Ross Steelman, Tommy Morrison win 2026 Korn Ferry Tour player awards

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The PGA Tour announced Wednesday that Ross Steelman earned the Jack Nicklaus Award as the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year, while Tommy Morrison was named the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour Rookie of the Year, as voted by Korn Ferry Tour membership.

Steelman finished No. 1 on the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour Points List in his fourth season.  The Columbia, Missouri, native finished atop the standings with wins at The Blue Championship and Albertsons Boise Open presented by Chevron, in addition to leading the circuit in both top-three finishes (five) and top-five finishes (six).

By virtue of his No. 1 finish on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, Steelman earned full status for the 2027 PGA Tour season, as well as exemptions for the 2027 U.S. Open and 2027 The Players Championship.

Through 11 events of the 2026 season, Steelman had one top-10 finish and stood outside the top 70 on the points list. The 25-year-old Georgia Tech and Missouri product jump-started his season with a runner-up finish at the UNC Health Championship, where he lost a playoff to Alvaro Ortiz  Across the final 11 tournaments of the 25-event season, Steelman earned two wins and finished inside the top 20 in all but one start.

Steelman, who will be a PGA Tour rookie in 2027, previously made his PGA Tour debut at the 2023 Rocket Classic and has made four career starts.

Morrison turned professional in June after three and a half seasons at the University of Texas (2023-26), where he finished No. 6 in the 2026 PGA Tour University Ranking and earned membership for the remainder of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season.

The 22-year-old Dallas resident finished T10 in his professional debut at the OccuNet Classic presented by Amarillo National Bank, the first of five consecutive top 10s which included two runners-up and a win at the Evans Scholars Invitational.

In 11 Korn Ferry Tour starts, Morrison recorded five top 10s and led the Tour with a 67.31 scoring average, with the latter breaking the Korn Ferry Tour record for single-season scoring average by a player with a minimum of 40 rounds played.

Morrison earned his PGA Tour card for the 2027 season with a No. 10 finish on the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, following Adrien Dumont de Chassart (2023) and Karl Vilips (2024) as the third player to earn their PGA Tour card through the Korn Ferry Tour in the same season they joined the Tour through PGA Tour University performance benefits.

Morrison's decorated amateur career included a win at the 2024 European Amateur Championship, where he became the first American to win the event, a runner-up finish to Luke Clanton at the 2022 North and South Amateur Championship and a spot on the United States team for the 2025 Walker Cup.

Morrison will make his third career PGA Tour start this week at the Austin Championship presented by Compliance Solutions as a sponsor exemption.

Here are the past winners of the Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year: Johnny Keefer (2025), Matt McCarty (2024), Ben Kohles (2023), Justin Suh (2022), Stephen Jaeger (2020-21), Scottie Scheffler (2019), Sungjae Im (2018), Chesson Hadley (2017), Wesley Bryan (2016), Patton Kizzire (2015), Carlos Ortiz (2014), Michael Putnam (2013), Casey Wittenberg (2012), J.J. Killeen (2011), Jamie Lovemark (2010), Michael Sim (2009), Brendon de Jonge (2008), Nick Flanagan (2007), Ken Duke (2006), Jason Gore (2005), Jimmy Walker (2004), Zach Johnson (2003), Patrick Moore (2002), Chad Campbell (2001), Spike McRoy (2000), Carl Paulson (1999), Bob Burns (1998), Chris Smith (1997), Stewart Cink (1996), Jerry Kelly (1995), Chris Perry (1994), Sean Murphy (1993), John Flannery (1992), Tom Lehman (1991), Jeff Maggert (1990).

Here are the past winners of the Korn Ferry Tour Rookie of the Year: Johnny Keefer (2025), Karl Vilips (2024), Adrien Dumont de Chassart (2023), S.H. Kim (2022), Greyson Sigg (2020-21), Scottie Scheffler (2019), Sungjae Im (2018).