Best Moments - 2013 PGA Tour

Nick takes a look at some of the best moments from the PGA Tour 2013 season - analysing best player, comeback performance, best round and more.

Best player

Many will point to the fact that Tiger Woods won five tournaments on the world’s best circuit – including two WGCs and the Players Championship – but I think Henrik Stenson should get the nod. I’m not convinced someone should win the accolade if they’ve failed to fulfil their key ambition for the year. Stenson, by contrast, has gone above and beyond, and enjoyed success even he couldn’t have envisaged at the start of 2013. He won the Deutsche Bank Championship and the Tour Championship en route to securing the year-long FedEx Cup title, finished second three times and notched five other top tens. The fact he’s fought back from two potentially career-destroying lulls makes his achievements even more special.

Best breakthrough performance

Whilst there may be some contention in the best player category, there is only one viable option for best breakthrough performance. Twenty-year-old Jordan Spieth started the season with no PGA Tour status, frequently driving overnight to attend Monday qualifying events. He amassed enough money to earn a 2013 tour card after a handful of events, but that wasn’t enough for the youngster – indicative of his drive, determination and desire to be the very best. He won the John Deere Classic after coming through a play-off, became the youngest ever player to qualify for the Tour Championship and came close to victory with a stirring final-round performance. Spieth possesses tremendous ability, a maturity beyond his years and a driving ambition to be the very best. It’s for those reasons that many are predicting the brightest of futures for this immensely talented youngster. 

Best comeback performance

Again, this accolade has to be awarded to Henrik Stenson. In November 2011, the Swede dropped outside the world’s top 200 for the second time in his career. He was struggling with injuries, a severe dip in confidence, poor on-course form and the aftermath of an ill-fated investment which lost him a serious amount of money. Still, with the support of his family and a huge amount of hard work, he managed to haul himself from the abyss and break into the world’s top five. It’s a thoroughly inspirational story serving as a poignant reminder that application and dedication will eventually pay dividends. 

Best shot

There are huge numbers of viable contenders in the category, but, for me, Justin Rose deserves the accolade for his awesome approach to Merion’s 72nd hole at the US Open. After stewing in the middle of the fairway for some time, contemplating the devilishly difficult shot at hand and the enormity of the situation he found himself in, Rose hit the four-iron of his life to set up a closing par and a maiden major championship. If he’d faltered, he’d have spent the next weeks and month defending his mental strength and answering questions about his capacity to win one of golf’s biggest events. But Rose stepped up to the plate at the pivotal moment, and now looks poised to enjoy more major glory before curtains fall on his career.

Best tournament

For 71 holes, this year’s Masters was one of the least exciting majors in recent history. But in the space of 15 minutes, 2013’s first major championship was transformed from a relatively tame affair into a spellbinding contest between two of golf’s most popular characters. After a brilliant closing birdie from Adam Scott and an unprecedented display of emotion, the tournament looked to be over. But Angel Cabrera had other ideas. He stiffed his approach to the same hole to force an unlikely play-off, an encounter that encapsulated all that is good about this great game: immense skill and fierce competition underpinned by sportsmanship and respect. Scott would eventually prevail, and despite Cabrera’s obvious disappointment, you sensed even a small part of him was pleased for the Australian.

Best golf course

Obviously the likes of Pebble Beach and Torrey Pines are some of the best golf courses in the world, but I thought this year’s US Open host venue, Merion, was an absolutely terrific test of golf. Before the start of the tournament, everyone was talking about how the short, traditional layout would be a walk in the park for the world’s best, especially with the inclement weather conditions softening up the course. As it transpired, nothing could have been further from the truth. Merion’s East Course was a beautifully contoured and conditioned old-style golf course with a terrific feel and some exceptional holes. The USGA also deserves huge credit for taking the championship to a course like Merion, and for placing the quality of the tournament on a higher pedestal than economic gain.   

Best hole

In today’s day and age, most par 4s around the 300-yard mark are viewed as obligatory birdie holes by all the professionals in the field. But the 10th hole at Riviera Country Club, host of the Northern Trust Open, defies this rule. It often plays under 300 yards, and most of the field can reach the green with a 3-wood, but it consistently produces bogies and often plays over its par. The perched green - surrounded by bunkers – is only 25 feet deep in some places and slopes significantly from back to front. Eagles are possible when the pin is positioned front left, but on championship Sunday, when the flag sits in the narrowest strip between two deep bunkers, bogeys are more common than birdies. It’s tremendously exciting and an example that shrewd course design can nullify comparative lack of length.

Best round

Tiger Woods’ 61 at the Bridgestone Invitational, Phil Mickelson’s 60 at the Phoenix Open and Justin Rose’s final round at the US Open are all contenders, but the award has to go to Jim Furyk, who fired a 59 at the BMW Championship. Starting on the 10th at Conway Farms, he played his first six holes in six-under-par and turned in a record-equalling 28. He birdied two, three and four to reach 11 under, but a bogey at five left him needing two birdies in four holes. He made a three at the par-4 7th and fired his approach at the last to three feet, casually tapping in to record the sixth 59 in PGA Tour history.

Best international player

It’s been an outstanding season for Adam Scott, who deserves so much praise for his Masters triumph. The Australian also won the first FedEx Cup play-off event, the Barclays, and started the Tour Championship inside the top five in the year-long standings. This season, he finished sixth on the Money List, ranked fifth in Scoring Average and 10th in the All-Around Ranking. Scott also made 16 of 16 cuts and finished inside the top 25 on 10 occasions.

Best celebration

Again, it’s hard to look past Adam Scott. His celebration on the 72nd green at Augusta National, after holing a 25-footer for a closing birdie, was a moment of unabridged joy and sheer elation. Scott is normally a reserved character on the golf course, but the sheer enormity and emotional significance of the situation facilitated one of the most heart-warming images of the season. The Australian fist pumped, screamed and hugged with such vigour and passion, clearly thinking he’d done enough to win a maiden major. So much money is at stake in professional sport, but Scott’s euphoria helped reinforce that, for the top professionals, success and fulfilment of career goals is always more important than remunerative gain.

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