25 things you may not have expected in 2015

At the start of 2015, did any of us really expect that any of the following would occur......?  Sports writer Derek Clements looks back .....

1. Wentworth Golf Club announces that new members will be charged £125,000. Existing members will have to pay £100,000. And the annual fees will rise from £8,000 to £16,000. A good course it might be, but it is not that good. Nor is any other golf club

2. TaylorMade announces that titanium is no longer the future for drivers and fairway 'woods', introducing a composite range that Justin Rose claims has given him an extra 20 yards from the tee! Wether you believe the hype or not, the new M1 has certainly raised some eyebrows. 

3. Matt Fitzpatrick proved Europe has a lot more than Rory McIlroy with which to scare the rest of the world.

4. Shane Lowry wins a WGC event and grows a formidable beard.

5. Kiradech Aphibarnrat proves you can be a world-class golfer without ever going anywhere near a gymnasium or health food shop.

6. Rory McIlroy doesn't win a major.

7. Jordan Spieth wins two majors and comes up just short in two others.

8. GB&I win the Walker Cup.

9. An unknown amateur leads The Open after three rounds. We all know his name now - Paul Dunne.

10. Zach Johnson, one of the shortest hitters on tour, wins The Open.

11. Jason Day walks off the 18th green at St Andrews with tears in his eyes after finishing one stroke short of reaching the playoff.

12. Dustin Johnson completes a season without controversy - and becomes a father.

13. The US Open is played on a golf course with greens that are so bad that the USGA has to use markers to distinguish them from the fairways - and then declares the tournament a success!

14. Jason Day collapses while walking from a tee at the US Open. He is suffering from vertigo, but picks himself up, completes the round and finishes the tournament.

15. Dustin Johnson has a putt from 12 feet to win the US Open, but takes three putts and misses out to Spieth.

16. Jason Day plays brilliant golf for four days to win the US PGA championship.

17. Tiger Woods' world ranking plummets to 394 in another injury-hit season which featured a solitary top-10 finish.

18. For the first time in his career, Tiger Woods misses the cut in three successive majors.

19. Woods has more back surgery - to put right the last back surgery.

20. The R&A and USGA finally bans anchored putting, but says it is still all right to use a long putter and anchor it to your left forearm.

21. The USA win the Solheim Cup with a little help from Suzann Pettersen. Playing in a fourball match held over from Saturday, Pettersen claimed the 17th hole after Alison Lee missed a birdie putt and then picked up the ball, believing it had been conceded. It provided Juli Inkster's American team with all the motivation they required to battle back and win. Pettersen later issued an apology. Too little, too late.

22. Somebody called Andy Sullivan wins three times on the European Tour and nearly adds a fourth at the Dubai World Championship - and he spends the entire year with a smile on his face.

23. Rory McIlroy wins the Race to Dubai for the third time in four years despite playing just 12 tournaments.

24. Jordan Spieth earns $12m in prize money and a further $10m bonus for winning the FedEx Cup playoffs.

25. Rory McIlroy starts the year as world No1, but is later replaced, in turn, by Jordan Spieth and Jason Day.