As part of Compleat Golfer‘s year in review series, ANDRE HUISAMEN looks at who the best golfer on the international stage was.
It’s been another exhilarating year of golf but one player towers above the rest … Rory McIlroy. What a year it’s been for the 30-year-old on the world’s best tours.
It is no real surprise that Jack Nicklaus handed the Northern Irishman the PGA Tour Player of the Year award after he stormed to a second FedExCup victory.
After struggling with his game in 2017, there were some really encouraging signs of improvement last year. But, 2019 brought a whole new level of McIlroy and it was an absolute delight to witness the consistency his game achieved, even from the early competitions.
With that great start to the year, McIlroy became only the second British winner at the Players Championship.
He followed that up with a seven-stroke victory at the RBC Canadian Open in June in an emphatic final round of 61, which put great daylight between him and the rest of the field.
His win at East Lake Golf Club in August earned him a massive payout of $15 million for securing the FedExCup, the biggest in golf history.
But, McIlroy wasn’t done for the year and in November he managed to beat Xander Schauffele in a playoff to become the WGC-HSBC Champion in Shanghai.
The contenders:
Brooks Koepka
Finished the year as the No 1-ranked golfer in the world after successfully defending his PGA Championship title in May.
Three wins on the PGA Tour this year bagged him back-to-back PGA Player of the Year awards. Unfortunately, he missed out on the Presidents Cup through injury and was replaced by Rickie Fowler in Tiger Woods’ victorious USA team.
Xander Schauffele
The American was McIlroy’s biggest challenger and finished second in the FedEx Cup standings. The 26-year-old proved again what an exciting talent he is and with two PGA Tour wins this season, he’s quickly becoming a real force to be reckoned with at such a young age.
He also posed a threat in the Majors, finishing tied second at The Masters and tied third at the US Open back in June. In December’s Presidents Cup, Schauffele went 3-2-0 including beating Adam Scott in their singles match.
Jon Rahm
The European Tour Golfer of the Year and Race to Dubai winner.
Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood made sure of a thrilling finish to see who will be crowned as Europe’s best golfer when they went head to head at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, the final event of the season.
The Spaniard managed to beat Fleetwood by one shot on the final day of the competition, subsequently earning 2000 points, which was enough to see him claim the Race to Dubai title.
Rahm was also victorious at the Zurich Classic in May, the Irish Open, the Open de España and finished tied third at the US Open in Pebble Beach.
