2010 in Golf - Men's Professional Golf

Men's Professional Golf

Major championships

• 8–11 April: The Masters - American Phil Mickelson defeated Englishman Lee Westwood by three strokes. The event also marked Tiger Woods' return from a self-imposed absence after revelations of marital infidelity; he finished tied for fourth.
• 17–20 June: U.S. Open - Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland won by one stroke over France's Grégory Havret and became the first European to win the U.S. Open since 1970.
• 15–18 July: The Open Championship - Louis Oosthuizen from South Africa won by seven strokes over Lee Westwood.
• 12–15 August: PGA Championship - Martin Kaymer of Germany defeated American Bubba Watson in a three-hole playoff. Another American, Dustin Johnson, missed out on the playoff when he was ruled to have grounded his club in an unmapped bunker on the 72nd hole, incurring a two-stroke penalty.

World Golf Championships

• 18–21 February: WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship - Ian Poulter defeated fellow Englishman Paul Casey 4&2.
• 11–14 March WGC-CA Championship - Ernie Els of South Africa won his second WGC event.
• 5–8 August: WGC-Bridgestone Invitational - American Hunter Mahan won his first WGC event.
• 4–7 November: WGC-HSBC Champions - Francesco Molinari of Italy won his first WGC event.

FedEx Cup playoff events - see 2010 FedEx Cup Playoffs

• 26–29 August: The Barclays - American Matt Kuchar defeated Scotsman Martin Laird on the first playoff hole.
• 3–6 September: Deutsche Bank Championship - American Charley Hoffman shot a final-round 62 to secure a five-shot win.
• 9–12 September: BMW Championship - Dustin Johnson won by one shot over Paul Casey. In other news, Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh, who combined to win the previous three FedEx Cup titles, failed to qualify for The Tour Championship.
• 23–26 September: The Tour Championship - American Jim Furyk won by one shot over Englishman Luke Donald. The victory gave Furyk the FedEx Cup and its $10 million prize.

Other leading PGA Tour events

• 6–9 May: The Players Championship - South African Tim Clark, who had previously made more money than anyone else on the PGA Tour without ever winning a tournament, took the championship by one shot over Australian Robert Allenby. Prior to his victory, Clark had played in 206 PGA Tour events without ever winning.
• 19–22 August: Wyndham Championship – In the final event before the FedEx Cup playoffs, Arjun Atwal made history by becoming the first Indian-born player ever to win on the PGA Tour, as well as the first Monday qualifier to win on tour since 1986.

For a complete list of PGA Tour results see 2010 PGA Tour.

Other leading European Tour events

• 20–23 May: BMW PGA Championship - Englishman Simon Khan won by one stroke over Fredrik Andersson Hed and Luke Donald.
• 25–28 November: Dubai World Championship - Robert Karlsson from Sweden defeated Ian Poulter in a play-off.

For a complete list of European Tour results see 2010 European Tour.

Team events

• 1–4 October: Ryder Cup - Europe win 14½-13½ after an unprecedented Monday finish following a weather affected tournament at Celtic Manor.

Tour leaders

• PGA Tour - Matt Kuchar (US$4,910,477)
  • This total does not include FedEx Cup bonuses.
• European Tour - Martin Kaymer (€4,461,011)
  • This total includes the bonus of US$1.5 million (€1,092,418) earned for winning the Race to Dubai.
• Japan Golf Tour - Kim Kyung-tae (¥181,103,799)
• Asian Tour - Noh Seung-yul (US$822,361.03)
• PGA Tour of Australasia - Geoff Ogilvy (A$459,900.00)
• Sunshine Tour - Charl Schwartzel (R5,097,913.58)
• OneAsia Tour - Liang Wen-Chong (US$560,736.57)

Awards

• PGA Tour
  • FedEx Cup – Jim Furyk
  • PGA Player of the Year - Jim Furyk
  • Player of the Year (Jack Nicklaus Trophy) - Jim Furyk
  • Leading money winner (Arnold Palmer Award) - Matt Kuchar
  • Vardon Trophy - Matt Kuchar
  • Byron Nelson Award - Matt Kuchar
  • Rookie of the Year - Rickie Fowler
  • Comeback Player of the Year - Stuart Appleby
  • Payne Stewart Award - Tom Lehman
• European Tour
  • Golfer of the Year - Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell
  • Rookie of the Year - Matteo Manassero
• Nationwide Tour
  • Player of the Year - Jamie Lovemark

Other tour results

• 2010 Asian Tour
• 2010 PGA Tour of Australasia
• 2010 Canadian Tour
• 2010 Challenge Tour
• 2010 Japan Golf Tour
• 2010 Nationwide Tour
• 2010 OneAsia Tour
• 2010 Sunshine Tour
• 2010 Tour de las Américas

Other happenings

• 15 March – The International Federation of PGA Tours announced that the Mission Hills World Cup will change from an annual event to a biennial event. It will not be played in 2010 and will resume in 2011, to be played in odd-numbered years thereafter. While the event will continue to be held in China, its venue will change from the Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen to Mission Hills Haikou in the island province of Hainan.
• 2 May – In the final round of The Crowns, an event on the Japan Golf Tour, Ryo Ishikawa becomes the first golfer ever to shoot 58 on a major professional tour.
• 1 November – The five-year reign of Tiger Woods in the Official World Golf Rankings ends, with England's Lee Westwood taking over the top spot.
• 5 December - Korean Kim Kyung-tae became the first golfer with non-Japanese origin to top the money list in Japan Golf Tour.