It is fast approaching that overdue moment when the pace finally slows, the Christmas lights glow and there is time to settle into a comfortable spot, grab a taste of something soothing, and appreciate where the year has taken us.
Yes, appreciate.
It’s easy to get pulled under by the back-and-forth bickering created by LIV Golf’s arrival, and it has given this year an air of discontent. Even now, no one is quite sure how things will look one year from now, just as few could have imagined this time last year that the professional game would be in such a fractured place.
Still, it has been a year with its own sparkle.
Scroll through this PGA Tour season like you might go through the catalog of photos on your cellphone and the men, moments and memories rush back.
There was Rory McIlroy standing outside the Riviera Country Club clubhouse after the Genesis Invitational, prematurely proclaiming LIV Golf “dead in the water†as the impact of Phil Mickelson’s combustible comments about the Saudi sponsors of the rival tour continued to reverberate.
The tone was set for what happened outside the ropes, leading to an Aug. 3 antitrust lawsuit filing by 11 former PGA Tour players against the tour for what they claim to be unlawful punishment for their decision to sign with LIV. Shortly thereafter, a federal court in California would rule that the PGA Tour was within its rights to ban them from its events.
Eventually, though, it all came back to golf.
When Cam Smith won the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Maui 11 months ago, it was the start of a transformative season for him. He won five times (three on the PGA Tour, once on the DP World Tour and once on LIV), let his mullet take on a life of its own and became Exhibit A in the ongoing fight for golf’s top stars.
It was Smith who won the year’s most anticipated title, capturing the 150th Open Championship at the Old Course in St. Andrews, securing the victory by saving par with a brilliant two-putt from around the infamous Road Hole bunker as Rory McIlroy was denied again.
Smith also survived the Players Championship, which had wind, rain and teeth-chattering cold and needed five days to complete. That was the week when Séamus Power needed four days to complete two rounds and some players who got in 18 holes on Thursday didn’t play again until Sunday.
“I understand what Jack and Arnold had gone through in the past. I was kind of feeling that way there at the end."
Tiger Woods on wistful walk over Swilcan Bridge
It was the same week when Tiger Woods was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame at the tour’s futuristic new headquarters building, and it was his 14-year-old daughter, Sam, whose introductory speech owned the evening.
It was also the week when PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, addressing the challenge facing his tour, said, “We are and always will be focused on legacy, not leverage.â€
A few weeks earlier, Greg Norman had fired off a letter to Monahan that began, “Surely you jest.â€
It was, unfortunately, a year when the smell of acrimony lingered in the air.
At the Masters, Scottie Scheffler solidified his place among the game’s best, even though he four-putted the final green. Scheffler, who started the year with the label of a player who needs to prove he can win, won four times in six starts and lived on leaderboards.
There was Chilean rookie Mito Pereira, who needed only to drive it in the fairway on the 72nd hole of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills and he probably would be a major champion. Instead, Pereira lashed a driver that went right, and if a camera shot can summarize a tournament, the image of Pereira’s ball in the creek did it. He made a double bogey, and Justin Thomas won a playoff over Will Zalatoris.
Barely a month later, Zalatoris had a chance to win the U.S. Open at The Country Club, but Matt Fitzpatrick had his Ouimet moment, clipping a 9-iron shot perfectly from a fairway bunker on the 18th hole, a thunderbolt that capped a week in which the Boston-area club regained its star status.
At St. Andrews, we watched Tiger Woods walk across the Swilcan Bridge likely for the last time as a competitor. It happened on a Friday, not a Sunday, as Woods did his best not to limp or tear up. He did a little of both.
“I understand what Jack and Arnold had gone through in the past. I was kind of feeling that way there at the end,†Woods said when his walk was complete.
It was a year when Max Homa became a star as much for his play as for his personality. Tony Finau won three times. Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay won once together and three other times apart.
Zalatoris, Cameron Young, Sam Burns and Tom Kim reset the tour’s hierarchy with their play and their presence.
While Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and others opted for LIV’s money and no-cut lifestyle, McIlroy stayed. Over the course of the year, he regained the No. 1 ranking in the world while emerging as the PGA Tour’s emotional and intellectual leader.
“I believe what I'm saying are the right things, and I think when you believe that what you're saying is the right things, you're happy to stick your neck out on the line,†McIlroy said.
The Presidents Cup took another step forward despite another American victory, a new term – elevated events – was introduced to the tour lexicon, and McIlroy became just the second player to win the FedEx Cup and the DP World Tour titles in the same season.
Raise a glass to this year, if you haven’t already.
And it’s OK if you make it a double.
It’s been that kind of year.
Top: Cameron Smith swigs champagne after overtaking Rory McIlroy to win 150th Open at St. Andrews.
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