PGA Tour winner questions if Rory McIlroy is eligible for POY race: "It's shocking"

Former PGA Tour pro turned CBS golf commentator and analyst Johnson Wagner has questioned whether Rory McIlroy is eligible for the player of the year race. 

Scottie Scheffler is widely expected to be crowned the best player for the fifth year in a row despite not coming anywhere close to matching his record-breaking 2025 season that saw him win six times, including two major triumphs at the PGA Championship and The Open. 

The 30-year-old only has one victory to his name this season, but was in contention at three major championships while adding an impressive five runner-up finishes and five other top-10s. 

He also leads the PGA Tour in 19 statistical categories. His only missed cut came unexpectedly at the Scottish Open, bringing an end to a streak that dated back to the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship.

If the membership were to vote against Scheffler this season, they would likely turn to Cameron Young - who has risen to number three in the Official World Golf Ranking and won twice. 

McIlroy may get the nod, according to Wagner, if he wins the FedEx Cup.

But Wagner has questioned whether the Masters champion would even be eligible for the Jack Nicklaus award given he's played so few events. 

"With no multiple major winners this year, if Rory can go on and win the FedEx Cup, sure, that could do it," Wagner told Golf on CBS.

"But he won't even have played 15 events. Is he even eligible for player of the year? 

"Do we have stats for him? Has he played enough events to have a full statistical profile? It's shocking."

McIlroy made it clear last September that he is aiming to cut back on his tournament schedule in the future. 

He has stayed true to his word, but few expected McIlroy to fall short of the minimum requirement of playing the 15 events needed to retain PGA Tour membership.

The Northern Irishman will escape any punishment thanks to a little-known rule in the players' handbook. 

McIlroy, 37, told reporters after the conclusion of The Open at Royal Birkdale that it was fair to say that his enthusiasm for playing PGA Tour events has waned. 

It also doesn't help that the PGA Tour has been in a "state of flux", McIlroy said, alluding to the structural overhaul that will see the creation of a two-tier system in 2028. 

Wagner added: "I was just having this conversation with somebody the other day, the Memorial Tournament is the last time we saw him play a PGA Tour event in the United States, so it's been a long time."

Wagner said Young should be the player of the year. 

"But there's going to be lots of people voting for Scottie because of that consistency, because of his major championship finishes," he said. 

"I think though, when it comes down to it, if he doesn’t get hot in the playoffs and win at least two of those, it's going to go somewhere else just because, what would it be, five years in a row? 

"I think players are going to take this opportunity to give it to somebody else."

Meanwhile, controversial Golf Channel analyst, Brandel Chamblee, has made his case for and against Scheffler on X.

"The case against him is that no player has ever been voted PGA Tour POY (since it began in 1990) who won just once during the season," he wrote. 

"But then no player has been so dominant from a scoring and statistical standpoint who won just once during the season. 

"With no clearly dominant player thus far in either the majors or in wins, the PGA Tour's play-offs will have added meaning in determining the POY for 2026."