Woods, Leishman pick up season-ending awards

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Tiger Woods and Marc Leishman were named PGA TOUR Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, respectively, on Friday.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Tiger Woods was named the PGA TOUR Player of the Year and Marc Leishman was named PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year by their fellow competitors on the PGA TOUR, as announced by PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem on Friday.

Woods earned his 10th Player of the Year award and first since 2007. He will receive the Jack Nicklaus Trophy as Player of the Year.

Leishman becomes the first Australian to be named Rookie of the Year since the award's inception in 1990. It marks the first time that international players (Andres Romero in 2008) have won rookie honors in back-to-back seasons since Vijay Singh (1993) and Ernie Els (1994).

"Congratulations to Tiger and Marc for their accomplishments in 2009," Finchem said. "Both players enjoyed outstanding seasons capped off by success in the Playoffs. The recognition by their peers is the one of the highest compliments a PGA TOUR member can receive."

PGA TOUR Player of the Year -- Tiger Woods

Woods, 33, won a TOUR-best six times in 17 starts with a total of 14 top-10 finishes. He also won his second FedExCup with a win and three top-10 finishes in the PGA TOUR Playoffs.

The 2009 season marked Woods' return from knee surgery, having been sidelined since capturing the 2008 U.S. Open. In his third event back, he sank a birdie putt on the 72nd hole to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. Woods' other five wins came at the Memorial Tournament, AT&T National, Buick Open, World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and BMW Championship.

He was selected for Player of the Year over Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Y.E. Yang.

PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year -- Marc Leishman

Leishman, 26, posted three top-10 finishes en route to being named PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year. He tied for second at the BMW Championship in the third leg of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup and became the lone rookie in 2009 to qualify for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

Leishman's other top-10 performances were back-to-back in May at the Valero Texas Open (T5) and the HP Byron Nelson Championship (T8).

Leishman earned Rookie of the Year honors over Jeff Klauk and Webb Simpson.