Golf: Johnson named Player of the Year after breakthrough season

(Reuters) – American Dustin Johnson was named the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year on Tuesday after a sensational 2015-16 season in which he celebrated his breakthrough victory in a major championship.

The world number two landed the coveted honor after posting a career-best three wins, including his U.S. Open triumph at Oakmont Country Club in June.

Johnson, who also won the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and BMW Championship, claimed Player of the Year honors over Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth and Henrik Stenson in a vote of his peers.

In 22 starts, the long-hitting Johnson had a tour-best 15 top-10 finishes with 21 made cuts.

Johnson, 32, also earned the earned the Arnold Palmer Award as the Tour’s leading money winner ($9.4 million) and claimed the Byron Nelson Award for adjusted scoring average (69.172), the PGA Tour said in a statement

After several near-misses in recent years, Johnson finally clinched his first major title amid high drama as he was forced to negotiate the final seven holes under notice that he might be penalized for a rules infraction.

He also held top spot on the FedExCup points list going into the season-ending Tour Championship, where he narrowly missed out on the mind-boggling $10 million playoff bonus after struggling to a closing 73.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)