Story of the year The best, or at least what most people who love the game are hoping will be the best, has been saved for last. In the first days of December, just as the golfing world began to wind down for a festive season break, all eyes were on the Bahamas as Tiger Woods made his long-awaited return to competition. After 15 months out of the game to recover from multiple back surgeries, Woods was easing himself back into the elite arena at the Hero World Challenge. In shining lights like Jordan Spieth and Jason Day, golf has its fair share of star power already. But Woods remains on another level when it comes to bringing interest to the sport, even at 40 years of age. With 14 Majors to his keeping, golf needs Woods just as much as before.
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Issue of the year The concept of golf at the Olympic Games in Rio divided opinion among the game's leading players. Golf returned to the Olympic program for the first time since 1900, played at a purpose-built course in Rio. But not everyone jumped at the chance to have a gold medal around their neck. Most of golf's biggest names stayed well clear, citing scheduling issues, preferences to chase Majors or disappointment in the individual stroke-play format. Others, such as Jason Day, had concerns about the Zika virus, which would in the end turn out to be far less of a risk than many had predicted. But those that played in Brazil embraced the concept with vigour. Justin Rose took out the men's gold for Great Britain, while Korea's Inbee Park won the women's tournament.
Star of the year Jason Day, come on down. There was no major victory this year for the Queenslander who took a stranglehold on the world No.1 ranking to establish himself as the leading player in men's golf. Day made his move early in 2016 with brilliant back-to-back wins as he took out the Arnold Palmer Invitational, then the Dell Match Play event to surge to the top of the rankings. From there, he never relented. He won again at The Players Championship, was third at the Bridgestone Invitational and second in The PGA Championship. A back injury curtailed his end to the year and kept him away from the Australian summer, where he was awarded his second Greg Norman Medal.
World's best: Jason Day ended the year as world No.1 Photo: AP
Controversy of the year When England's Danny Willett won the Masters at Augusta, part of the attention was on his older brother Pete, a schoolteacher who kept the world entertained with his blow-by-blow comedy Twitter posts. Alas, Americans didn't find his preview column on the Ryder Cup quite so hilarious. Writing for National Club Golfer, Pete teed off at the American crowds in spectacular style in what was supposed to be a "tongue-in-cheek" portrait of the US galleries, which can be notoriously, er, patriotic, as well as a few shots at the players, who he described as "fat, stupid, greedy, classless, bastards". Europe captain Darren Clarke stayed well clear, while Danny had to go and apologise to US captain Davis Love.
Quote of the year I would apologise for the double-up but really, how could we go past this from Pete Willett's Ryder Cup piece: "Team Europe needs to shut those groupies up. They need to silence the pudgy, basement-dwelling, irritants, stuffed on cookie dough and pissy beer, pausing between mouthfuls of hotdog so they can scream 'Baba booey' until their jelly faces turn red."
Return of the king: Tiger Woods made his long overdue return to competitive golf in December. Photo: Getty Images
Round of the year There have been plenty of examples over the years of how to not close out a golf tournament. Swede Henrik Stenson was at the other end of the scale as he took out The Open Championship at Royal Troon to land his first Major. Heading into Sunday, Stenson had a one-stroke lead on American Phil Mickelson, who in turn had gapped the rest of the field by five shots. Not daunted by the five-time Major champion, Stenson caught fire to produce a stunning 63, equalling Johnny Miller's record for the lowest final round in a Major. Stenson's four-day return of 264 was the lowest of any Major.
Flop of the year It's fair to say Australians could sympathise with Jordan Spieth more than most during his staggering collapse on the back nine at Augusta. Just when it seemed a second-consecutive Green Jacket was his for the keeping, the American wonderkid went into the kind of self-destruct cycle that immediately screamed "1996 Greg Norman". Spieth had a five-stroke advantage turning for the back nine before bogies at 10 and 11. He upped the ante by finding the drink twice on 12 for a quadruple to drop back through the field. He finished runner-up to three-stroke winner Danny Willett.
Tough day out: Jordan Spieth during his US Masters meltdown. Photo: David J. Phillip
A prediction for next season So much Australian focus was on Jason Day in 2016 but 2017 will be the year Adam Scott wins another Major to go with his 2013 US Masters breakthrough. Scott had a mixed year but remains one of the best players in the game, ending it as the world No.7. Form comes and goes in golf more than most sports but class is permanent. Scott has continued to adjust to the short putter and his ball striking is as crisp as ever. He never really threatened in any of the big four in 2016 with finishes of T42 (Masters), T18 (US Open), T43 (British Open) and T18 (PGA Championship) but will be gearing his year to ensure he puts it all together at the right time.
