The PGA Tour season may have fizzled out in typical, bland fashion at the Tour Championship at East Lake, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t memorable moments during the eight months between the Sentry at Kapalua and the final event at East Lake.
Here at Irish Golfer, we’re going to run down the top 7 moments from events solely on the PGA Tour, so don’t be expecting any Major Championship or Olympic moments to feature.
7. Matthieu Pavon wins at Torrey Pines
The 10 DP World Tour graduates were all expected to make rapid returns to the European circuit after labouring in their rookie PGA Tour seasons, but Matthieu Pavon quickly dismissed such notions when he won in just his third start, beating another of the 10 in Nicolai Hojgaard into second place.
All of a sudden, the idea that these 10 players were sub-standard also rans was immediately dispelled and Pavon was installed as the FedEx Cup rankings leader – a position he’d hold until Scottie Scheffler found his putting touch at Bay Hill. He’d make it all the way to East Lake for the Tour Championship, and he wasn’t the only one of the 10 to do so.
6. Nick Dunlap wins the American Express Championship
Phil Mickelson, in 1991, was the last amateur to win a PGA Tour event when he won the Tucson Open, but the man who would go on to win six major championships would wait another 17 months and graduate from Arizona State University before turning pro. Dunlap, who was the reigning U.S. Amateur champion and already guaranteed a spot in the Masters and U.S. Opens, opted for a different path and turned pro the following week.
He’s since backed it up with another win, but it will be the first of his two 2024 victories that makes the season-long highlight reel.
5. Matt Kuchar is the only man not to finish his 72nd hole at the Wyndham Championship
A bit of a strange inclusion because it was a bit of an a**hole move, but it was manna from heaven from a content perspective. Few people – including Max Greyserman himself – bought the explanation that Kuchar was trying to set an example for the ‘kid’. The kid who was 29 years old, by the way.
And props to PGA Tour Digital Content editor Kevin Prise who documented Kuchar’s every move on the Monday morning with what we can only assume was tongue firmly lodged in cheek. Kuchar had the last laugh, however, getting TIO relief from a scoreboard and almost making birdie. And the par save was worth $49,000.
4. An injured Scottie goes ballistic at Sawgrass
Scottie Scheffler victories don’t typically set the pulse racing, such is the machine-like nature of both the golf played and the emotions displayed, but that wasn’t the case at The Players Championship back in March.
Most players would’ve withdrawn when they woke up on Friday with a neck injury that made swinging the club with any kind of normal aggression nigh impossible, and of the few that would stick it out, virtually none of them would’ve turned in a 69 to keep tournament hopes alive.
As a result, his final-round 64 to win the tournament – and not just any tournament, the biggest PGA Tour tournament outside the majors – by one stroke was incredible and must-see viewing.
3. Bob MacIntyre wins the Canadian Open
Winning the Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in July, a year on from having his pocket picked by Rory McIlroy at the same venue, will be a memory Bob MacIntyre will carry forever, but it was the win a month earlier in Canada that touched the hearts of global fans because of who he had on his bag.
A greenkeeper at Glencruitten Golf Club back in their native Oban, Dougie received his son’s S.O.S. call late on Saturday night after MacIntyre had missed the cut at the Charles Schwab Challenge and elected to part ways with his fourth caddie in 18 months. Having spoken openly of suffering homesickness in his maiden season on the PGA Tour, what better way to fill the void than to bring home to you and just a few hours later, Dougie was on board a plane across the Atlantic after being given the all-clear by his employers and his wife. One suspects that the latter was easily cajoled when her darling son was in need.
And the rest is history.
2. Rory McIlroy wins at Quail Hollow for the fourth time
Despite all of Rory’s success, it’s worth remembering that there have only ever been six Irish tournament winners on the PGA Tour. As a result, every win must be celebrated. And after an uninspiring start to the PGA Tour season, watching Rory take full flight on a Sunday and crush Xander Schauffele made for fantastic viewing.
Schauffele had the last laugh with his two-major haul, but this victory was key in kickstarting Rory’s year and, had he managed to hole a short putt or two on Sunday at Pinehurst, would’ve been seen as one of the pivotal moments on his journey back to the major winner’s circle.
As we all know, it didn’t, but the victory itself is still worth celebrating.
1. Lowry and McIlroy win the Zurich Classic
When a singular Irish success is to be celebrated, two winners is the stuff dreams are made of. Ok, so the Zurich Classic might not attract the strongest of fields, but even still, with former winners and formidable Ryder and Presidents Cup allies Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay in opposition, this was never going to be a case of turning up and walking off with the trophy.
Outside of the 2019 Open Championship, the 2015 Bridgestone Invitational was Shane Lowry’s only other PGA Tour victory prior to teaming up with McIlroy in Zurich, which is baffling in some ways considering how often he’s been on the first page of leaderboards.
For McIlroy, this was win number 26, but the previous 25 were celebrated in vastly different fashion as the two longtime friends headed for New Orleans’ Bourbon Street and even engaged in a little karaoke after finding enough Dutch Courage at the bottom of their glasses.
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