PGA Tour pro says Scottie Scheffler ‘going to jail’ won’t affect his Player of the Year voting decision
PGA Tour pro Michael Kim has said that Scottie Scheffler's jail incident would not affect his vote for him for the 2024 Player of the Year. This season on the PGA Tour, Scheffler has been outstanding, winning seven tournaments, including a major at the Masters.
The World No. 1 is one of the top contenders for the Player of the Year title. However, Scheffler faces tough competition from fellow PGA Tour player Xander Schauffele, who has also been impressive with his game this season. Schauffele won two majors, including the PGA Championship and The Open Championship.
Recently, Michael Kim shared his opinion on voting for Schauffele and Scheffler for the 2024 PGA Tour Player of the Year award. While Scheffler's game was phenomenal this season, he also made headlines during the PGA Championship in May for going to jail. The American golfer was detained due to allegations of injuring a police officer and breaking traffic rules. However, all charges against him were later dropped.
In a recent post, Michael Kim acknowledged Scheffler's performance this season and stated that the world No. 1's jail incident wouldn't "stop" him from voting for the two-time major winner. Kim wrote on his X account:
These are crazy times and every vote counts! I really need to back my candidate so that the right person wins. I have a vote and will use it! I’m living in Texas but grew up in San Diego so I feel no allegiance.
"I’m voting for Scottie Scheffler as pgatour POY. Yes Xander has two majors but Scottie won the Masters, Players, 4 signature events, and the Olympics which were all tournaments that Xander also competed in. Scottie has the H2H by a wide margin. He might have gone to jail but that won’t stop me from voting for him!" he added.
Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler have been phenomenal with their game this season, and it will be interesting to see who will win the Player of the Year title. Scheffler has won the Player of the Year title twice in his career, in 2021-22 and 2022-23. If he wins in 2024, Scheffler would complete a hat-trick, securing the POY award for three consecutive seasons.
A comparison between Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele's performance in 2024
Xander Schauffele competed in 22 events on the PGA Tour, recording three runner-up finishes and two victories. Both of his wins were in majors: the PGA Championship and The Open Championship. Additionally, he recorded an impressive 15 finishes in the top 10 and did not miss a single cut, earning $18,385,320 in prize money.
Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler played in only 19 tournaments this season on the PGA Tour but achieved seven wins and 16 top-10 finishes. He also did not miss any cuts and won a major at the Masters, along with The Players Championship, a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, and the season-ending Tour Championship. In addition to his seven wins, he finished as runner-up in two tournaments.