ORLANDO – Scottie Scheffler, Lydia Ko and Steven Alker have been voted 2022 Players of the Year in their respective divisions by the Golf Writers Association of America.

    Ko, 25, voted Female Player of the Year, is the only golfer among the three to have been previously honored as a player of the year by the GWAA. She won in 2015. Scheffler (Male Player of the Year) and Alker (Senior Player of the Year) earned GWAA honors for the first time.

    Scheffler, 26, broke through for his first PGA Tour victory in February at the WM Phoenix Open and apparently enjoyed the taste of winning. He added victories at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (where he ascended to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking) and in April, won his first major championship at the Masters. He finished second to Rory McIlroy in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. 

    He earned 49.2 percent of first-place votes, winning over McIlroy, a three-time winner, and Cameron Smith, whose victories included the Open Championship and The Players. “It was a great year. I'm very pleased with how the year went,” Scheffler said. “To win an award like that, to be recognized as the best player for the year, is really special, and something I'll look back on in my career.”

    Ko won three times in 2022, winning early (Gainbridge LPGA) and winning late (CME Group Tour Championship), bringing her LPGA victory total to 19. She was Rolex Player of the Year, won the Vare Trophy for low scoring average (68.99), and finished among the top 5 in putting, rounds under par, birdies and sub-par holes.

    Ko finished 2022 by getting married in Korea. She earned 79.5 percent of first-place votes, beating finalists Minjee Lee and Atthaya Thitikul. 

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