2005 in Golf

2005 In Golf

Major championships

• 7–10 April: Masters Tournament - Tiger Woods defeated fellow American Chris DiMarco at the first playoff hole to claim his 4th Masters title, and his 9th major. He temporarily returned to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
• 16–19 June: U.S. Open - Michael Campbell came from behind in the fourth round to win his first major with an even par score. He was the first New Zealander to win a major since Bob Charles won the British Open in 1963. Retief Goosen led after three rounds, but fell away badly on Sunday and tied for eleventh. Tiger Woods had a good final round to claim second place, but talk of his winning a Grand Slam was ended for another year.
• 14–17 July: The Open Championship - Tiger Woods led wire-to-wire at the historic Old Course at St Andrews and won his second Open Championship, and 10th major, by 5 strokes. Scottish favorite Colin Montgomerie closed within a shot at one point on Sunday and finished on his own in second, his best ever result at The Open Championship. The Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus, had a historic farewell as he retired from professional golf on Friday, July 15, after missing the cut. Woods became only the second golfer, after Jack Nicklaus, to win each major more than once.
• 11–15 August: PGA Championship - Phil Mickelson won his second major championship, taking the PGA at Baltusrol Golf Club by scoring a -4 276. Thomas Bjørn and Steve Elkington both tied for second with -3. The tournament had to be completed on Monday due to bad weather: this was the first time that a Monday finish occurred at the PGA since 1986.

World Golf Championships (individual events)

• 23–27 February: WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship - David Toms defeated fellow American Chris DiMarco 6&5 in the final.
• 18–21 August: WGC-NEC Invitational - Tiger Woods defeated Chris DiMarco by one stroke to win the tournament for the fourth time in his career.
• 6–9 October: WGC-American Express Championship - Tiger Woods beat John Daly in a playoff. It was his fourth win in the six stagings of this tournament.

Other leading PGA Tour events

• 24–27 March: The Players Championship - American Fred Funk picked up the biggest win of his career at the age of 48.
• 3–6 November: The Tour Championship - Bart Bryant, a 42-year-old who had come good in 2004 and 2005 after a difficult career, won by six strokes.

For a full list of PGA Tour results, see 2005 PGA Tour.

Other leading European Tour events

• 26–29 May: BMW Championship - Argentina's Ángel Cabrera picked up the most prestigious title of his career.
• 15–18 September: HSBC World Match Play Championship - Reigning U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell beat Paul McGinley to claim the richest prize in golf.
• 27–30 October: Volvo Masters - Paul McGinley of the Republic of Ireland won the tournament, and Colin Montgomerie finished ahead of Michael Campbell to top the 2005 European Tour Order or Merit.

For a full list of European Tour results, see 2005 European Tour

Tour money list / order of merit winners:

• PGA Tour - Tiger Woods topped the money list for the sixth time, with earnings of $10,628,024. Full list
• European Tour - Colin Montgomerie topped the Order of Merit for a record eighth time with earnings of €2,794,222.84. Full list
• Japan Golf Tour - Shingo Katayama topped the money list for the second consecutive year, winning 134,075,280 Yen. Full list
• Asian Tour - Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant topped the order of merit with US$510,122, the first time a player had won over $500,000 in a season on the Asian Tour. Full list
• PGA Tour of Australasia - Adam Scott topped the money list with earnings of A$545,429

Full list

• Sunshine Tour - Charl Schwartzel of South Africa topped the 2004/05 order of merit with earnings of 1,635,850.44 South African Rand (full list). Schwartzel also topped the 2005/06 order of merit with earnings of 1,207,459.70 Rand.

Awards

• PGA Tour
  • Player of the Year/Jack Nicklaus Trophy - Tiger Woods won for the seventh time in his nine full seasons on Tour
  • Money winner/Arnold Palmer Award - Tiger Woods won for the sixth time
  • Vardon Trophy - Tiger Woods won for the sixth time with an adjusted scoring average of 68.66
  • Byron Nelson Award - Tiger Woods won for the sixth time with an adjusted scoring average of 68.66
  • Rookie of the year - Sean O'Hair won the John Deere Classic in his first full season on Tour
  • Comeback Player of the Year - Olin Browne won the Deutsche Bank Championship and qualified for the Tour Championship for the first time
• Champions Tour
  • Player of the Year - Dana Quigley also won the senior money title
  • Rookie of the Year - Jay Haas won twice in only 10 starts
  • Comeback Player of the Year - Peter Jacobsen won the Senior Players Championship
• Nationwide Tour
  • Player of the Year - Jason Gore won three consecutive starts and was promoted to the PGA Tour
• European Tour
  • Player of the Year - Michael Campbell - won the U.S. Open
  • Rookie of the Year - Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño

Team events

• 22–25 September: Seve Trophy - After conceding an early lead Great Britain & Ireland pulled level before the singles, and then dominated the singles matches to win 16½ to 11½ and retain the Trophy.
• 22–25 September: Presidents Cup - The match was all square going into the singles, but the USA pulled away to win 18½ to 15½.
• 17–20 November: WGC-World Cup - Third round leaders Wales, represented by Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge, were declared the winners after the final round was called off due to bad weather.

Other happenings

• 26 February: Former British Open champion Max Faulkner died.
• 6 March: Tiger Woods won the Ford Championship at Doral and returned to Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings, displacing Vijay Singh.
• 20 March: Vijay Singh's tied second place finish at the Bay Hill Invitational restored him to Number 1 after just two weeks.
• 10 April: Tiger Woods became World Number 1 again after winning The Masters.
• 13 May: Tiger Woods' record breaking run of 142 consecutive cuts made on the PGA Tour came to an end at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship.
• 22 May: Vijay Singh started his third spell as World Number 1, reclaiming the position from Woods even though neither man played that weekend.
• 13 June: Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh exchanged places at World Number 1 for the last time, with Woods opening a substantial gap in the rankings by early July.
• 2 July: Tiger Woods became the first man to pass $50 million in career earnings on the PGA Tour.
• 4 December: Colin Montgomerie won the Hong Kong Open and became the first man to win 20 million Euros on the European Tour.