2007 in Golf

2007 In Golf

Major championships

• 5–8 April: The Masters - American Zach Johnson won his first major tournament, in a high scoring week at Augusta.
• 14–17 June: U.S. Open - Ángel Cabrera became Argentina's first U.S. Open winner, claiming a victory by one stroke.
• 19–22 July: The Open Championship - Pádraig Harrington became the first European major winner of the 21st century, defeating Sergio García in a playoff.
• 9–12 August: PGA Championship - Tiger Woods won his fourth PGA Championship and 13th major.

World Golf Championships

• 19–25 February: WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship - Swede Henrik Stenson defeated defending champion Geoff Ogilvy 2 and 1. Stenson moved up to fifth in the world rankings, the highest position ever attained by a Swedish male golfer. For the first time at this event no American made the final, and Chad Campbell was the only American quarterfinalist. He finished fourth after losing the playoff match to Trevor Immelman of South Africa.
• 22–25 March WGC-CA Championship - Tiger Woods won the event for the third consecutive year, and for the sixth time in his career.
• 2–5 August: WGC-Bridgestone Invitational - Tiger Woods repeated his CA Championship success and won the event for the third consecutive year.

FedEx Cup playoff events

• 23–26 August: The Barclays - Steve Stricker won by two shots and took the FedEx Cup points lead.
• 31 August-3 September: Deutsche Bank Championship - Phil Mickelson won by two shots and took the FedEx Cup points lead.
• 6–9 September: BMW Championship - Tiger Woods won his 60th PGA Tour event by 2 strokes over Aaron Baddeley.
• 13–16 September: The Tour Championship - Woods won his 61st PGA Tour event, running away with the tournament on an easier-than-normal East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta by 8 shots over Mark Calcavecchia and Zach Johnson. Woods also won the FedEx Cup as season champion, collecting a $10 million retirement account deposit as FedEx Cup champion in addition to the $1.26 million first prize for the tournament.

Other leading PGA Tour events

• 10–13 May: The Players Championship - American Phil Mickelson won his first Players Championship with a final round 3-under-par 69. It was the 31st win of Mickelson's career.

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

Other leading European Tour events

• 24–27 May: BMW PGA Championship - Anders Hansen from Denmark won the event after holing a 25-foot birdie putt in a sudden-death playoff against England’s Justin Rose.
• 14–17 October: HSBC World Match Play Championship - South African Ernie Els defeated Ángel Cabrera by a score of 6&4 to win this tournament for the 7th time.
• 1–4 November: Volvo Masters - Justin Rose won in a playoff to overtake Ernie Els for the Order of Merit.

For a complete list of European Tour results see 2007 European Tour.

Team events

• 27–30 September: Presidents Cup - The United States defeated the International team by a score of 19½ to 14½.
• 27–30 September: Seve Trophy - Great Britain and Ireland defeated Continental Europe by the score of 16½ to 11 ½.
• 22–25 November: 2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup - Scotland's Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren, who were runners-up in 2006, defeat Boo Weekley and Heath Slocum of the USA in the third hole of a playoff.

Tour leaders

• PGA Tour - Tiger Woods headed the PGA Tour money list for the eighth time, and also won the inaugural FedEx Cup. Current money list leaders, Current FedEx Cup leaders
• European Tour - Justin Rose won his first Order of Merit becoming the youngest winner since Ronan Rafferty in 1989.
• Japan Golf Tour - Toru Taniguchi topped the money list for the second time with earnings of ¥171,744,498.
• Asian Tour - Liang Wen-Chong became the first golfer from mainland China to win the Order of Merit.
• PGA Tour of Australasia - Craig Parry won the Order of Merit for the third time, with earnings of A$422,004.
• Sunshine Tour - With a change to a calendar based season, there were two Order of Merit winners on the Sunshine Tour during 2007, with tournaments held from 1 January 2007 to 25 February 2007 counting for both the 2006/07 and 2007 lists. The 2006/07 Order of Merit was headed by Charl Schwartzel of South Africa for the third consecutive season with earnings of R1,585,117.41, although Ernie Els was the leading money winner, but had not played in sufficient events to qualify for the Order of Merit. The 2007 Order of Merit was won by another South African, James Kingston with earnings of R1,980,688.65.

Other happenings

• 4 January: The first shot of the first FedEx Cup was hit at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Hawaii.
• 12 January: Sixteen-year-old Tadd Fujikawa became the youngest player in 50 years to make the cut at a PGA Tour event after shooting rounds of 71 and 66 at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He went on to finish tied for 20th in the tournament. Fujikawa qualified for the Sony Open by shooting 67 in the Aloha Section PGA qualifying event.
• 1 April: 20-year-old Spaniard Pablo Martin-Benavides became the first amateur golfer to win a European Tour event, at the Estoril Open de Portugal.
• 5 April: Jeev Milkha Singh was the first Indian golfer to participate in the Masters.
• 20 May: 15-year-old amateur Ryo Ishikawa won the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup on the Japan Golf Tour.
• 15 July: Daniel Summerhays became the first amateur player to win a Nationwide Tour event at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational.
• 30 November: Sir Bob Charles made the cut at the Michael Hill New Zealand Open at the age of 71 and became the oldest golfer to make a cut on a European Tour event.

Awards

• PGA Tour
  • FedEx Cup – 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 - Brandt Snedeker
  • Comeback Player of the Year - Steve Stricker
• Champions Tour
  • Player of the Year - Jay Haas
  • Rookie of the Year - Denis Watson
  • Comeback Player of the Year - R. W. Eaks
• Nationwide Tour
  • Player of the Year - Nick Flanagan
• European Tour
  • Player of the Year - Pádraig Harrington
  • Rookie of the Year - Martin Kaymer

Other tour results

• 2007 Asian Tour
• 2007 PGA Tour of Australasia
• 2007 Canadian Tour
• 2007 Challenge Tour
• 2007 Japan Golf Tour
• 2007 Nationwide Tour
• 2007 Tour de las Americas