Young, who capped a closing 65 with a 17-foot eagle putt to finish second at the British Open, was selected for the Arnold Palmer Award over South Korea's Tom Kim and American Sahith Theegala, receiving 94% of the membership vote.
"I know the namesake Arnold Palmer obviously was a giant in the game of golf and we have him to thank for a lot of what we do today, what the PGA Tour is," Young told reporters ahead of this week's CJ Cup in Ridgeland, South Carolina.
"Just to ... to be related to that in some small way is very cool. I know we had a very strong rookie class and I know it's voted by my peers, so it's a huge honour to be thought of in that way, just to kind of finish the year that way."
With his five second-place results, Young tied for the most by any player in a single season over the last 40 years, with Vijay Singh in 2003 the last to accomplish the feat.
Young also recorded a pair of third-place finishes at the RBC Heritage and PGA Championship, falling one stroke out of a playoff in each.
With $6.5 million in earnings, Young made the most money in a single season by a rookie in PGA Tour history, surpassing the record previously held by Xander Schauffele, who made $4.3 million in 2016/17.
"Congratulations to Cameron Young on being voted PGA Tour Rookie of the Year by his peers,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a news release.
"Cameron's career has seen a remarkable rise over the last several years, and he quickly became a favourite among fans last season with the style in which he attacks the golf course."
