2009 in golf

This article summarizes the highlights of professional and amateur golf in the year 2009.

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.

• 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.
• ¥
  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^[1]
  • 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

• 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
  European Tour.^[2]
• 8 September: 17-year-old Japanese golfer
  Official World Golf Rankings
  .
• 27 November:
  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.

LPGA majors

• 2–5 April: Kraft Nabisco Championship - American Brittany Lincicome won her third LPGA tournament and first major after scoring an eagle on the last hole.
• 11–14 June:
  LPGA Championship - Swedish rookie Anna Nordqvist won her first major and first LPGA tournament by four strokes over Lindsey Wright
  .
• 9–12 July:
  Eun-Hee Ji a one-shot win over Candie Kung
  for her first major and second LPGA tournament title.
• 30 July-2 August: Ricoh Women's British Open - Catriona Matthew became the first Scottish woman to win a major, competing 11 weeks after giving birth to her second child.

Ladies European Tour major (in addition to the Women's British Open)

• 23–26 July: Evian Masters - Japan's Ai Miyazato defeated Sweden's Sophie Gustafson on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff for her first LPGA Tour win.

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

Additional LPGA Tour events

• 17–20 September:
  Na Yeon Choi won her first LPGA Tour title by one shot over Ai Miyazato
  of Japan.
• 19–23 November: LPGA Tour Championship - Rookie Anna Nordqvist won the rain-shortened championship, her second win of the 2009 season.

For a complete list of LPGA Tour results see

LPGA Tour

.

Team events

• 21–23 August: Solheim Cup - Team USA won the Cup for the third straight meeting with a 16–12 victory over Team Europe.

Money list leaders

• LPGA Tour – Jiyai Shin ($
  1,807,334)
• Ladies European Tour – Sophie Gustafson (€281,315)
• Duramed Futures Tour – Mina Harigae ($
  88,386)
• Hee Kyung Seo (₩
  663,759,286)
• LPGA of Japan Tour – Sakura Yokomine (¥175,016,384)
• Ladies Asian Golf Tour – Bo-Mi Suh ($48,500)
• Katherine Hull (A$
  125,980)

Awards

• LPGA Tour Player of the Year – Lorena Ochoa
  claimed the title for the fourth consecutive year
• LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year – Jiyai Shin won over second-place finisher Anna Nordqvist
• LPGA Tour
  Vare Trophy – Lorena Ochoa
  won the title with a scoring average of 70.16.
• LET Player of the Year – Catriona Matthew
• LET Rookie of the Year – Anna Nordqvist
  clinched the title while playing only six events on the tour.

Other happenings

• 13 July: LPGA commissioner
  Marsha Evans was named interim commissioner while a search was undertaken for a permanent replacement.^[3]
• 28 October: The LPGA Tour announced that Michael Whan had been hired as its new commissioner.^[4]
• 18 November: The LPGA announced that the 2010
  LPGA Championship will be sponsored by Wegmans in Rochester, New York, in place of that city's annual Wegmans LPGA tour stop. The LPGA Championship used to be sponsored by McDonald's
  and took place in eastern Maryland.

Senior men's professional golf

Senior majors

• 21–24 May:
  Champions Tour event, Michael Allen won by two shots over Larry Mize, becoming the first player since Jack Nicklaus
  in 1990 to win a major in his Champions Tour debut.
• 23–26 July:
  Senior British Open - American Loren Roberts won his second Senior British Open and fourth senior major in a playoff with Fred Funk and Mark McNulty
  .
• 30 July-2 August: U.S. Senior Open - American Fred Funk won his second senior major by six strokes over Joey Sindelar.
• 20–23 August: JELD-WEN Tradition - American Mike Reid won his second senior major in a playoff with John Cook.
• 1–4 October: Senior Players Championship - American Jay Haas won his third senior major, shooting six-under 64 in the final round to chase down Tom Watson by one shot.

Full results

• 2009 Champions Tour
• 2009 European Senior Tour

Money list leaders

• Champions Tour - German Bernhard Langer topped the money list for the second straight year with earnings of $
  2,139,451.
• European Senior Tour - Scotsman Sam Torrance topped the Order of Merit with earnings of €170,696.

Amateur golf

• 19–22 May:
  NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships - Arizona State won its seventh team championship. María Hernández of Purdue
  won the individual title.
• 27–30 May:
  NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships - Texas A&M won its first team championship. Arkansas finished strong, coming in as a runner-up. Matt Hill of North Carolina State
  won the individual title.
• 14–20 June: The Amateur Championship - Sixteen-year-old Matteo Manassero of Italy became the youngest person and first Italian ever to win the event.
• 3–9 August:
  U.S. Women's Amateur - Korean-American Jennifer Song defeated American Jennifer Johnson
  3 & 1.
• 24–30 August:
  U.S. Amateur - Seventeen-year-old Korean An Byeong-hun
  became the youngest person and first from his country to win the event.
• 12–13 September: Walker Cup - Team USA won the Cup for the third straight time, defeating Team Great Britain & Ireland 16½–9½.

World Golf Hall of Fame inductees

• Dwight D. Eisenhower (Lifetime Achievement)
• Christy O'Connor Snr (Veterans)
• José María Olazábal (International)
• Lanny Wadkins (PGA Tour)

Table of results

This table summarizes all the results referred to above in date order.

Dates	Tournament	Status or tour	Winner
26 Feb-1 Mar	WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship	World Golf Championships	Geoff Ogilvy
12-15 Mar	WGC-CA Championship	World Golf Championships	Phil Mickelson
2-5 Apr	Kraft Nabisco Championship	LPGA major	Brittany Lincicome
9-12 Apr	The Masters	Men's major	Ángel Cabrera
7–10 May	The Players Championship	PGA Tour	Henrik Stenson
19–22 May	NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships	U.S. college championship	Arizona St. / María Hernández
21–24 May	BMW PGA Championship	European Tour	Paul Casey
21–24 May	Senior PGA Championship	Senior major	Michael Allen
27–30 May	NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships	U.S. college championship	Texas A&M / Matt Hill
11-14 Jun	LPGA Championship	LPGA major	Anna Nordqvist
14-20 Jun	The Amateur Championship	Amateur men's individual tournament	Matteo Manassero
18-21 Jun	U.S. Open	Men's major	Lucas Glover
9-12 Jul	U.S. Women's Open	LPGA major	Eun-Hee Ji
16-19 Jul	The Open Championship	Men's major	Stewart Cink
23-26 Jul	Evian Masters	Ladies European Tour major and LPGA Tour regular event	Ai Miyazato
23-26 Jul	Senior British Open	Senior major	Loren Roberts
30 Jul-2 Aug	Women's British Open	LPGA and Ladies European Tour major	Catriona Matthew
30 Jul-2 Aug	U.S. Senior Open	Senior major	Fred Funk
3-9 Aug	U.S. Women's Amateur	Amateur women's individual tournament	Jennifer Song
6-9 Aug	WGC-Bridgestone Invitational	World Golf Championships	Tiger Woods
13-16 Aug	PGA Championship	Men's major	Y.E. Yang
20-23 Aug	JELD-WEN Tradition	Senior major	Mike Reid
21-23 Aug	Solheim Cup	United States v Europe women's professional team event	Team USA
24-30 Aug	U.S. Amateur	Amateur men's individual tournament	An Byeong-hun
27-30 Aug	The Barclays	PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoff	Heath Slocum
4-7 Sep	Deutsche Bank Championship	PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoff	Steve Stricker
10-13 Sep	BMW Championship	PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoff	Tiger Woods
12-13 Sep	Walker Cup	Great Britain & Ireland v United States men's amateur team event	Team USA
17-20 Sep	Samsung World Championship	LPGA Tour	Na Yeon Choi
24-27 Sep	The Tour Championship	PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoff	Phil Mickelson
24-27 Sep	Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros	Great Britain & Ireland v Europe men's professional team event	Team Great Britain & Ireland
1-4 Oct	Senior Players Championship	Senior major	Jay Haas
8-11 Oct	Presidents Cup	USA v International men's professional team event	U.S. Team
3-6 Nov	WGC-HSBC Champions	World Golf Championships	Phil Mickelson
19-22 Nov	Dubai World Championship	European Tour	Lee Westwood
19-23 Nov	LPGA Tour Championship	LPGA Tour	Anna Nordqvist

The following biennial events will next be played in 2010: Ryder Cup, Curtis Cup, Espirito Santo Trophy.

References

1. ^ No comeback player of year in '09
2. ^ "Dream Win for a Dazzling Danny". Asian Tour. 2009-02-22. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
3. ^ Bivens resigns post after four years as LPGA commissioner
4. ^ LPGA Tour names Whan commissioner