The best golf quotes of 2024: Scottie Scheffler’s emotional Olympic gold medal to Bryson DeChambeau’s insane US Open win

The golf season is long, which means many of us have probably forgotten everything that happened along the way. Do you remember who won at The Sentry? Do you remember who finished second and third at that event? I bet you don’t. Here’s a refresher.

1. Chris Kirk: -29
2. Sahith Theegala: -28
3. Jordan Spieth: -27

Wait, Chris Kirk and Jordan Spieth? That feels like eight years ago — not eight months ago.

Exactly.

That’s why we’re here to look back at the 2024 PGA Tour season (and major championship), hand out some awards, and share some praise. After all, the yearbook has wrapped up with only the Presidents Cup, a few LIV Golf events, and the FedEx Cup Fall still to come for the rest of the year. So come along for the ride as we discuss the most exciting and most absurd moments of what was actually a season unlike any before it in golf history.

Starting from the top…

PGA Tour Player of the Year

Scottie Scheffler: Not close. While he hasn’t won the biggest major championship, he has been the best golfer for eight straight months. Those numbers completely dwarf what everyone else, including Xander Schauffele, has done in 2024. Here are two things to consider.

Strokes added per round from January 1

• Scottie Scheffler: 3.15
• Xander Schauffele: 2.72

Think about what that means. Schauffele won two majors and had 16 top 10s overall, but Scheffler finished nearly twice as well in each tournament. That’s incredible.

Total individual wins worldwide since January 1

• Scottie Scheffler: 8
• Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg, Russell Henley, Adam Scott, Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns, Tony Finau, Justin Thomas, Sahith Theegala, Jordan Spieth, Viktor Hovland, Jason Day, Cam Smith, Brian Harman, Cam Young , Patrick Reed, Tom Kim, Matt Fitzpatrick, Will Zalatoris, Max Homa, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka combine: 8

That’s what it feels like to be the best player of the year.

Best tournament

US Open: This one wasn’t even close. It was a great venue, a great week of golf, and one of the best finishes in recent memory. The final two hours were the most tense I’ve felt on a golf course in a long time. So many different variations of famous player legacies hung in the balance for so long, and it ended with extreme pain on one side and one of the most important hits ever.

The strangest moment

Scottie Scheffler Arrested in Valhalla: It was the strangest thing many of us have ever experienced in golf. I will never forget waking up in my Louisville hotel room, opening my computer and staring at This tweet from ESPN’s Jeff Darlington the whole time i was staring at a tweet. what a shocking, weird, crazy thing to happen to the best player in the world in a major championship.

And Scheffler might have come up with the quote of the year later that afternoon. That afternoon, after he shot a 66 in the second round of the PGA Championship, Scottie admitted that he had warmed up for his round that morning in his cell. It was a crazy day of golf.

The most joyful victory

Peter Malnati wins Valspar; Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry win Zurich Classic; Robert MacIntyre wins Scottish Open: It was a three-way tie. Malnati crying after winning a Tour event in his 30s was amazing, one of the best moments of 2024.

But Lowry and McIlroy also played and won the Zurich Classic before singing “Don’t Stop Believing” in full golf attire afterward. The two Irishmen were immersed in a life they couldn’t believe they were leading.

Not to be outdone, MacIntyre won the home open the following year, with McIlroy breaking his heart with a birdie-birdie to win the tournament. My three favourite moments of the 2024 season.

Breakout Player

Nick Dunlap: There are a lot of different paths to this award, but I can’t stop staring at the numbers: 4,121 and 35. The first is Dunlap’s ranking in the Official World Golf Ranking to start 2024. The second is his ranking eight months later. It’s an incredible leap that includes a win at the American Express as an amateur, a decision to turn pro, and another win at the Barracuda Championship as a pro. It’s a whirlwind for someone who was supposed to be finishing his sophomore year at Alabama.

The strangest ending

The 72nd hole at the Travelers Championship: What about when protesters ran onto the greens at the Travelers and play had to be stopped so the greens crew could repair the greens before three of the world’s best players teed off on the final hole of a $20 million tournament? Weird enough for you?

The best moment

Scheffler won the Olympic gold medal: There are a lot of them — I’d throw Bryson DeChambeau’s entire US Open week, any number of Scheffler wins, Chris Kirk’s emotional victory, or even Hideki Matsuyama’s final-round 62 to win the Genesis Invitational into the conversation — but one stands out. It’s Scheffler winning the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and is crumbling on the podium. I wasn’t the best golfer at the Olympics, but it was a reality Amazing moments and views into the heart of the best golfer on the planet.

best golfer

Xander Schauffele: This is where Schauffele comes into the picture. His major championship record is completely understated, as he has produced one of the greatest major championship seasons in golf history. His major year marks just the ninth time a player has finished in the top 10 at all four majors and won two of them in the Masters era. The other eight majors are held by Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth. Pretty good company for Schauffele.

It’s great for Scheffler that what Schauffele achieved doesn’t overshadow what an incredible season Scheffler had. Hopefully none of that is forgotten when we think about what happened in the 2024 golf season.