The 2016 PGA Tour season is in the books with the schedule officially wrapping up with the United States beating the European team at the Ryder Cup. It was a memorable season for many different reasons including most importantly some surprise performances that the majority of golfing enthusiasts didn’t even see coming including a handful of first-time winners on the biggest stages. Here is a look at the four most surprising PGA golfers for 2016.
Dustin Johnson
The fact that Johnson finished in the top-10 in 15 of his 22 starts this season is a testament to his consistency and status as one of the top golfers in the world. Perhaps most surprising is the fact that Johnson managed to finish three of those tournaments with victories, including his U.S. Open win. The biggest knock on Johnson had been his inability to close but he delivered on the big stage this season with a win at Oakmont before adding victories at both the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and the BMW Championship. In a year in which he earned more than $9 million, Johnson’s dominance and ability to close was among the biggest surprises.
Jimmy Walker
Walker posted five top-10 finishes in 25 starts this season and absolutely stunned the golf world with his win at the PGA Championship. Walker had missed the cut at both the US Open and the Open Championship leading up to the PGA Championship and that made his win at Baltusrol that much more surprising. Walker might not have dominated the way that Johnson did throughout the season but the fact that he celebrated a major victory for his first-career win is testament to how big of a surprise he delivered in 2016.
Danny Willett
No golfer provided a bigger surprise than Willett at this year’s Masters, where he emerged as a considerable long shot to stun the field in one of the stories of the season. Willett won his first major in style and earned his green jacket with one of only three top-10 finishes this season. Willett didn’t dominate from start to finish by any means and he certainly had his share of struggles throughout the year, but his Masters victory alone was enough to earn him a spot on this list. On the whole, he really started well and then tapered off. He had back-to-back third-place results at the World Golf Championships (HSBC) and the World Golf Championships (Cadillac). Then he placed 22nd in the Valspar Championship and World Golf Championship-Dell Match Play before winning The Masters. That was the high point, though, as he didn’t finish better than 37th the rest of the way – including the U.S. Open and British Open.
Jordan Spieth
Johnson earned a spot on this list with his dominance while Walker and Willett did it with impact wins at major tournaments. Speith, on the other hand, made this list for all of the wrong reasons.
Coming off an incredible 2015, expectations were high for the world No. 1 at the start of the season and he turned out to be a major disappointment. Spieth did record two wins but he failed to finish in the top-10 at three of the four majors and his overall performance on the biggest stages was a major letdown. Taking a look at his trajectory, it really declined as the season progressed. Spieth placed in a tie for seventh at the World Golf Championships (HSBC) last November, then he placed fourth in the Hero World Challenge and won the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Those were his first three starts last season. While he ended the season with five straight results of 21st or better, he had a lot of shaky outings in between. He was cut at THE PLAYERS Championship and the Northern Trust Open. He finished 57th at The Memorial and 37th at the U.S. Open. He was 13th at the PGA Championship and 30th at the British Open. He just wasn’t very consistent.
Spieth is still one of the most talented golfers in the world and that is what made his disappointing season that much more of a surprise in 2016.
