Opening Drive: Top 10 stories of 2024

A lot happened this year, what with the eight-victory season of Scottie Scheffler (which also featured his gold medal at the Paris Olympics), the major championship emergence of Xander Schauffele (twice was nice), and the bittersweet season of Rory McIlroy, who simply refused to stay down.

Or was it a nine-victory season for Scheffler, who just won the unofficial 20-man Hero World Challenge? Or was it 10 wins, if you count the arrival of his son, Bennett?

Oh, never mind. The point is, he crushed it. And there was karaoke. And a crazy reverse sweep at the Presidents Cup. And a Korn Ferry Tour slayer who kept right on going on the PGA TOUR as if no one had told him he couldn’t.

How to make sense of it all?

Here with, the top 10 stories of 2024:

1. The dominance of Scottie Scheffler

Scheffler won six times before July, the first to do so since Arnold Palmer in 1962. Scheffler became the first to successfully defend his title at THE PLAYERS Championship; won for the second time in three years at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and the Masters Tournament; was ranked world No. 1 all year; won the Olympic gold medal; won the FedExCup; and became a new dad, to baby Bennett, on May 8. Add it all up, carry the one, and that’s seven PGA TOUR wins, eight victories if you include the gold medal, and, ahem, nine with Bennett, plus one more at the Hero World Challenge. And there you have it: Ten mostly epic wins. That would make for a terrific career; Scheffler did it in one season.

2. Xander Schauffele breaks drought, breaks out

Schauffele double-majored. His lip-in birdie on the 72nd hole of the PGA Championship at Valhalla gave him his first major victory and first PGA TOUR win in nearly two years. Then – not one to let the grass grow under his feet – he persevered through terrible weather to nab his second major at The Open Championship at Royal Troon. Majorless as he went into May, he now had two major titles in two months. Oh, and when he was done with all that, Schauffele went 4-1-0 to lead the U.S. to victory at the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal, where Strokes Gained statistics showed he was the best player on either team.

3. Agony at the U.S. Open

Rory McIlroy missed from 30 inches at the U.S. Open, his par putt going awry at the par-3 16th hole. He then missed from short range again, this time a tricky, downhill slider at the par-4 18th hole, leading to his second bogey in the last three holes to lose by one to Bryson DeChambeau. Thus continued one of golf’s most vexing streaks: McIlroy won four majors from 2011 to ’14 but hasn’t won once since amid 21 top-10 finishes and 11 top fives. Ever resilient, McIlroy won the DP World Tour Championship to clinch his sixth Race to Dubai title in November.

4. Stars who went winless hit the reset button

Ludvig Åberg, Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas racked up a surprising zero wins between them, but there were silver linings. Cantlay came up clutch, again, going 4-1-0 for the U.S. Presidents Cup team. Morikawa had eight top-10 finishes and finished second in the FedExCup. Spieth had left wrist surgery in August and is poised for a comeback; Åberg underwent left knee surgery and returned at The RSM Classic, where he finished T17; and Thomas was back in the FedExCup Playoffs and made it all the way to the TOUR Championship before he and his wife, Jillian, welcomed their first child, Molly, in November. He also finished second at the fall’s ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP and took the lead into the last round of the Hero World Challenge before finishing third.

5. An amateur won on the PGA TOUR

The American Express does not typically invite amateurs; University of Alabama sophomore Nick Dunlap not only got invited, but he also made the cut and then won the tournament. He tied the lowest-ever round by an amateur on the PGA TOUR (60, Round 3) and the next day became the first amateur to win on TOUR in 33 years. He turned professional and accepted TOUR membership, faced a steep learning curve all season, then won again, shooting +49 to capture the Barracuda Championship (Modified Stableford scoring) for his second TOUR win.

6. Europeans proved they belong

Having earned PGA TOUR cards via the DP World Tour top 10 – in year one of that pathway – France’s Matthieu Pavon (Farmers Insurance Open) and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre (RBC Canadian Open) proved themselves on the PGA TOUR – if not always in America. And when MacIntyre captured his beloved Genesis Scottish Open for a second TOUR win in five starts – a year after getting pipped by Rory McIlroy – it was like something out of a Hollywood script.

7. Keegan Bradley reminded he’s not done

Keegan Bradley, who will captain the U.S. Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black next year, showed he’s got a lot left as a player. First, he was the last man into the (top-50) BMW Championship at Colorado’s Castle Pines – by a mere 17 FedExCup points over No. 51 Tom Kim, who went 5-over for his last three holes at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Taking full advantage and taming Denver’s high altitude, Bradley won the BMW to rocket up the FedExCup standings and was rewarded with a Presidents Cup captain’s pick. He went 2-1-0 and had a ball.

8. The buddy system gave us all the feels

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry got ovations in restaurants and sang Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” in victory at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. (Well, Rory sang, anyway.) Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen finished first in PGA TOUR University to earn his TOUR card, and later presented his friend and Stanford teammate Karl Vilips with the Korn Ferry Tour Rookie of the Year trophy. Finally, at The RSM Classic, the last tournament of the year, Maverick McNealy and Joseph Bramlett (also both of Stanford) spoke movingly of their deep friendship before McNealy birdied the 72nd hole for his first win. Bramlett, of course, was there to greet him.

9. The U.S. won a seesaw Presidents Cup

The U.S. won the first session 5-0, but the International Team won the second 5-0 to the delight of a boisterous crowd at Royal Montreal. Which way was this going to go? In the end, Patrick Cantlay (4-1-0), Collin Morikawa (4-1-0) and Xander Schauffele (4-1-0) were tough outs; newcomer Russell Henley (3-1-0) looked anything but green; and Bradley (2-1-0) savored his long-awaited return. Although Tom Kim (1-2-1) and Si Woo Kim (2-2-0) entertained and authored plenty of clutch shots themselves, a game International squad ran out of magic on the weekend as the final score, an 18.5-11.5 U.S. win, didn’t tell the whole story.

10. Korn Ferry Tour showed its muscle

Having never won much as an amateur or in college, Matt McCarty won three times on the Korn Ferry Tour to earn a Three-Victory Promotion, then wasted no time in capturing his first PGA TOUR title at the inaugural Black Desert Championship in October.

The TOUR’s long-awaited return to Utah was just the latest reminder – as if we really needed it – of just how thin the line is between the game’s premier pathway circuit and the PGA TOUR.