[PHOTOS: Getty Images]

By almost any measurement, 2024 was the year of Scottie Scheffler on the PGA Tour. He won seven times, including his second Masters and the Players Championship, and finished among the top 10 in nine other events. He led the tour in more than 40 statistical categories. Oh, and did we mention he won the FedEx Cup and the Olympic gold medal?

As good as Scheffler was, though, there were plenty of memorable moments this season and here’s a look at 18 of the best.

1. Schauffele finally gets one: It was the only thing missing from Xander Schauffele’s résumé. In 28 major championship starts, he’d posted 12 top-10s, including a pair of runner-up results, but he just couldn’t get across the finish line. That is, until he came to Valhalla and the PGA Championship in May. The Californian opened the tournament by tying the major championship record of 62 and capped it off with a six-foot birdie putt that curled into the 18th hole on Sunday, giving him a 65 and the one-stroke win over Bryson DeChambeau. His 21-under total also set the 72-hole major championship record.

2. Poetic justice: It couldn’t have been anyone else, really. Not with the kind of season Scottie Scheffler had. The No.1 seed won the Tour Championship and the $US25 million FedEx Cup after missing out the past two years despite coming in as the top-ranked player. The final round was not without its challenges – remember that shank from the bunker at the eighth hole on Sunday that led to a bogey and Collin Morikawa pulling within two shots? No problem. Scheffler closed with a 67 (his highest score of the week, by the way) and ended up winning by four. And who could forget that adorable photo of his infant son Bennett sitting in the FedEx Cup?

3. Floodgates open for Schauffele: Just over two months after picking up his breakthrough major title, Schauffele won another with a gutsy final-round 65 at Royal Troon. This time his dad Stefan – who had missed the PGA win because he was supervising construction at the family home in Hawaii – was there to watch. He wiped away tears as he waited by the 18th green to hug his son, who later gallantly gave his dad the first sip out of the claret jug. Schauffele had a phenomenal run at the majors, finishing eighth at the Masters and tying for seventh at the US Open. He also tied for second at the Players Championship.

4. Record-setting Matsuyama: Playing partner J.T. Poston said Hideki Matsuyama’s closing 62 that included three birdies on his final four holes at historic Riviera Country Club was “definitely the best [round] I’ve ever seen on tour”. Matsuyama, who said he wasn’t worried about the neck and back problems that had plagued him in the recent past, started the final round six strokes behind and ended up winning by three. The victory was his ninth on tour, more than any other Asian player, and the first in more than two years. K.J. Choi of South Korea set the previous standard for Asian golfers with eight.

5. The Olympic Spirit: In the third Olympic golf competition since the sport returned to the rota, we finally got what we wanted. No concerns about the Zika virus or COVID restrictions keeping players away this time around. Just 60 of the game’s best men and best women competing at Le Golf National outside Paris. Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama took the bronze after missing out in that seven-man playoff in Tokyo in 2021 while Great Britian’s Tommy Fleetwood grabbed silver. Scheffler  – who else? – came from behind with a final-round 62 to win gold and then the normally stoic American was in tears on the podium as the US national anthem played. On the women’s side, New Zealand’s Lydia Ko was the champion – completing her matched set of gold, silver and bronze medals in the past three Games.

6. Bradley stakes claim: It had already been a good year for Keegan Bradley who was named the 2025 Ryder Cup captain as well as an assistant to Jim Furyk at this year’s Presidents Cup. But when he won the BMW Championship at Colorado’s Castle Pines Golf Club, suddenly Bradley vaulted into the picture as one of Furyk’s captain’s picks. Not to mention, Bradley’s father Mark, who once wanted to be a fly-fishing guide “out west” before becoming a golf pro, was in the gallery and saw his son win for the first time ever.

7. The “Brothers” Kim: The Presidents Cup certainly didn’t turn out the way the International team had hoped, although there was that 5-0 shellacking of the US in Friday’s foursomes to hang their hat on. But Mike Weir’s team did find a dynamic duo that will probably be a part of many teams to come in Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim. The two high-fived and chest-bumped each other – Si Woo even copied Steph Curry’s signature “night-night” move – on their way to a 1-1 record. And the dynamic duo came oh-so-close to making it 2-0 as they rallied from 2 down against Patrick Cantley and Xander Schauffele to square their Saturday four-ball match as it headed to the 18th hole which the US duo won with a birdie by Cantlay in near darkness.

8. Presidents Cup delivers:  It’s hard to imagine a player who bleeds red-white-and-blue more than Keegan Bradley. He was supposed to learn what it takes to be a captain as one of Jim Furyk’s assistants at Royal Montreal. But Bradley made a late season push and garnered one of Furyk’s picks and was told to concentrate on his golf instead. Turns out, Bradley played what turned out to be Sunday’s decisive match with Si Woo Kim, heading to the 18th hole 1 up. When the South Korean star missed his eight-footer for birdie, all Bradley had to do was tap-in for the winning point of the Presidents Cup. 

9. New Face in the Winner’s Circle: A brand-new PGA Tour event and a newly minted tour member proved to be a winning combination at the Black Desert Championship in Utah. Matt McCarty earned his spot on tour after winning three times on the Korn Ferry Tour in July and August – the first player to get the instant promotion since Jason Gore in 2005. Then, in his second start as a member, McCarty picked up a three-stroke victory – his fourth win in his past 10 starts combined. His girlfriend, mother and manager, who had driven up from Scottsdale to surprise him, spent part of the afternoon hiding in the clubhouse before the celebration ensued.

10. Historic victory alters path: Nick Dunlap had classes, term papers and exams to look forward to when he got back to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. What happened at the American Express tournament changed everything, though, for the reigning US Amateur champion. The 20-year-old Dunlap, who was a sophomore at University of Alabama, won the PGA Tour event by one stroke with a clutch six-footer for par on the 72nd hole. The first amateur to win on tour since Phil Mickelson in 1991 (and just the third since 1957) turned pro the next week and won again later in the year.

11. French connection: He wouldn’t have gotten his PGA Tour card had it not been for a string of four straight birdies to close out his final round of the DP World Tour Championship in November 2023. Matthieu Pavon tied for fifth that week and earned his playing privileges through the Race to Dubai–PGA Tour Eligibility Rankings. He wasted no time making his mark on tour, either, winning the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open in just his third start as a member. Pavon, who is the son of a pro soccer player and golf instructor, made a clutch eight-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to hold off Nicolai Hojgaard and become the first man from France to win on tour since World War II.  

12. Irish eyes smiled: The plan was hatched over a few adult beverages during lunch at Rory McIlroy’s house after the 2023 Ryder Cup. McIlroy made the suggestion, reiterated it with a text around Christmas time and of course, Shane Lowry was happy to oblige. So, the two long-time friends not only played in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans – they won the tournament and made a host of Crescent City friends in the process. They even got a standing ovation when they dined at legendary French Quarter restaurant, Arnaud’s.

13. More magic in Canada: Nick Taylor draining a 72-footer for eagle to win his national open last year admittedly would have been hard to top. But Robert McIntyre came up with another compelling story at the 2024 Canadian Open as the Scotsman won his first PGA Tour event with his dad Dougie on the bag. Dougie, who works full-time as a greenkeeper back home in Oban, Scotland, was recruited on the previous Saturday after McIntyre split with his former caddie. The win, which came in McIntyre’s 45th start, left both men in tears.

14. Long time coming: Jhonattan Vegas’ son Louis wasn’t born the last time he won on the PGA Tour at the 2017 RBC Canadian Open. So he wasn’t there for the photo op with the trophy like his sister Sharlene and Louis kept asking his dad when he’d get his chance. Vegas was finally able to deliver at the 3M Open after he two-putted for birdie on the 72nd hole and his wife Hildegard carried Louis onto the green with Sharlene running beside her. The win was well-timed since Vegas, who had battled shoulder and elbow injuries, had only 10 starts remaining on his medical exemption. Now the 40-year-old is exempt through 2026.

15. Favourite son: In 2023 Robert McIntyre left the Renaissance Club bitterly disappointed after finishing one shot shy of winning the Genesis Scottish Open. The affable 28-year-old Scotsman flipped the narrative in July, though, draining a 22-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole to hold off Adam Scott by one. When the putt dropped, McIntyre turned to the grandstands and raised both arms in the air as the crowd chanted his name. He’s the first Scotsman to win his national open since Colin Montgomerie in 1999.

16. Mind games: A new mental coach that helped Patton Kizzire find the joy in playing golf again, coupled with his supreme focus on Sunday at Silverado Resort, paid dividends at the Procore Championship. The coach had Kizzire complete funny tasks during the week – hugging a tree, rapping and picking up range balls barefoot, to name a few. But the words he wrote in his yardage book – “I am here. I am now” – helped him stay in the present as he took a four-stroke lead into the final round. The victory, his third on tour, ended a drought of more than six years.

17: Lasting legacy: Jake Knapp and his late grandfather, Gordon Sydney Frederick Bowles, shared the dream that he would play golf at the highest level. The two were extremely close – he has his grandfather’s initials tattooed on his arm and still texts him after each round. So not surprisingly, after he won his first PGA Tour event at the Mexico Open at Vidanta in February, an emotional Knapp looked skyward and said quietly, ”Thank you, Papa.” The rookie, who once worked as a bouncer so he could practise during the day, was playing in just his fifth event as a member and ninth overall.

18: Another Asian star is born: Kevin Yu arrived at the Sanderson Farms Championship on the back of a nice holiday back in Taipei where he spent most of his time fishing with friends. It was a chance to clear his head ahead of FedEx Cup Fall and the former Arizona State University star showed up refreshed and recharged, and subsequently claimed his first PGA Tour victory with a playoff win over Beau Hossler. “I feel like I took a little break last month, and I think it helped me,” he said. “I was playing great, but mentally I was tired, I was frustrated, and feeling like my momentum was not going anywhere in the past maybe six months.”