Tiger's grueling Masters day, Lydia Ko's Olympic triple, Wyndham Clark's 60 at Pebble and 11 other underrated feats in 2024

Scottie Scheffler won everything. So did Nelly Korda. Bryson DeChambeau turned around his public perception, and the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund … well, the schism is still ongoing, yet there is hope the end may be approaching. While these stories dominated golf’s headlines in 2024, there was plenty that went under the radar that are worth a mention before we turn the calendar to 2025. Here are 14 underappreciated moments from the past year in golf.

Tiger Woods makes cut at Masters

Colin Montgomerie pointed out the uncomfortable truth this summer that it might be time for Tiger to hang it up. But despite his body betraying him, Woods made it through a 23-hole marathon Friday at Augusta National, surviving windy conditions with a second-round 72 to reach the weekend. It was his 24th consecutive made cut at the Masters, besting the previous mark of 23 shared by Gary Player and Fred Couples. Yes, it’s a limited field, but a quick glance at the notables who missed this year’s Masters cut—Viktor Hovland, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Wyndham Clark—underlines just how hard it is to reach the weekend, let alone do it for a quarter century.

Lydia Ko’s Olympic record

After one of her worst seasons as a professional Lydia Ko responded with vigor in 2024, winning four times—highlighted by grabbing her third major at the AIG Women’s Open at the Old Course. However, two weeks before her triumph at St. Andrews, Ko won the gold at the Olympics, a feat in itself, and one that now gives her a gold, silver and bronze medal in the three competitions since golf returned to the Summer Games.

Scottie Scheffler's 66 after arrest

Scheffler’s shocking arrest in the Valhalla parking lot ahead of Friday's second round of the PGA Championship merits consideration for story of the year. What that overshadowed is Scheffler’s performance when he returned to the course later that morning. Despite a limited warm-up—which included stretching in his jail cell—Scheffler turned in a five-under 66, which kept him in contention heading into the weekend.

Xander Schauffele's cut streak

Schauffele earned his breakthrough major win at the PGA Championship and proved it was no aberration by capturing the claret jug two months later at Royal Troon. What you might have missed was Schauffele making every single cut in 21 starts this year to extend his streak to 55 made weekends. He still has a ways to go to catch Woods’ record of 142 straight made cuts, yet anytime your mentioned with Tiger you’re doing something right.

Ayaka Furue’s scoring mark

Nelly Korda was the story of the year in women’s golf, with Ko’s comeback and Lexi Thompson’s farewell not far behind. Somewhat lost was the production of Furue, who won a major (Amundi Evian Championship) and captured the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average on the LPGA.

Wyndham Clark's 60 at Pebble

The course was soft and preferred lies were in play. He won the tournament after it was called after 54 holes. Still, a 60 at Pebble Beach is a 60 at Pebble Beach. Besides, Clark’s performance wasn’t based on sticking approaches to tap-in range, draining 190 feet of putts during his record-breaking third round.

Matt McCarty’s hot streak

McCarty did one of the hardest things in golf by winning three times in a six-tournament stretch (with a runner-up thrown in as well) on the Korn Ferry Tour this year, earning the rare “battlefield promotion” to the PGA Tour. McCarty kept the momentum going in the big leagues, winning in his third career PGA Tour start to earn a spot in the Masters next spring.

Joe Highsmith’s holes-in-one

The PGA Tour rookie made history off an ace at the par-3 12th at Sedgefield Country Club during the Wyndham Championship, as it was his third hole-in-one of the season. If that sounds remarkable, it is: Dating back to the tour’s modern record-keeping in 1983, no one had pulled off a trio of aces in a single PGA Tour campaign. Highsmith previously made holes-in-one at the year’s Rocket Mortgage Classic (fifth hole, second round at Detroit Golf Club) and The American Express (13th hole, second round at PGA West’s Stadium Course).

Jason Gore’s kind gesture

In the days after Grayson Murray's death in May, Gore attended a memorial service in Raleigh, N.C. There, Gore met Grayson Murray’s former caddie Jay Green. Later that day Green received a message. “I texted him and I was like, 'How much clothes did you bring?' And he was like, 'For what?'" Gore says in an Instagram video shared by the tour. "And I'm like, 'Do you want to caddie in the Champions Tour event this week?' And he goes, 'For who?' And I said, 'For me, dummy.'"

"I was, like, 'Yes, that's exactly what I needed," Green said. "So, just looking for some normalcy, get back to work. And I think it's exactly what Grayson would want."

Springer and Young go low

Yes, shooting 59 isn’t what it once was … but it’s still something. That’s what Hayden Springer and Cam Young accomplished this summer. First, Young at the Travelers Championship, followed by Springer at the John Deere Classic.

Robert MacIntyre’s family win

His victory in his native Scotland weeks later is what will resonate through history, yet MacIntyre’s first win on tour came at the RBC Canadian Open with his father on the bag, leading to this beautiful exchange on the 18th green: "I'm a grass-cutter," said Dougie MacIntyre. "Not a caddie. Honestly, it's unbelievable. Last Saturday I thought, 'Can I leave my job?' 8 o'clock the next morning I'm on a flight here. Wow."

Sergio Garcia wins for first time in four years

Sergio has mostly been in the news for his fights against the DP World Tour and PGA Tour thanks to his defection to LIV Golf. However, Garcia did do something notable inside the ropes, winning at Valderrama for his inaugural LIV win.

Luke Clanton’s run

Nick Dunlap became the first amateur in more than 30 years to win on the PGA Tour and followed it up later in the summer with a win at the Barracuda Championship … and yet Clanton arguably had the better year. The 21-year-old Florida State Seminole made eight PGA Tour starts in 2024, made the cut seven times, finished in the top 10 four times and came in second twice.

Coughlin and Zhang carry USA

Transportation issues were the big story at the Solheim Cup, yet the Americans won for the first time since 2017 thanks to the efforts of Lauren Coughlin (3-0-1) and Rose Zhang (4-0-0) at Robert Trent Jones G.C. in Virginia.