Golfer Justin Thomas of the United States plays his shot (Image: Getty)
Justin Thomas was named PGA Tour Player of the Year for the 2016-2017 season on Wednesday after claiming five trophies, a major championship and the FedEx Cup.
The 24-year-old Kentucky native beat top golfers like Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama to earn the honors. Thomas also won the Arnold Palmer Award as the top money winner.
“It’s a huge honor. Any time you can win an award with someone like Jack Nicklaus’s name on the award, it definitely means a lot, and it’s something that I’ll cherish for a while for sure,” said Thomas. “It’s kind of crazy, especially for someone with the expectations I’ve always had for myself. It never really entered my mind winning it.”
“Any time you can win an award with someone like Jack Nicklaus‘ name on the award, it definitely means a lot,” added Thomas.
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PGA Tour members vote for the recipient of the award.
This past season, Thomas captured the PGA Championship, the Dell Technologies Championship during the FedEx Cup playoffs and then the FedEx Cup title at the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
Thomas also played in his first Presidents Cup last week, where the U.S. beat the International team 19-11.
By shooting a nine-under-par 63 at the U.S. Open in Erin Hills, Thomas set the championship record for scoring in relation to par. He finished the season ranked fourth in the World behind Johnson, Spieth and Matsuyama.
Thomas — an Alabama alum — won the CIMB Classic in Malaysia last fall — a title he will defend next week.
“I’ll just continue to do what I have,” he also said. “I don’t know who I heard it from back in college or whenever it was, but you just have to break it up. You have to have two to four goals that are very achievable, two to four goals that are in grasp but will be tough, and two to four goals that are maybe a little bit out of the realm and are going to be very difficult to do, but are somewhat achievable if you have a great year like I did this year.”
Thomas also reportedly won a $10 million bonus after claiming the Dell Technologies trophy.
CHARLOTTE, NC – AUGUST 12: Justin Thomas of the United States plays his shot from the 16th tee during the third round of the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club on August 12, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
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