Golf: Patrick Cantlay beats Jon Rahm for PGA Tour Player of Year

American Patrick Cantlay earned victories in his last two FedExCup Playoffs tournaments to win the 2020-21 PGA Tour Player of the Year award. File Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI World No. 4 Patrick Cantlay earned a PGA Tour best four victories in 2020-21. File Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI Winner Patrick Cantlay (pictured) and Jon Rahm were among the finalists for 2020-21 PGA Tour Player of the Year honors. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI Jon Rahm (pictured) won the 2021 U.S. Open and totaled the most Top 10 finishes, but lost out to Patrick Cantlay for PGA Tour Player of the Year honors. File Photo by Corey Sipkin/UPI Bryson DeChambeau was among the finalists for the 2020-21 PGA Tour Player of the Year award. File Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI

Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Tour Championship winner Patrick Cantlay was named the 2021 PGA Tour Player of the Year on Tuesday, the PGA Tour announced.

The No. 4 player in the Official World Golf Ranking edged No. 1 Jon Rahm of Spain for the honor, also known as the Jack Nicklaus Award.

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The Tour's membership, which votes on the award, said Cantlay also edged finalists Bryson DeChambeau, Harris English and Collin Morikawa.

"Receiving this award through a member vote reflects the respect his peers have for Patrick," PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a news release.

"His play throughout 2020-21 was phenomenal, and in stepping up to win consecutive FedExCup Playoffs events and the FedExCup, Patrick was at his best when it mattered most in our season."

Cantlay, 29, won the Zozo Championship and the Memorial earlier this season. He ended the campaign with consecutive playoff victories at the BMW Championship and Tour Championship. He was the only golfer with more than two wins in 2020-21.

Cantlay also recorded seven Top 10 finishes and two Top 5 finishes, in addition to his four wins, in 24 starts. The American earned about $7.6 million on the Tour.

Rahm won the 2021 U.S. Open carded two second-place and two-third place finishes. He recorded 15 Top 10 finishes and 18 Top 25 finishes in his 22 events. Rahm earned more than $7.7 million.