Another year in professional golf has come and gone without the PGA Tour and LIV Golf finding common ground to bring the sport’s stars together more often than just the four major championships.
World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler kept winning and winning on the PGA Tour, Jon Rahm recovered from a slow start to win a title in his first season in LIV Golf, and Xander Schauffele finally broke through in the majors.
Nelly Korda was nearly as dominant as Scheffler on the LPGA Tour, and Lydia Ko accomplished a rare feat in a bounce-back season.
With another Ryder Cup coming in September, there’s plenty to look forward to in golf in 2025.
First, let’s take a look at the biggest newsmakers in 2024.
1. Tiger Woods
The 15-time major champion completed all four rounds in a single PGA Tour event in 2024, finishing 60th at the Masters in April. He withdrew from the Genesis Invitational because of illness and missed the cut at the PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open. Now, the 49-year-old (his birthday is Monday) will be returning from another back surgery heading into the 2025 season.
Yet, there’s little debate that Woods remains the biggest needle mover in men’s professional golf. He unveiled his Sun Day Red apparel line in February, and he has been working behind the scenes to help shape the game’s future as vice chairman of the PGA Tour Enterprises board and a player director on the tour’s policy board.
Woods and Rory McIlroy are the biggest names in the new TGL presented by SoFi series, the tech-infused golf circuit that debuts on ESPN and ESPN+ on Jan. 7.
2. Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler put together one of the most dominant seasons in PGA Tour history in 2024, earning seven victories on tour, a gold medal at the Paris Olympics and the FedEx Cup at the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. His seven victories on tour were the most since Woods in 2007.
For good measure, Scheffler won a second straight Hero World Challenge victory in the Bahamas on Dec. 8, giving him nine wins around the world this year. He had the lowest scoring average on tour (68.65) and finished first in shots gained: total (2.496) and approach (1.269) and was second off the tee (.816).
“There’s really only one Tiger, that’s just kind of it,” Scheffler said. “I’m trying to get the best out of myself and that’s really all I’m focused on. I’m not chasing records or chasing history or anything like that, I’m just trying to day in and day out continue to improve a little bit, just go out there and compete, have fun.”
Plus, Scheffler was the only PGA Tour golfer whose mugshot went viral in 2024 (more on that below).
3. Bryson DeChambeau
The LIV Golf League star completely reshaped his perception among fans and became one of the most popular golfers in the world in 2024. Whether it was engaging with fans on social media or high-fiving them at the course, DeChambeau seemed to be everywhere.
After holding off McIlroy by one stroke with the bunker shot of his life and a 4-foot par putt on the 72nd hole at Pinehurst No. 2 to win his second U.S. Open title in June, DeChambeau appeared on national TV morning shows, “The Pat McAfee Show” and late-night shows, and just about everywhere else in between.
The golfer who was once considered a bit of an outcast on the PGA Tour was suddenly being called the “People’s Champ.” Millions of fans followed DeChambeau as he attempted to make a hole-in-one over his house in Texas, which he accomplished on the 16th day and 134th shot. The TikTok video of him finally doing has more than 12 million views.
DeChambeau climbed from No. 154 in the Official World Golf Ranking at the start of 2024 to No. 10, despite not receiving OWGR points for his finishes in LIV Golf events.
4. Rory McIlroy
McIlroy’s collapse in the final round of the U.S. Open was perhaps his best chance to end a 10-year drought without a major championship victory. He had a two-stroke lead in the final round after moving to 8 under with birdies on Nos. 9, 10, 12 and 13, but then he inexplicably missed putts from 2½ feet on 16 and about 4 feet on 18.
Though that was the moment that will be most remembered from McIlroy’s season, he won two times on the PGA Tour and twice on the DP World Tour. He captured his sixth Race to Dubai title as Europe’s No. 1 player.
Off the course, attorneys representing McIlroy filed a divorce petition on his behalf in a Florida court in May. But then they withdrew it just before the U.S. Open after he reconciled with his wife of seven years, Erica Stoll.
5. Nelly Korda
The women’s world No. 1 golfer had quite the heater after the start of the LPGA season, winning in five consecutive starts, including her second major title at the Chevron Championship. Annika Sorenstam (2004-05) and Nancy Lopez (1978) were the only LPGA golfers to also win in five straight.
After winning again at the Mizuho Americas Open in May, Korda cooled off considerably with three straight missed cuts. But then the 26-year-old finished first again at The Annika driven by Gainbridge in November, making her the first women’s golfer to win seven times in a season since Yani Tseng in 2011. No other American player had accomplished the feat in a season since Beth Daniel in 1990.
Not surprisingly, Korda won the LPGA Player of the Year. She went 3-1-0 to help the U.S. team win the Solheim Cup for the first time since 2017. She played golf with WNBA star Caitlin Clark in a pro-am, walked the red carpet at the Met Gala in New York, and participated in a photoshoot for next year’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Not a bad year.
6. Jay Monahan
After a rough year in 2023, in which golfers were blindsided by the PGA Tour’s framework agreement with Saudi Arabia‘s Public Investment Fund and the DP World Tour, the past 12 months were far less controversial for the PGA Tour commissioner.
That doesn’t mean everything was rosy for Monahan in 2024. Some golfers criticized the circuit’s decision to reduce field sizes to speed up play and cut back the number of golfers with full-time memberships from the top 125 to top 100 in the FedEx Cup points standings.
Monahan didn’t complete a deal with the PIF, although the sides seem closer than ever in getting something done. He did secure a potential $3 billion investment from Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a consortium of billionaire sports team owners and others.
On Feb. 7, the tour announced it would distribute about 80% of $930 million worth of initial player equity grants in PGA Tour Enterprises to 36 top golfers based on career performance, results over the past five seasons and Player Impact Program results.
7. Yasir Al-Rumayyan
Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, continues to spend hundreds of millions (or billions?) on LIV Golf. Tension between the competing circuits seemed to subside this year, with Al-Rumayyan playing golf with Monahan and McIlroy at a DP World Tour pro-am in early October.
Monahan and player directors from the tour’s policy board met with Al-Rumayyan in the Bahamas on March 19, one of the first big steps in potentially repairing the splintered sport.
8. Xander Schauffele
If not for Scheffler’s continued dominance on tour, Schauffele would undoubtedly be the No. 1 golfer in the world. He picked up his first major championship by winning the PGA Championship by one stroke over DeChambeau at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 19.
About two months later, Schauffele survived the wind and rain at Royal Troon Golf Course in Scotland to win the Claret Jug with a 2-shot win over Justin Rose and Billy Horschel. He carded a 6-under 65 in the final round.
Schauffele was runner-up in three events, had 15 top-10 finishes and didn’t miss a cut in 22 starts on tour in 2024. Just like that, the golfer who seemingly couldn’t win a major is now halfway finished with the career Grand Slam.
9. Jon Rahm
The Spanish golfer took more than $100 million to jump to LIV Golf in December 2023, one of the biggest blows the PGA Tour suffered in its battle with the Saudi-backed tour for the best golfers in the world.
After winning four times in 2023, including his second major title at the Masters, Rahm struggled to regain his form in 2024. He won twice on the LIV Golf circuit and won the season-long individual points race. Rahm tied for 45th at the Masters, dealt with a foot injury at the PGA Championship, and withdrew from the U.S. Open because of an infection.
Rahm had a golden opportunity to win the men’s competition at the Paris Olympics, but he squandered a four-stroke lead in the final eight holes with a back-nine 39. Scheffler fired a final-round 62 to surge from six shots back. Rahm finished in a tie for fifth, four strokes behind Scheffler.
10. Lydia Ko
The 27-year-old played her way into the LPGA Hall of Fame in Augusta by winning gold at the Paris Olympics. It gave her a career sweep at the Olympics, winning bronze, silver and gold.
After not winning in 2023, the New Zealand native finished first three times this past season, including her third major at The Women’s Open at St. Andrews.
Ko is the 35th golfer to enter the LPGA’s Hall of Fall and the 25th to do it by earning the required 27 points. Nine women were inducted as honorary members (eight LPGA founders and entertainer Dinah Shore). At 27 years, three months and 17 days, Ko is the youngest player to reach the Hall of Fame status through the current criteria.
Source: espn.com