• PGA Tour

Woods, Stenson among Player of the Year nominees

Tiger Woods is largely expected to pick up the Player of the Year award © Getty Images

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Tiger Woods and FedEx Cup champion Henrik Stenson are among the five nominees for the PGA Tour's Player of the Year.

Open Championship winner Phil Mickelson and Masters champion Adam Scott, as well as American Matt Kuchar, who finished third on the money list, have also been nominated for the Jack Nicklaus Award.

Woods is the heavy favourite, having already collected the Arnold Palmer award as the Tour's official money winner for banking $8.5 million thanks to five wins, including the Players Championship and two WGC events.

Play-off pay-off for Stenson

FedEx Cup champion Henrik Stenson © Getty Images

• Just 18 months ago Henrik Stenson was ranked 230th in the world. His FedEx Cup and Tour Championship triumphs cap a comeback of immense proportions, writes Bob Harig.
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But Stenson ended the season in spectacular fashion, hitting a rich vein of form that culminated in winning last weekend's Tour Championship that earned him the $10 million FedEx Cup bonus jackpot.

Australian Scott added The Barclays to his green jacket and finished fourth in the FedEx Cup, while Kuchar finished sixth thanks to two wins and eight top-ten finishes.

Young American Jordan Spieth is widely expected to win the Rookie of the Year award.

The 19-year-old began the season with no PGA Tour status but became the youngest player to win on the Tour since 1931 when he triumphed at the John Deere Classic, as well as recording eight other top-ten finishes.

Spieth was the only rookie to qualify for the Tour Championship - and the youngest player in the event's history. Not only that, he went on to finish second - a result that pushed him up to tenth in the official money list with £3.8 million.

Derek Ernst, Russell Henley and David Lingmerth have also been nominated for the rookie prize.

Both awards are voted for by PGA Tour members who played in at least 12 official money events in 2013.

Tiger Woods recently said of the award: "We hold it dearly because it's the respect of our peers. Having a year where they think that you were deserving of the player of the year is pretty special."

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