Double major winner Padraig Harrington was voted player of the year by the Golf Writers' Association of America, receiving 75 per cent of the vote to end Tiger Woods' three-year run with the award. Lorena Ochoa was the overwhelming choice for female player of the year, and Jay Haas became the first golfer to win senior player of the year three times in a row. Harrington successfully defended his title in the British Open with a four-shot victory at Royal Birkdale, then became the first European to win consecutive majors in the same season when he won the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.
He received 184 votes, with 58 votes going to Woods and five for Vijay Singh. Woods had won the GWAA award the last three years, and has won the award nine times in his career. Ochoa won seven times this year, including a major at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, and won the GWAA award for the third straight year. She received 232 votes, while Paula Creamer had 13 votes and LPGA champion Yani Tseng had three votes.
* Agencies
