2009 in Golf - Men's Professional Golf

Men's Professional Golf

Major championships

• 9–12 April: The Masters - Argentina's Ángel Cabrera won his second major in a sudden death playoff over Kenny Perry (second hole) and Chad Campbell (eliminated on first playoff hole).
• 18–22 June: U.S. Open - In a tournament plagued by rain, causing most of the final round to be played on Monday, American Lucas Glover won his first major by two shots over fellow Americans Ricky Barnes, David Duval, and Phil Mickelson.
• 16–19 July: The Open Championship - In a return to Turnberry, the site of one of his legendary 1977 win, 59-year-old Tom Watson led for much of the tournament before losing to fellow-American Stewart Cink in a four hole playoff. Tiger Woods missed the cut — his second missed cut in a major as a professional.
• 13–16 August: PGA Championship - South Korean Y.E. Yang became the first Asian-born player to win a men's major championship, winning by three shots over Tiger Woods. This marked the first time that Woods failed to win a major after holding the third-round lead.

World Golf Championships

• 26 February-1 March: WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship - Australian Geoff Ogilvy defeated Paul Casey of England 4&3
• 12–15 March WGC-CA Championship - Phil Mickelson from the USA won at -19, one stroke ahead of fellow American Nick Watney.
• 6–9 August: WGC-Bridgestone Invitational - American Tiger Woods won his 7th Bridgestone Invitational and 16th WGC.
• 3–6 November: WGC-HSBC Champions - Phil Mickelson won the HSBC Champions for the second time and his second WGC of the year.

FedEx Cup playoff events - see 2009 FedEx Cup Playoffs

• 27–30 August: The Barclays - American Heath Slocum, who barely qualified for the playoffs, sank a 20-foot (6 m) par putt on the final hole to secure a one-shot win over a distinguished group made up of Ernie Els, Pádraig Harrington, Steve Stricker, and Tiger Woods.
• 4–7 September: Deutsche Bank Championship - American Steve Stricker won for the third time this season, edging out countrymen Jason Dufner and Scott Verplank by one shot.
• 10–13 September: BMW Championship - Tiger Woods won for the sixth time this season. He won by eight strokes to take the lead in the points standings into The Tour Championship.
• 24–27 September: The Tour Championship - Phil Mickelson won by three shots over Tiger Woods, whose second-place finish gave him the FedEx Cup.

Other leading PGA Tour events

• 7–10 May: The Players Championship - Henrik Stenson from Sweden won at -12, four strokes ahead of Ian Poulter.

For a complete list of PGA Tour results see 2009 PGA Tour.

Other Leading European Tour events

• 21–24 May: BMW PGA Championship - Paul Casey birdied the final two holes to capture his third win of the year and move into third place in the world rankings.
• 19–22 November: Dubai World Championship - Lee Westwood won the inaugural contest, setting a course record of 64 in the final round to win by six strokes.

For a complete list of European Tour results see 2009 European Tour.

Team events

• 24–27 September: Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros - Team Great Britain & Ireland defeated Team Continental Europe 16½–11½. This was the fifth consecutive win for Team GB&I.
• 8–11 October: Presidents Cup - The U.S. Team defeated the International Team 19½–14½. This was the Americans' third consecutive win.

Tour leaders

• PGA Tour - Tiger Woods ($10,508,163)
  • Woods also earned a $10 million bonus ($9 million up front and $1 million deferred) for winning the FedEx Cup points race.
• European Tour - Lee Westwood (€4,237,762)
  • This total includes the bonus of US$1.5 million (€996,810) earned for winning the Race to Dubai.
• Japan Golf Tour - Ryo Ishikawa (¥183,524,051)
• Asian Tour - Thongchai Jaidee ($981,932)
• PGA Tour of Australasia - Michael Sim (A$315,087.66)
• Sunshine Tour - Anders Hansen (R4,286,038.20)
• OneAsia Tour – Scott Strange ($505,783.76)

Awards

• PGA Tour
  • FedEx Cup – Tiger Woods
  • PGA Player of the Year - Tiger Woods
  • Player of the Year (Jack Nicklaus Trophy) - Tiger Woods
  • Leading money winner (Arnold Palmer Award) - Tiger Woods
  • Vardon Trophy - Tiger Woods
  • Byron Nelson Award - Tiger Woods
  • Rookie of the Year - Marc Leishman
  • Comeback Player of the Year - Not awarded
  • Payne Stewart Award - Kenny Perry
• European Tour
  • Player of the Year - Lee Westwood
  • Rookie of the Year - Chris Wood
• Champions Tour
  • Charles Schwab Cup – Loren Roberts
  • Player of the Year - Bernhard Langer
  • Rookie of the Year - Russ Cochran
  • Comeback Player of the Year -
  • Leading money winner (Arnold Palmer Award) - Bernhard Langer ($2,139,451)
• Nationwide Tour
  • Leading money winner - Michael Sim ($644,142)
  • Player of the Year - Michael Sim

Other tour results

• 2009 Asian Tour
• 2009 PGA Tour of Australasia
• 2009 Canadian Tour
• 2009 Challenge Tour
• 2009 Japan Golf Tour
• 2009 Nationwide Tour
• 2009 Sunshine Tour
• 2009 Tour de las Américas

Other happenings

• 22 February: 18-year-old New Zealander Danny Lee became the second amateur golfer to win a European Tour event, at the Johnnie Walker Classic. Lee also became the youngest ever winner on the European Tour.
• 8 September: 17-year-old Japanese golfer Ryo Ishikawa beat Rory McIlroy's record as the youngest ever golfer to reach the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings.
• 27 November: Tiger Woods was involved in an early morning car accident close to his Orlando, Florida home. A media storm subsequently developed around the circumstances of the accident and newspaper allegations that Woods had been having an extra-marital affair. Woods pulled out of his Chevron World Challenge tournament and admitted to 'transgressions' and apologised for letting his family down. Subsequently, after multiple women came forward alleging to have had affairs with Woods, he announced on 11 December that he would be taking an indefinite leave from competitive golf, and admitted to marital infidelity.