Not all of golf's 2015 awards go to Spieth, Day
Go back with me, if you will, to early January of this year, when Patrick Reed took down Jimmy Walker at Kapalua to snag his fourth PGA Tour win in 17 months and make himself (not any of the other names you’ll be reading about on this page) the most impressive young American in golf as the season got underway.
Reed opened the season with youth, and the theme never stopped. Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Danny Lee, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day . . . the year belonged to the young.
The 2015 PGA Tour season is all but over heading this weekend at East Lake, with the playoffs wrapping up before we go into golf hibernation interrupted by only the Presidents Cup and other time-zone affected events that will test even the most dedicated fans to set an alarm so they can see their favorite players live.
It has been an amazing season, a historic season really, and with just one event left, some awards -- both real and imagined -- are in order for the individuals who made this year what it was.
PGA Tour Player of the Year (if Jason Day doesn’t win this weekend): Jordan Spieth
Two major wins, two other PGA Tour wins (both in playoffs), top-four finishes in all four majors while putting American golf back on the map and getting ready to put professional golf on his shoulders for the next, oh, dozen years or so. Yes, it was a Spieth-y season.
When we think back to 2015, Spieth will be the first thing that pops up in our minds. Maybe it’ll be his wire-to-wire victory at Augusta National. Maybe it’ll be his “He’s got it! Oh wait, no he doesn’t! Maybe a playoff! No, he somehow won!” victory at Chambers Bay to keep the hope of the Grand Slam alive. Or maybe it’ll be his ability to continue, time and time again, to live up to the moment, the hype and history involved.
The memory that will stick in my mind from the ’15 season? That putt on the 16th hole at St. Andrews in the final round. He had to do something to give himself a chance to either make the playoff or win outright, and that snake on 16 was pure genius. It, in my opinion, encapsulated the breakout year of Spieth and the coming-of-age moment for him. It didn’t lead to a win, or even a playoff berth, but the fact he had to make a bomb and was able to do so was as impressive as anything he did during his two wins (the up-and-down at the 18th on Saturday at the Masters was a close second).
PGA Tour Player of the Year (if Jason Day does win this weekend): Jason Day
I made a case for Day stealing this award from Spieth earlier this month, and after taking some time to think about this, I really believe it should be given to Day if he takes both the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup.
Unlike the NCAA’s Most Outstanding Player Award or the always confusing Most Valuable Player, the PGA Tour’s award parameters are black and white: Which player was the best this year? And the debate between Spieth and Day is real.
Day has five wins and will likely get a sixth if he continues to strike it at the Tour Championship like he has since missing the cut at the Memorial in early June.
The idea that majors hold more weight than other events is true in the historical sense, but is it really tougher to win majors than it is to win other big Tour events in 2015? Spieth was in the field for four of Day’s five wins (skipping the Canadian Open the week after the British), and Day’s wins came over names like J.B. Holmes, Bubba Watson, Spieth and Henrik Stenson to name a few.
If we are to put weight on the playoffs (real, honest weight), we have to think of these like mini-majors, and Day has a chance to win three of the four. That would conclude the best stretch of golf we’ve seen all season and would be an incredible close to a year that saw Day win his first event in early February.
Argue all you want, but six wins, including a major, and the FedEx Cup title is impressive enough to bump Spieth for this award.
The Steph Curry Award for Breakout Season by Someone We Hoped Would Have a Breakout Season: Rickie Fowler
A year ago it was his run at the majors everyone was talking about, but finishing in the top five at big events is only satisfying to a point. Leaving a tournament with some hardware reminds these guys why they put in the work they do.
Fowler turned into a closer in ’15, with that incredible finish at The Players, followed up by a closing birdie to snag the Scottish Open and a gritty win over Henrik Stenson at the Deutsche Bank Championship.
Spieth’s season was amazing because he was trying to pull off something we never thought was possible in the modern era, and Day has been incredible because he has shown us the rare ability to master all facets of the game. But Fowler’s season shouldn’t be overlooked. He got himself in contention plenty of times in ’14, and this season, when he did, he won.
The Sergio Garcia Award for Best Performance in a Non-Major: Bubba Watson
My goodness, have you looked at the season Bubba had outside the majors? Two wins, three seconds, two thirds and an impressive year that didn’t include a single non-major over par.
Bubba Watson couldn't get it going at the majors, but that doesn't mean he had a bad season.
Watson finished in the top 25 in non-majors 11 times in 13 starts and was in the top 10 in eight of those 13, a remarkably solid year all around.
Unfortunately, the success didn’t carry over to the majors, where Watson finished T-38 at the Masters, missed the cut at both Opens and was a disappointing T-21 at the PGA Championship after making it to a playoff at Whistling Straits the last time it held the PGA.
Tournament of the Year — The Players Championship
Sorry to both the U.S. Open and the British, but nothing matched the excitement of what went down on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass
Fowler, five down with six to play, went birdie-par-birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie to land in a playoff, then made a birdie on the 17th twice to get past Garcia and Kevin Kisner.
Not only was it the best golf viewing of the year, but it will be one of the most re-watchable Players Championships ever.
Major of the Year: U.S. Open
The Masters was historic, the British Open was zany and unpredictable, and the PGA Championship was an important addition to the big three, but the U.S. Open was just the best.
The Sunday runs by Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott, the Branden Grace choo-choo shot, the “He’s going to win!” birdie on 16 followed by the “He’s going to lose!” double on 17, followed by the “Maybe he will win again!” moment on 18 by Spieth . . . and then Dustin.
Oh man. Poor Dustin.
That was really, really tough to see go down on the 18th green.
I was doing the featured holes coverage for FOX, and once the leaders came through on 15 I was out of there, rushing to catch some of the action as they came through the final two holes.
I saw the Spieth double-bogey on 17, then followed him up the fairway on 18. I saw the second shot -- standing next to some of his family members, who went absolutely bananas (as they should have) -- and as his ball got closer and closer to the flag, I wondered, with his length, can’t Dustin Johnson do this same thing?
And Dustin played the hole perfectly. Absolutely perfectly. After Spieth two-putted for his birdie on the final green, it was Johnson who had an eagle putt (AN EAGLE PUTT!!!!) to win the U.S. Open. Again, a guy . . . this year . . . had an EAGLE putt to win the U.S. Open.
He, of course, three-putted. Gah. It was tragic to see. I literally walked down the 18th fairway back to where our cart was parked with my hands on my head.
Well, I stopped and took this picture. Then I had my hands on my head. You get it.
FOX Sports’ Shane Bacon, Shane O’Donoghue, Robert Damron and Kevin Power in the 18th fairway at Chambers Bay.
That championship was the best. It really gave us everything we wanted, and it will be the major we remember in 10 years. (Can’t you see the final round being played in 2019 on “Golf’s Greatest Rounds”?).
The Michael Jordan on the Wizards Award:Tiger Woods
Much like Jordan’s last gasp in Washington, Tiger’s 2015 is something you just want to forget.
Bad golf, injuries, no wins . . . it was all around just no fun to watch for Tiger fans, Tiger haters, anyone.
Tiger will turn 40 at the end of this year (that’s such a bummer . . . go watch this video right now.) I would love to see him return at some point and turn back the clock like Jack did in 1986, but I’m not sure his body, and his brain, will allow it.
2015 Shot of the Year: Zach Johnson
Though full shots are great, this putt (check in at 1:23) ended up winning him the British Open. It was a must-make, and he smoked it.
Can I Get a Mulligan Please?! Moment: Dustin Johnson/Jordan Spieth
Considering one of these guys is most likely going to be named Player of the Year and the other is one of the best golfers in the world, it’s a bit surprising to think they had the two biggest mulligan moments of 2015.
Dustin’s came at Chambers Bay, where a three-putt ended his chances at a first major championship. I would say the mulligan would most likely be needed on that second putt, the one for birdie, that Johnson never got on line on his way to a championship-ending par.
For Spieth, it has to be his second shot into 18 during the final round of the British Open. The 18th hole at St. Andrews is a place where you basically have one place you can’t miss it on the entire hole, and that is short and left. If Spieth hits it 30 feet past the hole he will basically have the same look Zach Johnson drained in the above clip, and considering his talent with the wedge, 15 feet left of it was probably his line. Spieth simply hit a bad shot, and I guarantee if you asked him about his mulligan in ’15, it would be that wedge for a chance to set up a birdie and a four-man playoff (that par putt on the Road Hole probably isn’t far behind).
Serena Williams Upset in the Semifinals of the U.S. Open “I sure didn’t see that coming” Award: Davis Love III
His win at the Wyndham Championship was the most surprising of the season, not because he’s 51, but because he had missed four of his previous five cuts and hadn’t carded a win on the PGA Tour since 2008.
Love’s victory was then followed by Jason Day and Rickie Fowler wins. Combined, those guys are just two years older than Davis. Golf . . . what a silly, silly sport.
Rookie of the Year: Justin Thomas
Yes, Nick Taylor is the only rookie with a win, but this is Rookie of the Year, not Rookie of the Week.
Taylor didn’t card a single top-10 outside his victory, had just one other top-25 and missed 11 of 28 cuts.
Daniel Berger had a fine season as well, but no wins and a stretch of seven straight cuts before the Deutsche Bank Championship isn’t exactly what you see in an award winner, even if he followed that with two top-12s including a second-place finish behind Day last week at the BMW.
Thomas is your Rookie of the Year. He had seven top-10s, finished in the top 25 in half of his starts this season and made the cut in his last eight events, narrowly missing out on a Tour Championship berth.
I like to look at the whole picture with awards like this, and to me Thomas had the best all-around season.
The “I Just Ran to My Gate and the Plane is Still Sitting There But the Door is Closed” award: Brooks Koepka
Maybe next year, Brooks.
We all know that horrible feeling when you sprint to make your flight and just miss out on making the plane even though it’s still sitting there and hasn’t pushed back yet (my favorite is the old guy who screams at the lady there like she had anything to do with it . . . everyone at airports, just take a breath).
That was Koepka in 2015.
With a win, eight top-10s and a second straight season with a top-five in a major, Koepka looked like he had done enough to earn a Presidents Cup berth, but it just wasn’t happening considering the situation.
Call it bad luck for Koepka, who would have had to not only get past a legend like Phil Mickelson but also leapfrog Jay Haas’ son for a captain’s pick.
The “Thank goodness This Isn’t a Ryder Cup Year” Award: Team Europe
Did you know that of the 12 players on the 2014 European Tour Ryder Cup team, just two -- McIlroy with two and Justin Rose with one -- were able to get wins this season on the PGA Tour?
Shane Lowry was a winner this year, sure, but a lot of the big names who usually dominate the Ryder Cup have struggled on this side of the pond in ’15, including Martin Kaymer (no top-10s in ’15), Ian Poulter (four top-10s but none since May) and Lee Westwood (15 events played, just one top-10).
With the way the Americans have played this season, it seems like as good as chance as ever for a U.S. Ryder Cup win, but the sad reality (if you’re American) is by this time next year everybody on the other side of the pond will be playing magnificent golf and come to Hazeltine in top form. Bank it.
The “Phil Mickelson at the U.S. Open” Award for Disappointing Seconds: Kevin Kisner
Three second-place finishes, all three coming in playoffs and all coming in an eight-tournament stretch for Kisner, who has to still be happy with his season despite not picking up a win (the $3.43 million probably helps).
The When the Hell is Golf Back Again Award: 2016 season
Augusta, Oakmont, Royal Troon and Baltusrol?
Jason, Jordan, Rory and Rickie (And Hideki, and Danny, and Sang-Moon, and Brooks and Justin and Patrick and . . .)
Sorry, got carried away.
This 2015 will be a tough one to top, but I cannot wait to see how it goes down. Until then, enjoy the Tour Championship. It is set up to be pretty memorable.
Shane Bacon is a regular contributor to FOXSports.com's golf coverage. Follow him on Twitter at @shanebacon.