Collin Morikawa, Phil Mickelson and Nelly Korda win 2021 GWAA awards

Patrick Cantlay was the PGA Tour Player of Year Award winner, which is a vote of the circuit’s membership, but it was Collin Morikawa who received the player-of-the-year nod from the golf writers.

The Golf Writers Association of America announced Thursday that Morikawa has won the association’s Male Player of the Year award, while Nelly Korda was voted the Female player of the year and Phil Mickelson won the Senior Player of the Year award.

Morikawa – a two-time winner in 2021 including the Open Championship, his second major victory – received 48% of the GWAA vote while world No. 1 Jon Rahm finished runner-up in the voting with 37% of the vote.

“I have a deep appreciation for the journalists dedicated to promoting our great game, and to be recognized amongst the names of past winners is humbling,” Morikawa said.

Korda was a four-time winner on the LPGA Tour in ’21 and also won the gold medal at the Olympics. She received 72% of the GWAA vote.

Although Mickelson was a reluctant participant on the PGA Tour Champions, he made the most of his opportunities and won the Senior Player of the Year award with 59% of the vote. Mickelson played just six events on the over-50 circuit during the 2020-21 season, winning four of those starts including the Schwab Cup Championship. He joined Jack Nicklaus as the only player to win four of their first six senior starts. 

“I had a really fun time playing some Champions tour events and last year was a really special year, obviously winning the PGA Championship and playing and competing in the Champions tour events, and having success was really special,” Mickelson said. “Being able to spend time with so many guys that I grew up playing with, I’m just honored.”