The 2017 season is finally nearing a close, but there’s no question the year had its share of highlights and controversies. From Justin Thomas’ major breakthrough, to Sergio’s Masters win, the men’s game saw some unforgettable moments, while on the women’s side, Lexi Thompson’s year will be recognized for rules issues, as well as her incredible success.
Here’s Golf Town’s top golf stories of 2017 (in no particular order).
Adam Hadwin shoots 59
Canadian Adam Hadwin had a remarkable season, starting with shooting 59 at the CareerBuilder Challenge in January. Though he didn’t prevail in that tournament, a little more than a month later he’d win the Valspar Championship for his first PGA Tour win. That meant the Abbotsford, BC native had to postpone his honeymoon in order to play the Masters, and he’d also play through to the Tour Championship and represent Canada at the Presidents Cup.
Sergio finally wins a Major
It seems like Sergio Garcia has been a golf superstar forever—but he also failed to live up to his advance billing, at least until April of this year. Garcia, who famously struggled at the Masters, sunk a birdie putt on the first playoff hole at Augusta to better Justin Rose. His good year only got better, as Garcia got married in the summer, has a child on the way, and finished 2017 ranked 11th in the world.
Lexi Thompson’s highs and lows
She’s one of the biggest stars in women’s golf, and 2017 saw Lexi Thompson win the Race to the CME Globe prize of $1-million with the lowest scoring average in the history of the LPGA Tour. But somehow the controversies overshadowed the success. It was in April at the year’s first major that Thompson incurred a four-stroke penalty for an infraction in the previous round, eventually losing in a playoff. The controversy was aided by the fact a viewer called in to say Thompson had mismarked her ball in the third round. “Is this a joke?” an incredulous Thompson asked. Unfortunately not.
Justin Thomas’ breakthrough
A lot of pundits expected a big year by American Justin Thomas, but no one knew just how big. Thomas, the PGA Tour Player of the Year, won five times in the 2016-17 season, including the PGA Championship and the FedEx Cup title, as well as becoming the youngest player to shoot 59.
Brooke Henderson wins—again
After her major championship breakthrough in 2016, what would Canadian superstar Brooke Henderson do for an encore? Well, she wasn’t taking it easy, that’s for sure. The Golf Town athlete won twice, was runner-up at the Women’s PGA Championship, shot the course record at the CP Women’s Open on her home course in Ottawa, and finished sixth on the LPGA Tour’s money list. All of this at the age of 20.
Callaway gets Epic
Callaway turned a lot of heads in 2017 with the launch of Epic, which became one of the top drivers in golf. They introduced a new technology called “Jailbreak,” where two metal rods run from the bottom of the club to the crown just behind the face. The tech solved the problem of the crown and sole diverging at impact, and gives the face more flex, which leads to higher ball speeds. It’ll be intriguing to see where Callaway takes Jailbreak next.
No more call-in rulings
It happened to Tiger Woods, Lexi Thompson and a host of other golfers—television viewers watching golf on big screen TVs and calling in perceived rules infractions. Finally, the PGA, LPGA and European Tours have decided to do something about it, assigning a rules official to watch the telecast and catch any infractions as they happen. Players now have to be able to see a potential infraction with “the naked eye,” not in super slo-mo on a 65-inch 4K television screen.
Canucks on tour
Ben Silverman. Corey Conners. Brittany Marchand. Maude-Aimee Leblanc. Canadian men and women had solid years on tour, and we’ll see these four on the PGA and LPGA Tour respectively in 2018. Silverman and Conners have already shown they belong on the PGA Tour, while Marchand and Leblanc will have conditional status next year. Add that to the list of players already on tour—Hadwin, Mackenzie Hughes, Graham DeLaet, Nick Taylor on the PGA Tour, and Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp on the LPGA Tour—and the year looks solid for Canada at golf’s highest level.
LPGA tightens dress code
Michelle Wie is known for her Nike outfits that push the boundaries of traditional golf attire, so it’s no surprise that she is not a huge fan of the LPGA’s new dress code policy. The policy addresses “plunging necklines” and “bottom area”. There was lots of talk from both players and fans when the Tour enforced the policy mid-season. Wearing a racerback shirt without a collar is a violation of the policy, but that doesn’t stop Michelle Wie from wearing them in recreational golf. Perhaps taking a little jab at the new rules?
Tiger Woods returns
After saying at the end of the summer that he may never play tournament golf again, few knew what to expect when Tiger Woods announced he’d return at his tournament in the Bahamas at the start of December. While it wasn’t vintage Woods, a healthy and happy Tiger looked solid in his return to the sport—which can only bode well for 2018.