Rory McIlroy voted PGA Tour player of the year

Rory McIlroy has been voted the PGA Tour player of the year for the second time in three years.

The 25-year-old from Northern Ireland claimed the award ahead of Martin Kaymer, Billy Horschel and Jimmy Walker after a sparkling run during the summer.

The world No 1 kick-started his season with victory at the European Tour's flagship BMW PGA Championship in May, and he finished no lower than 23rd over the remainder of the summer.

McIlroy won The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool and the PGA Championship at Valhalla, as well as claiming the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational title in between, during a four-week spell in July and August.

Those three straight victories catapulted him back to the top of the world rankings as he bounced back impressively from his problems on and off the course in 2013.

McIlroy also led the Tour with 12 top-10 finishes and never finished worse than 25th in his 17 Tour starts as he topped the money list with $8.28million to secure the Arnold Palmer award. 

They are the guys you are trying to beat week in, week out and if they appreciate what you have done over the year, see the hard work that you've put in and the golf that you've played and think that's been the best of the season that means a lot to me.

He also won the Byron Nelson Trophy for the lowest adjusted scoring average of 68.827.

Peers

"It means a lot to win it for the second time in three years," McIlroy said. "Being voted player of the year by your peers is something that's very important.

"They are the guys you are trying to beat week in, week out and if they appreciate what you have done over the year, see the hard work that you've put in and the golf that you've played and think that's been the best of the season that means a lot to me.

"I would like to win a lot more in my career and even though the last year wasn't what I wanted, the last three or four years have been very, very good and it gives me even more motivation to go on and work harder and try to win more tournaments, more majors and be involved in more Ryder Cups like last week."

American Chesson Hadley, 27, was voted as the rookie of the year after winning the Puerto Rico Open and becoming the only rookie to qualify for the BMW Championship.

Frenchman Victor Dubuisson and American Brooks Koepka were the other nominees.

“My congratulations to Rory and Chesson for their outstanding accomplishments that earned them season-ending honours from their peers,” PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem told the official website.

“Both players earned their awards with their consistent and steady play throughout the season.”