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Who won golf in 2019? Ranking the newsiest people, places and things - Golf.com

1. Tiger Woods vs. 8. Jeongeun Lee6

This doesn’t reflect particularly well on any of our sophistications, but Jeongeun Lee6 burst onto the scene as a curiosity — who had heard of a number in a last name?! To Lee6’s credit, 2019 was the year she established herself as a top player. The U.S. Women’s Open was where she really planted her flag, holding steady in a brutal final round to win her first major going away.

Unfortunately, she runs into a first-round buzzsaw, the incumbent top seed, who will remain a perennial No. 1 seed for as long as he wants to — and then some. This is Tiger Woods, folks! For the man in red, 2019 was chock-full of memorable moments. Atop his c.v. was winning the Masters. When you’re the most famous golfer in history, that gets you through the first round every time.

WINNER: Woods

4. Augusta National Women’s Am vs. 5. Hank Haney

One of these was a massive success for golf and a huge step in the right direction for the women’s game. The other was an unapologetic reminder of the retrograde attitudes still held by some of the game’s most influential voices. To refresh your memory, Hank Haney made a series of dismissive, racially-charged remarks about the women’s pro game including an assertion that he “couldn’t name, like, six players on the LPGA Tour.” He followed with a non-apology tour, and was unsurprisingly praised by his most loyal listeners.

Instead of giving Haney’s decisions any more shine, let’s just remember how fun it was to watch the women of the Augusta National Women’s Am take on the most famous course in the game. Hybrids and woods into the par-5s. Six-irons into the famous 12th. The perfect table-setter for a week at Augusta.

WINNER: ANWA

3. Pace of Play vs. 6. Jena Sims

Don’t get us wrong, we’re big Jena Sims fans — and she had plenty of moments in the spotlight this year with boyfriend Brooks Koepka contending at every major championship.

But there was no out-spicing Pace of Play. Heck, Jena has a tough time just competing with Koepka’s commentary on the topic. A few select quotes from BK:

“You enforce some [rules] but you don’t enforce the others.”

“I take 15 seconds and go, and I’ve done all right. So I don’t understand why they’re taking a minute and a half.”

“You have 40 seconds to hit a shot. That’s in the rule book, too. … So figure it out and penalize somebody.”

“[Slow players are] breaking the rules but no one ever has the balls to actually penalize them,”

And this:

Sims goes down in the first round, defeated from within her own relationship!

WINNER: Pace of Play

2. Matt Kuchar vs. 7. Gary Woodland

This is a test of cynicism versus optimism, of whether you see the glass (or wallet) half-empty or half-full. Consider the joy that Gary Woodland brought us when he stared down the game’s best players in a champion’s effort at Pebble Beach. Recall the chip from on the green at the 71st hole.

And of course the most feel-good moment of all, his friendship with Amy Bockerstette. Seriously, even in an oversaturated world, even though you’ve already seen it, give this clip another watch and you’ll feel better than you did 10 minutes ago. Maybe even better than you did on your birthday. It’s that good.

Add in qualifying for his first-ever national team and it was quite the year for Woodland.

Unfortunately for all involved, Matt Kuchar was a content freight train in 2019. Since he spent the beginning of the year playing some of the best golf of his life, Kuchar got tossed in the spotlight — with mixed results. There was the Case of the Stiffed Caddie (which actually happened in 2018 but played out in 2019), the Alleged Double Pitch Mark and the Matt, Sergio and the Case of the Missing Putt. Sprinkle in a small dose of backstopping and Kuchar — generally perceived to be a friendly, low-key guy — found himself a week-in, week-out lightning rod.

In doing so, he sparked enduring conversations about the Rules and etiquette, about how we treat other people and about apologizing and moving forward. That’s not to say Kuchar handled everything perfectly (we can agree that he did not) but he stirred the national conversation even though the other guy won the national championship. He moves on, for better or worse.

WINNER: Kuchar

1. Jordan Spieth v. 8. Suzann Pettersen

Spieth, with his three major victories at such a young age, ascended to rare space in the blogosphere. Spieth speaks about his struggles? Blog it. Spieth speaks about someone else’s struggles? Blog it. Spieth gets upset at a rake? Blog it now! Thus, we cared a lot about Young Jordo and his Sisyphean struggles this year.

He berated Michael Greller more than we can remember seeing, dropped out of the top 40 in the world and finished the year with an emotional week in the Bahamas, which he followed off with a 16th-place finish out of 18. It all added up to being … kinda sad.

With Pettersen, everything ended happy! In the face of doubters who didn’t want her on the European Solheim Cup team, Pettersen balled out — finishing the week 2-1 — and she made the shot of the year. That’s right, Tiger. This was the shot of the year. Pettersen topples Spieth in our first big upset.

WINNER: Pettersen

4. Brandel Chamblee v. 5. Golf on Ireland

Yes, Golf on Ireland, meaning the island, west of continental Europe. Its inhabitants Ireland the country and Northern Ireland the country boast some of the best golf in the world, and together they had a great summer.

Good ol’ boy Shane Lowry shined at Portrush from start to finish and Big ol’ boy Jon Rahm took the Irish Open at the gem that is Lahinch. The Open returned to its original spot as the last major championship of the golf season, and the gorgeous seaside links course was wholly refreshing after a summer of parkland destinations.

The next week, it was back to reality when (to the dismay of our good friend Kyle Porter) the Tour traveled to Memphis. There’s no doubt the Open will return to Portrush in the future, and the sooner the better. But is it enough to beat our one-named analyst extraordinaire? Don’t think so.

Our Clown King is bigger than any other golf-media personality. This is no shot at you, Nantz. He’s the only Brandel in golf, and he lit up Brooks Koepka all year long, never backing down, even when Koepka dunked on him — first with some 3rd-grade MS Paint skills and then with a resounding PGA Championship win.

Again, even when Bob Koepka was coming for Brandel’s head on Twitter, the Golf Channel host refused to back down. This was an important reminder that, like him or not, Chamblee sticks to his guns. And now that you mention it, this bracket shapes up nicely for a Koepka-Chamblee final. Get your popcorn ready.

WINNER: Chamblee

6. FedEx v. 3. Sergio Garcia

One started fast, one closed well, but who mattered more to 2019? The corporation keeping professional golf well-funded, FedEx, injected more money into the game than it ever has before. Thanks to a gargantuan PGA Tour sponsorship, the FedEx Cup handed out $70 million at the end of the Tour season. Seventy. Million. Dollars.

It was a reminder that some Tour players really are playing for their livelihood … while others are playing for the chance to build another multimillion dollar house. Do not underestimate the power of FedEx, y’all. Every week, they’ve got broadcasters paying homage to their season-long race. Players shouting ’em out in post-round pressers. Of course, 99% of the golf populace couldn’t tell you how exactly the race is won, but no matter: FedEx is so important that the Tour rearranged how its Tour Championship was played (controversial move) just to make the sponsorship more valuable and easier to understand. Big money, people.

But money ain’t everything, and it sure wasn’t enough to overshadow Sergio Garcia’s actions in 2019. First came a tantrum in Saudi Arabia. Serg was not pleased with his play nor with the conditions of the course, so he dragged his spikes over a series of greens and beat the heck out of a bunker with his wedge. This would be notable anywhere, but especially so at an event where he was being paid handsomely just to show up! Read that sentence once more. It’s just as wild the second time. (Reminder, we waited more than 36 hours for this video to surface, one of the longest non-Bryson waits of the season.)

Let’s strip away the context. Anytime a 39-year-old professional has to publicly state “[What I did] will never happen again,” out of sheer embarrassment, they’ve done a bad thing. Somehow, that wasn’t all from Sergio in 2019. The other #SergioSaturday came in Austin, Texas. More on that later. He’s moving on.

WINNER: Sergio

7. Grandstanding/Backstopping v. 2. Rules of Golf

The irony of this matchup is not lost on us. The phenomenon of grandstanding — players launching difficult shots into the spectator seating area around a green in order to take free relief from a nice, soft drop zone — is against the Rules. Backstopping — leaving your ball near a hole where it might help another player by use of collision — is against the Rules. And in this bracket both are literally against the Rules.

But the Rules were a tour de force. Their changes led off the calendar year, when Rickie Fowler mimicked taking a dump in the fairway during a drop in Hawaii. Fowler’s action spoke for the greater collection of players. They did not approve of the new drop rule, weren’t crazy about the flagstick staying in the hole, etc. It’s already starting to feel like ancient history, but things were rocky for a minute there — changing the traditions of golf is never easy. The Rules did that, and it’s a big reason the Rules roll right through this showdown.

WINNER: The Rules

1. Brooks Koepka v. 8. Walk-in Putts

As the calendar year wound down, we were fiending for some Koepka content — we’d gotten dependent on a weekly fix. Brooks was everywhere this year, from our leaderboards to our Instagram feeds to our slow-play debates. We’ll get to his opinions, which were [six fire emojis] all year long, but let’s start with his golf. Top four in all four majors, a feat only matched by Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth. Big time company.

Walking in putts is hardly some new thing, but 2019 felt like a banner year for chasing down the hole.

The move actually made Tiger Woods smile on the golf course, which is no small feat. Then Kevin Na and Sei Young Kim won tournaments doing it. But what Woods did at the Presidents Cup may have replaced the walk-in putt for good. This might now be the Era of the Remove-the-Hat Putt, which is far more entertaining. Just ask Abe Ancer. Koepka advances easily.

WINNER: Brooks

4. Jon Rahm v. 5. Eddie Pepperell

Ah, a classic 4-5 matchup where the 4-seed just doesn’t stand a chance. What a year it was for Jon Rahm victories! He claimed the Irish Open, the Spanish Open and the Race to Dubai, fending off Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood in the process. That’s elite stuff. But was anything about Rahm’s 2019 truly memorable? Not in the way Eddie Pepperell was.

Eddie P. was born to us of the Content Gods. His greatest act was a magician-like move at the Players, where he snapped a club and tossed it into a water hazard without a single camera recording it. This was one of the most underrated golfing feats of the year, and we didn’t hear about it until Pepperell BLOGGED about it. That commitment to the content game — and the way he’s stayed so authentic — easily pushes him past Rahm. As a bonus, don’t forget that wasn’t the only club Pepp snapped this year…

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