Every PGA Tour Rookie Of The Year Since 1990
The PGA Tour Rookie of the Year title, known as the Arnold Palmer Award, has been won by a number of the game's modern day greats since its inception in 1990
The PGA Tour Rookie of the Year award goes to the stand-out first-year PGA Tour player, with many of the game's greats stamping their authority on the tour straight of the gate.
The Rookie of the Year award has been handed out since 1990, like the PGA Tour Player of the Year award, and is known as the Arnold Palmer Award. Like the POY title, the Arnold Palmer award is voted for by PGA Tour members.
It's usually a very good indicator as to how successful their career will be.
A number of Major winners have been named Rookie of the Year including the likes of Ernie Els, Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, and the likes of John Daly, Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton won Majors in their rookie years on the tour.
Hamilton is the oldest recipient of the award at 38, with 2023 winner Eric Cole in second at 35.
Scottie Scheffler was the PGA Tour's Rookie of the Year in 2020
This year's Rookie of the Year award looks likely to be a fight between Matthieu Pavon and Nick Dunlap, with the announcement set to come alongside the Player of the Year decision later this year or early into 2025.
| Year | Player |
|---|---|
| 1990 | Robert Gamez |
| 1991 | John Daly |
| 1992 | Mark Carnevale |
| 1993 | Vijay Singh |
| 1994 | Ernie Els |
| 1995 | Woody Austin |
| 1996 | Tiger Woods |
| 1997 | Stewart Cink |
| 1998 | Steve Flesch |
| 1999 | Carlos Franco |
| 2000 | Michael Clark II |
| 2001 | Charles Howell III |
| 2002 | Jonathan Byrd |
| 2003 | Ben Curtis |
| 2004 | Todd Hamilton |
| 2005 | Sean O'Hair |
| 2006 | Trevor Immelman |
| 2007 | Brandt Snedeker |
| 2008 | Andres Romero |
| 2009 | Marc Leishman |
| 2010 | Rickie Fowler |
| 2011 | Keegan Bradley |
| 2012 | John Huh |
| 2013 | Jordan Spieth |
| 2014 | Chesson Hadley |
| 2015 | Daniel Berger |
| 2016 | Emiliano Grillo |
| 2017 | Xander Schauffele |
| 2018 | Aaron Wise |
| 2019 | Sungjae Im |
| 2020 | Scottie Scheffler |
| 2021 | Will Zalatoris |
| 2022 | Cameron Young |
| 2023 | Eric Cole |
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Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He covered the 2022 and 2025 Masters from Augusta National and was there by the 18th green to watch Rory McIlroy complete the career grand slam. He has also covered five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews.