From Brooks Koepka dominating to Patrick Reed’s breakthrough and everything in between, here are the top Major Moments of the year.
Pernilla Lindberg made her first professional victory a major championship by winning the ANA Inspiration in April, but it wasn’t without some serious drama. After playing well past sundown on after the final round, Lindberg and Inbee Park returned on Monday morning to finish their playoff – eight extra holes in total – with the 31-year-old Swede taking the title with a birdie on the par-4 10th hole. She celebrated with the traditional (albeit delayed) leap into Poppie’s Pond at Mission Hills. Click here for more on the story
It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that the group most people were interested in seeing this year at the Masters went out on Tuesday, when Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson surprised everyone by playing together in a practice round. The two hadn’t played a practice round together since 1998, as the two have spent most of the past 20 years battling for major championships. But the longtime rivals – who have clearly grown closer in recent years – put their friendship on full display at the year’s first major, laughing their way around Augusta National. Click here for more on the story
Patrick Reed broke through to win his first major championship at the Masters, and he outlasted some pretty big names in the final round to do it. Jordan Spieth (64), Rickie Fowler (67) and Jon Rahm (65) made Sunday runs, but Reed’s clutch birdie on No. 14 and four pars to close out his final-round 71 turned out to be enough to slip on the coveted green jacket. Click here for more on the story
Ariya Jutanugarn started Sunday of the U.S. Women’s Open with a four-shot lead and looked like she might run away with the title after stretching the margin to seven on the opening nine holes. But a triple bogey on No. 10 rocked her confidence and back-to-back bogeys to close out her final-round 73 dropped her into a playoff with Hyo-Joo Kim. But Jutanugarn’s collapse came with a happy ending, as she hit a near-perfect bunker shot to clinch her second major title on the fourth playoff hole. Jutanugarn would go on to win the season-long Race to the CME Globe and $1,000,000 bonus, the LPGA Player of the Year award and the LPGA Vare Trophy. Click here for more on the story
Phil Mickelson has never won a U.S. Open, but he’s made plenty of headlines at the event, including this year during the third round when he intentionally hit a moving ball on the 13th hole to prevent it from racing off the front of the green. The five-time major winner was docked two shots and recorded a 10 on the hole, and defiantly stated afterward that he was just taking advantage of the rules. Mickelson eventually apologized, calling the incident “not [his] finest moment” after several prominent members of the golf world called for his disqualification. Click here for more on the story
In what has become a familiar scene at the U.S. Open, one of the major storylines became the USGA’s course setup, particularly during Saturday’s third round. Several players voiced concerns about the sunbaked Shinnecock Hills greens, even mild-mannered Zach Johnson, who said “They’ve lost the golf course.” The USGA’s miscalculation made world-class players look like amateurs and they seemed to realize it … eventually. In an attempt to rectify the situation, grounds crews slowed the course down with unscheduled watering on Saturday night. Click here for more on the story
Brooks Koepka missed four months early in 2018 with a career-threatening wrist injury, but he returned in time to become just the seventh man in history to win the U.S. Open in back-to-back years. On a Shinnecock Hills setup that got plenty of complaints from the field throughout the week, Koepka shot a final-round 68 to finish the week at 1 over, outlasting Tommy Fleetwood (2 over), Dustin Johnson (3 over) and Patrick Reed (4 over). Click here for more on the story
Sung Hyun Park won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in July, and she did it in style coming out on top of a three-way playoff. Park outlasted So-Yeon Ryu and Nasa Hataoka on the second playoff hole at Kemper Lakes Golf Club. The 24-year-old rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt to close out the tournament and take home her second major title and the $547,500 first-place check. Click here for more on the story
Francesco Molinari emerged victorious after a chaotic Sunday at Carnoustie, breaking through for his first major title at The Open. The 35-year-old Italian rose to the occasion despite the likes of Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Justin Rose all being in the mix down the stretch. During a final round that featured the toughest conditions of the week, Molinari simply made less mistakes than anyone else, stuffing his final approach to 8 feet to set up a closing birdie and a two-shot victory to claim the claret jug. Click here for more on the story
Georgia Hall outdueled Pornanong Phatlum in a gripping final round full of twists and turns at Royal Lytham to win the Women’s British Open for her first major title in August. Hall was born during the 1996 Masters won by English golfer Nick Faldo at Augusta, Georgia, and she was named in honor of that victory. Twenty-two years later, the Englishwoman got her hands on one of the biggest trophies in women’s golf with a final-round 67 to clinch a two-shot victory over Phatlum. Click here for more on the story
With his idols Tiger Woods and Adam Scott breathing down his neck in the final round, Brooks Koepka won his second major of the season and third of his career at the PGA Championship. Much like in his back-to-back U.S. Open wins, Koepka simply played the best golf at the Bellerive Country Club, including a Sunday 66 with two late birdies to seal the deal and add the Wanamaker Trophy to his impressive résumé. Click here for more on the story
Angela Stanford, 40, won finally found the major winner’s circle at the Evian Championship, 15 years after losing a three-way playoff in the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open. In the final LPGA major of the year, Stanford won when Amy Olson shockingly double-bogeyed the final hole with a three-putt on Sunday in France. Stanford earned her first major with a final-round 68 that included a late eagle, and she got emotional after the victory, fighting back tears as she told Golf Channel, “I know me very well, and I do a bunch of stupid stuff. But deep down I’m a fighter. I’m a grinder.” Click here for more on the story