA Tour player of the year race should once again be an issue of whether one major championship trumps multiple PGA Tour titles -- even if one of them is the FedEx Cup. 

Ballots went out to the Tour membership this week for player of the year and rookie of the year voting. The nominees for the Jack Nicklaus Award as the Tour player of the year (picked by the Players Advisory Council and the four player-directors on the Tour Policy Board) are Patrick Cantlay, who won four times and held off Jon Rahm to win the FedEx Cup at East Lake last week; Rahm, the U.S. Open champion who led the Tour in scoring average and top-10s; Bryson DeChambeau, who won the fall 2020 U.S. Open and the Arnold Palmer Invitational; Open champion Collin Morikawa and two-time winner Harris English of St. Simons Island, Ga. 

However, it likely will come down to Cantlay vs. Rahm and a lot depends on whether the membership will Rahm's hard luck into account. He was forced to withdraw from The Memorial with a six-shot lead entering the final round because of a positive COVID-19 test, and Cantlay won the next day. 

Cantlay eventually entered the Tour Championship as the FedEx Cup points leader and began the week at East Lake 10-under par. Rahm, who was fourth, started at 6-under. 

He actually had a lower score than Cantlay for 72 holes but lost by one shot. 

The PAC and player-directors nominated only two players for rookie of the year, Will Zalatoris, who had eight top-10 finishes while playing under special temporary membership; and Garrick Higgo, who was the only rookie to win this season.

The membership has until 5 p.m. on Friday to electronically transmit their votes.  

Rahm wins PGA award 

Rahm already has a player of the year award, and was based on performance, not votes. He won the PGA of America's top award, which is based on a point system for victories, earning and stroke average. 

Rahm also won the Vardon Trophy for adjusted scoring average, leading the Tour at 69.3. He beat DeChambeau by five points, a year after losing to Justin Thomas by 10. Rahm also tied Kevin Na for the most points from East Lake last week, since the PGA goes by the raw scores in the tournament, not the adjusted score to start the week.  

Cantlay was third with 60 points and Morikawa fourth with 54. 

Velocity Global steps up 

Velocity Global, the official global workforce solutions platform and official professional employer organization of the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions will be the presenting sponsor for PGA Tour University, a ranking for the top-15 college seniors that can result in Korn Ferry Tour access or an international tour. 

Several players from the first class had good results this summer. Arizona State’s Kevin Yu, who was fourth on the PGA Tour University ranking, had five top-25s and two top-five finishes in eight starts on the Korn Ferry Tour. 

Arizona’s Trevor Werbylo (ninth) and SMU’s Mac Meissner (eighth) both won on the Forme Tour and with one event left, Werbylo leads the Order of Merit and Meissner is fifth. 

Tours dark this week 

The PGA Tour and the LPGA Tour are taking the week off. 

The PGA Tour has built in an off-week after the Tour Championship and the beginning of the next FedEx Cup season, especially both events involved travel to the West Coast. 

The PGA Tour opens next week at the Fortinet Championship in Napa, Calif., and the LPGA is at the Cambia Portland Classic. 

The European PGA Tour is a big one: the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, in England, with an $8 million purse. It's the final event players can use to qualify for the European Ryder Cup team. 

Billy Horschel of Ponte Vedra Beach, who is fourth in the Race to Dubai through his finishes in majors and World Golf Championships (he won the Dell Match Play) is in the field, along with Adam Scott and Justin Rose.

PGA Tour Champions 

Event: Ascension Charity Classic, Friday-Sunday, Norwood Hills Country Club, St. Louis. 

At stake: $2 million purse ($300,000 to the winner). 

Defending champion: First-year event. 

TV: Golf Channel (Friday-Sunday, 3:30-6 p.m.). 

Area players entered: Fred Funk, Jim Furyk, Davis Love III, Vijay Singh. 

Notable: Bernhard Langer regained the lead in the Schwab Cup points race by finishing second last week. He shot his age of 64 in the final round. ... Ben Hogan won his second career major at Norwood Hills, the 1948 PGA. ... Also playing are John Daly, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Colin Montgomerie and Mark O'Meara.