Best of 2017: Breakthroughs

Sergio Garcia had gone 73 majors without a win, but that all ended with a thunderous celebration after defeating Justin Rose on the first playoff hole. Garcia rallied from two strokes down with six holes to play, and then the Spaniard birdied 18 in the playoff to win the green jacket at age 37.

Rahm started 2017 with plenty of promise, and he didn’t waste any time delivering. Rahm won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in January, the Irish Open in July and the European Tour finale in November. The 23-year-old Spaniard moved up from No. 137 in the world ranking to No. 4.

John Daly ended a 13-year winless drought by capturing the Insperity Invitational on the PGA Tour Champions. The always-popular, two-time major champion didn’t have much success in his rookie season, but he rebounded in 2017 with three top-10 finishes.

Brooks Koepka arrived at the U.S. Open at Erin Hills with just a lone PGA Tour victory and many questions about why his big game had yet to produce more trophies. That talk ended with a dominating performance as Koepka pounded Erin Hills into submission and tied Rory McIlroy for lowest score in relation to par by a winner.

Danielle Kang had yet to turn her stellar amateur career into LPGA victories until she birdied the 72nd hole to capture her first LPGA title (and a major) at the Women’s PGA Championship in her 144th professional start.

Bryson DeChambeau’s first full year on the PGA Tour got off to a rocky start with several missed cuts and a call from the USGA notifying DeChambeau that his putter was non-conforming. But the 24-year-old silenced critics of his unique brand of golf by winning his first title at the John Deere Classic.

Sung Hyun Park had a rookie season for the history books as she won twice, including the U.S. Women’s Open. Park became the first player since Nancy Lopez to win Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year honors (Park tied So Yeon Ryu).

Justin Thomas did just about everything in 2017. He shot a 59, fired a 63 at a U.S. Open and won four times, including his first major at the PGA. Thomas also captured the FedExCup and Player of the Year honors. He capped off 2017 by winning in South Korea for his fifth title of the year.

Xander Schauffele captured his first PGA Tour title at the Greenbrier, and then the 24-year-old saved his best for last by winning the Tour Championship. Schauffele started the year ranked No. 299 and finished at No. 25.

Wesley Bryan and his brother, George, made a splash with their trick shot videos, but Wesley proved he had serious game in 2016 by winning three times to earn a promotion to the PGA Tour. In 2017 he recorded five top-10 finishes, including his first PGA Tour win at the RBC Heritage.

Grace became the first man to shoot 62 in a major when he torched Royal Birkdale during the third round at The Open. Afterward, Grace admitted he had no idea he made history. “I didn’t know what was going on on 18. I promise you,” said Grace. “I honestly didn’t. I was just so in the zone of playing, hole after hole.”

Grayson Murray caused plenty of commotion with his Twitter account in 2017, but he also notched a very important victory in July at the Barbosal Championship. Murray was fighting to get inside the top 125, but he locked up his card through the 2018-'19 season with a one-stroke victory.

Patrick Cantlay’s career was derailed by a back injury, and he also had to deal with the death of his caddie and close friend Chris Roth. His return in 2017 was remarkable as he started the year at No. 1866 and finished at No. 40 after a win in Las Vegas and four other top-10 finishes.

Fleetwood was stellar from the beginning of the year to the end. He won in Abu Dhabi and the French Open and also collected 10 other top-10 finishes to win the Race to Dubai title.

Like Cantlay, American Julian Suri also made a staggering move up the world ranking with wins on the Challenge Tour and then later in the year he won in Denmark to win his first European Tour event. Suri climbed from No. 1137 to 63rd in the world.