2021 has come to an end, and as winter falls, temperatures drop and golf moves from the hustle and bustle of people to the silence of winter. Looking back on this year, a scene of unforgettable moments took place in Gaotan. Here are ten events that are worth mentioning again.
Woods crash and return
Returning from a lumbar fusion surgery four years ago, Tiger Woods once again proved to the world that golf is not just a sport for young people. After achieving his 15th Grand Slam title at the 2019 Masters, Woods won the ZOZO Tournament at the end of that year. His 82nd PGA Tour victory officially tied Sam Snyder's record of more than 50 years.
However, while people expected the Tigers, who had been silent for several years, to sweep the field again, the news of the Woods car accident on February 23, 2021 once again shattered the hearts of fans around the world.
The scene of the car accident
At 7:12 a.m. local time, Woods was in a serious car accident in Los Angeles and the vehicle overturned. After being admitted to the hospital, doctors said that Woods had a comminuted open fracture of his right leg, which affected the tibia and upper and lower parts of the fibula, and considered amputation.
But nine months after the incident, Woods uploaded a video of his practice on social media and spoke out: Making Progress. At a time when people have begun to feel sad and desperate for the injured Tiger King, when the media is discussing whether Woods can play golf again, his voice declares that the 45-year-old son of miracle is still tenaciously creating miracles.
In early December, Woods held a press conference announcing that he would try to return to the PGA Tour, but would not restore the number and intensity of the previous participation, but would selectively participate in some events.
In mid-December, Woods returned to the field after 10 months to compete in the informal PGA TOUR PNC Tournament with his son, Charlie. Under the rules of the best ball position, the Woods father and son shot a 62-57 -25 in two rounds to win the second place.
Woods father and son at the PNC Tournament
For years, a series of off-court events could not take away Woods' love of golf. Even at the age of 46, Woods' golf legend continues.
Woods is 12th on the Forbes Sports Chart
Even if sports success stagnates, Tiger Woods is still a high-paid sportsman. In this year's Forbes Sports rankings, Woods' income (prize money) fell off a cliff due to a car accident, only about $200,000. But his Off-the-field Earnings are still as high as $60 million, ranking 12th overall. Such off-field income is only lower than UFC superstars "mouth cannon" Connor McGregor, LeBron James and Roger Federer, and higher than C Ronaldo, Messi and others.
Woods is at Number 12 on the list
Also among the top 50 golfers are Dustin Johnson ($44.5 million in total) who has occupied the world number one for 135 weeks, at no. 20th, and Phil Mickelson ($41 million) at no. 29th.
It is worth mentioning that Mickelson and Woods are the two oldest people on the list.
Mickelson won another Grand Slam at the age of 50
Compared with 4 or 5 years ago, there is no doubt that Phil Mickelson, who is more than half a hundred years old, has become old. But this does not affect the determination of the old man to continue to surpass himself.
At the PGA Championships in May, Lao Mi won his 6th career Grand Slam title and 45th title on the Kiawa Island Golf Resort Ocean Course, which claims to be one of the world's most difficult courses.
Mickelson won another Grand Slam
50 years, 11 months and 7 days, Mickelson is the oldest champion in more than 160 years, with a total of 458 Grand Slam games, surpassing Julius Boros's record of 48 years, 4 months and 18 days at the 1968 PGA Championship.
It's worth mentioning that in the last 500 days, Mickelson has only finished in the top ten on the PGA Tour. That's the victory of this Grand Slam.
The victory made Srome the first player in PGA Tour history to win the title for a period of 30 years. From winning the Northern Telecom Open in an amateur capacity in 1991 to winning the PGA Championship in 2021, it was 30 years, 4 months and 10 days.
The latest contender for the ball king: Morikawa
In addition to the veterans still rejuvenating, the PGA Tour is also constantly producing new people who are expected to match history. Colin Morikawa, a mixed-Race-American Chinese-Japanese child, quickly gained a foothold after entering the professional arena in 2019.
Entering 2021, Morikawa shines. At the World Championships-Workday Championship in February, he beat Koepka and the likes by 3 strokes to win the World Championship for the first time.
By July, he had won the Grand Slam-British Open with a -15 card, becoming the sixth player in history to win two Grand Slams before the age of 25 since 1934 (the top five were Nicklaus, Barresteros, Woods, McIlroy and Spieth).
Morikawa won the British Open
Morikawa is also the first player in history to win both Grand Slam tournaments for the first time (2020 PGA Championship, 2021 British Open).
In addition to the PGA Tour, Morikawa also performed well on the European Tour. He became the first American in European Tour history to be crowned a champion at the DP World Tour Championship in november, and was awarded the opportunity to take the world number one at the Heroes World Challenge in December. Morikawa was ranked No. 2 in the world at the end of the year.
Off the field, the player's Chinese bond is deepening. In December, Morikawa announced that he was engaged to Zhu Kailin, a sichuan sister who is also a professional golfer, and became China's son-in-law.
Morikawa and Chu Kailin are engaged
Hideki Matsuyama became the first person in Asia
Ending a three-and-a-half-year championship drought, Hideki Matsuyama beat Will Zarators by one stroke at Augusta, becoming the first Asian player to wear a green jacket since the Masters were founded 87 years ago.
Hideki Matsuyama puts on a green jacket
This is also the second honor in the history of the Grand Slam that belongs to Asians. In 2009, South Korean Leung Yong-yin won the first asian title in the PGA Championship.
The Ryder Cup U.S. team is a great victory in history
Regardless of ratings or attention, the Ryder Cup is the head event in the team competition. Every U.S.-Europe showdown is unparalleled.
However, this Ryder Cup became the most suspenseful competition. The experienced European team lost miserably to the Newcomer Pilot's American team. 19-9, the 43rd Ryder Cup scored its biggest points difference since the formation of the European team in 1979.
Team USA has won big in history
The PGA Tour has come across 14 consecutive stops
Golf has no chance of winning. In the PGA Tour's last decade, only 34.2 percent of golfers were able to win the tournament with a 54-hole lead or a tie-in lead.
This season, from the Kassin Challenge in May to the North American Trust in August, 14 consecutive PGA Tour events have staged a 54-hole victory in which the leader was reversed and lost the championship.
This is the longest sustained record in the past 30 seasons. It wasn't until the BMW Championship that Padric Cantley ended this cycle of frequent reversals.
Deschamps handed out a 27 but lost
The Win of the Cantley BMW Championship was built on de Chambord's defeat. The two men took the same 3-stroke lead to the final round and ended up drawing.
After 6 more holes, Cantelli finally won after pushing in the birdie, while De Chambo became the first person in PGA Tour history to play -27 on 72 holes and fail to win the championship with a total score of -27
Deschampeau missed the putter for the equaliser
The European Tour welcomes title sponsors
Dubai World Officially titled the European Tour from the 2021-22 season, which was renamed the DP World Tour.
The new tour will be more international, with at least 47 races in 27 different countries and regions in the new season, including new events in the UAE, Japan, South Africa, Belgium and elsewhere.
Each DP World Tour individually certified event has a prize money of no less than $2 million (previously $1 million), and the total prize money exceeded $200 million for the first time.
European Tour signed to DP World
The number of golfers worldwide is at a record high
According to R&A, since 2016, golf has gained significant popularity worldwide, with more than 5.5 million new golfers participating. The total number of golfers worldwide increased from 61 million to 66.6 million, surpassing the all-time high of 61.6 million set in 2012.
The largest increases were in Asia (from 20.9 million to 23.3 million), Europe (from 7.9 million to 10.6 million – mainly led by the UK and Ireland from 3.6 million to 5.7 million); and North America (from 29.9 million to 30.6 million).
Research data suggests that growth trends formed before the COVID-19 pandemic and then accelerated the popularity of golf during the pandemic, mainly due to golfers' ability to maintain safe social distancing, exercise, and promote their physical and mental health in an outdoor environment.