Claire Rogers
We’re thankful for these 2024 golf moments.
PGA Tour, Getty Images, Claire Rogers
Hello friends, and welcome to the Thanksgiving week edition of the Rogers Report! I’m going to be doing things a little differently here today. Instead of taking you all through the best golf and golf-ish moments from the last week, I’m taking a look back on the best moments of the golf YEAR.
And speaking of golf moments, my coworkers (and more importantly, pals) and I’ll be talking ALL about those on GOLF’s revamped “Drop Zone” podcast. Make sure to check that out wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Ok, so here’s how this write-up is going to work. I took a handful of superlatives and awarded one or two golf moments to each from 2024. All of these — the sweet, the hilarious and the utterly ridiculous— earned a superlative because of their entertainment value. Enjoy.
The wholesome
There’s something special about golfers and their dads. Probably because fathers are usually the ones who introduce the game to their kids, and definitely because parents are the biggest cheerleaders. So excuse me for getting teary when Bob MacIntyre earned his first PGA Tour win the same week he welcomed his father as his caddie. Talk about a dream come true.
So happy for Bob MacIntyre.
All year he’d been struggling and desperately missing home, so he brought home to him.
Brought his mom to the PGA for some home cooking. Contended there.
Then had his dad caddie at the Canadian Open — and went ahead and won the whole damn thing.
— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) June 2, 2024
Back home in Scotland ❤️
Thanks to my family & friends who have supported me from the beginning and sacrificed so much. My team for putting up with me, fans home and abroad and my sponsors for believing in me. To win my first @pgatour event alongside my Dad will be hard to beat pic.twitter.com/sF4qiNWUpm— Robert MacIntyre (@robert1lefty) June 5, 2024
Stories like this one make me believe there actually is magic in this game, and remind me how lucky I am to cover golf for a living. If I had to pick a favorite story from this year (even though I try my very hardest not to pick favorites here at the Rogers Report), it would be this one.
The ridiculous
Bryson DeChambeau (A.K.A. the content king) could have a whole column dedicated to him, but I’ve decided to award him just one superlative this year. Those are the rules! It wasn’t easy to choose just one moment from DeChambeau. I thought about the golf lesson he gave Johnson Wagner on air after winning the U.S. Open, his new series where he hits wedges over his house in an effort to make an ace and, of course, when he tried out three different driver heads on the range seconds before teeing off in the final group at the U.S. Open. But in the end, one moment perfectly captures Bryson above all others.
After hitting into the trees, Bryson DeChambeau pulled a Masters direction sign out of the ground and moved it, so his second would not hit it along the 13th fairway. Rules officials said no and it was replaced. DeChambeau made birdie on 13th to go -8 pic.twitter.com/qOkaq49bMz
— Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) April 12, 2024
The content king creating a harmless ruckus at Augusta National is as on-brand as it gets for the 2024 U.S. Open champion. He’s in his Crushers gear, he’s showing off his gym gains by lifting up that big sign, and he looks like absolutely nothing out of the ordinary is happening. It’s beautiful, and it’s the perfect DeChambeau moment.
“And Bryson stood before the green jackets: and the green jackets asked him, saying, Art thou the King of Crushers GC?” – Matthew 27:11 pic.twitter.com/1KpKmUd3S0
— claire rogers (@kclairerogers) April 12, 2024
Honorable mention
I would be remiss not to mention Matt Kuchar’s stunt on the 18th fairway at the Wyndham Championship under this superlative. DeChambeau took the cake here for obvious reasons, including the fact that his sign carry was harmless. The Kuchar thing was both utterly ridiculous and confusingly weird, but it did make for social media gold.
I mean, it’s not every day you have a forced Monday finish for someone in 12th place.
The funniest
Tyrrell Hatton might not know it, but he is the funniest professional golfer alive. I say this even though I’ve had very few interactions with the guy. His temper on the golf course turns heads in the wrong way at times, but some of his moments are straight-up hilarious. Exhibit A: when he was playing so poorly at the Open Championship in July that he decided to carry his own bag.
Why did Tyrrell Hatton carry his own bag down the 12th fairway at The Open?
“After that tee shot on 11, this is what I deserve,” he told on-course reporter Curt Byrum. pic.twitter.com/CR6feBMric
— Josh Berhow (@Josh_Berhow) July 19, 2024
This is something you might expect to see at your local club championship. But a major? Unheard of! Hatton simply does not care, and that’s what makes him so funny.
The runner-up award here also goes to Hatton, who left himself a relatable reminder on his golf glove a few weeks ago.
The sweetest
There is one day per year on the golf calendar that is completely perfect in every way: Wednesday at the Masters. The practice rounds are winding down and the preparation is done. It’s the eve of major season and you can feel the excitement in the early spring air.
And, most importantly, it’s the Masters Par-3 Contest.
As incredible as Masters tournament days are, Wednesday will always be my favorite day at Augusta National. There’s nothing like players relaxing with their families for some Par-3 Contest fun, and it’s by far the sweetest day of the year.
I’m not really sure how all professional golfers have such well-behaved kids, because my siblings and I would probably have been bickering on live television if we were in the spotlight. There would be at least one meltdown per hole, and someone probably would have stormed off in anger. But not the children of professional golfers. They bring their A-game to this contest every year.
I cannot in good faith award the sweetest moment to one golf family here, so I’m declaring that the whole day wins. Maya Fowler, Sammy Spieth, Iris Lowry, Frankie Fleetwood and Dakota Watson: Congratulations! You melted the cold hearts of overworked adults everywhere for a brief moment in April.
JT and Jordan this! Cantlay and Schauffele that!
Let’s talk about the real best friendship in golf: Iris Lowry and Frankie Fleetwood pic.twitter.com/xlkFpBSxRJ
— claire rogers (@kclairerogers) April 10, 2024
I’m already looking forward to the sweetest golf day of 2025.
The random off-course moment
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry had the best random off-course moment of 2024 when they (I’m using the term “they” loosely here, because McIlroy did 95 percent of the performance) joined forces and sang “Don’t Stop Believin’” after their win at the Zurich Classic.
This was, hands down, the most random and unexpected golf moment of the year for me. Nothing prepares you to open Twitter expecting to see a buttoned-up post-round press conference, and instead find professional golfers doing … well, this.
This reminds me that I really need to get the backstory here. How on earth was McIlroy convinced to do this? Why was there a karaoke party going on at the Zurich Classic? Can this please happen at more events? Should other sports begin to incorporate a karaoke session into their award ceremony?
The personal
I wanted to reflect on some of my favorite golf moments from 2024, and two immediately came to mind. First was the Solheim Cup. The whole week was unlike any other golf experience I’ve had. It was intense. It was so fun. And most importantly, it was filled with golf fans of all ages. My favorite moment of the week was watching Nelly Korda and Charley Hull arrive on the first tee to kick off Sunday Singles matches. The energy was insane as two of the most popular golfers on the planet made their way to the tee. I remember being so excited for that match. I’d relive this day in a heartbeat!
My other favorite memory from the 2024 golf season was the day I spent at the Masters with my dad and my sister Ellen. We had such a blast, and golf has played such a big role in our relationship that it felt like a full-circle moment at the most special course in the world.
The year isn’t over yet, and I’m fully expecting a handful of memorable moments at the Grant Thornton Invitational and the PNC Championship. As always, I’ll make sure to let you all know about them here.
Claire Rogers
Golf.com Editor
