This article summarizes the highlights of professional and amateur golf in the year 2009.

Men's professional golf

The Masters The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major golf championships, men's major championships in Professional golf tours, professional golf. Schedul ...

- Argentina's Ángel Cabrera won his second major in a sudden death playoff over

Kenny Perry James Kenneth Perry (born August 10, 1960) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He won 14 PGA Tour events and has won nine PGA Tour Champions events including four senior major championships: the 2 ...

(second hole) and Chad Campbell (eliminated on first playoff hole). *18–22 June: U.S. Open - In a tournament plagued by rain, causing most of the final round to be played on Monday, American Lucas Glover won his first major by two shots over fellow Americans Ricky Barnes, David Duval, and

Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) is an American professional golfer who currently plays in the LIV Golf League. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six Men's major golf championships, major championships: three Masters ...

. *16–19 July:

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

- In a return to Turnberry, the site of one of his legendary 1977 win, 59-year-old Tom Watson led for much of the tournament before losing to fellow-American Stewart Cink in a four hole playoff.

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

missed the cut — his second missed cut in a major as a professional. *13–16 August:

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

n Y.E. Yang became the first Asian-born player to win a men's major championship, winning by three shots over Tiger Woods. This marked the first time that Woods failed to win a major after holding the third-round lead.

World Golf Championships The World Golf Championships (WGC) were a group of annual professional golf tournaments played from 1999 through 2023 created by the International Federation of PGA Tours as a means of gathering the best players in the world together more freque ...

*26 February-1 March: WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship - Australian Geoff Ogilvy defeated

Paul Casey Paul Alexander Casey (born 21 July 1977) is an English golfer who is a member of LIV Golf. He has also played on the US-based PGA Tour and the European Tour. In 2009, he achieved his highest position, third, in the Official World Golf Rankin ...

of England 4&3 *12–15 March WGC-CA Championship -

from the USA won at -19, one stroke ahead of fellow American Nick Watney. *6–9 August: WGC-Bridgestone Invitational - American

won his 7th Bridgestone Invitational and 16th WGC. *3–6 November:

WGC-HSBC Champions The WGC-HSBC Champions was a professional golf tournament, held annually in China. Inaugurated in 2005, the first seven editions were played at the Sheshan Golf Club in Shanghai, then moved to the Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen for a sin ...

won the HSBC Champions for the second time and his second WGC of the year.

FedEx Cup The FedEx Cup is the championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction in 2007 marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Since its inception, the competition has been sponsored by FedEx. In 2022, the PGA Tour ...

playoff events - see 2009 FedEx Cup Playoffs *27–30 August: The Barclays - American Heath Slocum, who barely qualified for the playoffs, sank a 20-foot (6 m) par putt on the final hole to secure a one-shot win over a distinguished group made up of Ernie Els,

Pádraig Harrington Pádraig Peter Harrington (born 31 August 1971) is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has won three men's major golf championships, major championships: The Open Championship in 2 ...

Steve Stricker Steven Charles Stricker (born February 23, 1967) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has twelve victories on the PGA Tour, including the WGC-Match Play title in 2001 WGC-Accenture Match Pla ...

, and

. *4–7 September: Deutsche Bank Championship - American

won for the third time this season, edging out countrymen Jason Dufner and Scott Verplank by one shot. *10–13 September: BMW Championship -

won for the sixth time this season. He won by eight strokes to take the lead in the points standings into The Tour Championship. *24–27 September: The Tour Championship -

won by three shots over

, whose second-place finish gave him the FedEx Cup. Other leading PGA Tour events *7–10 May:

The Players Championship The Players Championship (commonly known as simply The Players, stylized by the PGA Tour as THE PLAYERS Championship) is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour. Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, it began in 1974. The ...

- Henrik Stenson from Sweden won at -12, four strokes ahead of

Ian Poulter Ian James Poulter (born 10 January 1976) is an English professional golfer who plays in the LIV Golf League. He has previously been ranked as high as number 5 in the world rankings. The highlights of Poulter's career to date have been his two ...

. ''For a complete list of PGA Tour results see 2009 PGA Tour.'' Other Leading European Tour events *21–24 May:

BMW PGA Championship The BMW PGA Championship is an annual men's professional golf tournament on the European Tour. It was founded in 1955 by the Professional Golfers' Association (Great Britain & Ireland), Professional Golfers' Association, and originally called the ...

birdied the final two holes to capture his third win of the year and move into third place in the world rankings. *19–22 November: Dubai World Championship -

Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood (born 24 April 1973) is an English professional golfer. He is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on five continents – Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania – including victories on the European Tour an ...

won the inaugural contest, setting a course record of 64 in the final round to win by six strokes. ''For a complete list of European Tour results see 2009 European Tour.'' Team events *24–27 September: Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros - Team Great Britain & Ireland defeated Team Continental Europe 16½–11½. This was the fifth consecutive win for Team GB&I. *8–11 October:

Presidents Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...

- The U.S. Team defeated the International Team 19½–14½. This was the Americans' third consecutive win. Tour leaders *

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

( $10,508,163) ** Woods also earned a $10 million bonus ($9 million up front and $1 million deferred) for winning the FedEx Cup points race. *

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

(

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

4,237,762) ** This total includes the bonus of US$1.5 million (€996,810) earned for winning the Race to Dubai. *

Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour () is a prominent professional golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006, it offered the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after the PGA Tour and the ...

- Ryo Ishikawa ( ¥183,524,051) *

Asian Tour The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf professional golf tours, tour in Asia except for Japan (which has its own Japan Golf Tour). It is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on ...

Thongchai Jaidee Thongchai Jaidee (; , born 8 November 1969) is a Thai professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He formerly played on the Asian Tour and the European Tour. On the Asian Tour, he holds the record for the most career earnings and is s ...

( $981,932) *

PGA Tour of Australasia The PGA Tour of Australasia, currently titled as the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tour for men, owned and operated by the PGA of Australia. Official events on the tour count for World Golf ...

- Michael Sim ( A$315,087.66) *

Sunshine Tour The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tour based in Southern and East Africa. For much of its early history it was known either as the Southern Africa Tour or Sunshine Circuit; through sponsorship deals, it has also been known as the F ...

- Anders Hansen ( R4,286,038.20) *

OneAsia Tour The OneAsia Tour was a men's professional golf tour based in the Asia-Pacific region. The tour was founded in 2009 as a joint venture between the PGA Tour of Australasia, the China Golf Association, the Korean Golf Association and the Korean P ...

– Scott Strange ( $505,783.76) Awards *

–

** PGA Player of the Year -

** Player of the Year (Jack Nicklaus Trophy) -

** Leading money winner (Arnold Palmer Award) -

** Vardon Trophy -

** Byron Nelson Award -

** Rookie of the Year - Marc Leishman **Comeback Player of the Year - Not awardedNo comeback player of year in '09
/ref> ** Payne Stewart Award -

**Player of the Year -

**Rookie of the Year - Chris Wood * Champions Tour ** Charles Schwab Cup – Loren Roberts ** Player of the Year - Bernhard Langer ** Rookie of the Year - Russ Cochran ** Comeback Player of the Year - ** Leading money winner (Arnold Palmer Award) - Bernhard Langer ( $2,139,451) *

Nationwide Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. ...

** Leading money winner - Michael Sim ( $644,142) ** Player of the Year - Michael Sim Other tour results * 2009 Asian Tour * 2009 PGA Tour of Australasia * 2009 Canadian Tour *

2009 Challenge Tour The 2009 Challenge Tour was the 21st season of the Challenge Tour, the official development tour to the European Tour. Schedule The following table lists official events during the 2009 season. Rankings The rankings were based on prize mo ...

* 2009 Japan Golf Tour * 2009 Nationwide Tour * 2009 Sunshine Tour * 2009 Tour de las Américas Other happenings * 22 February: 18-year-old New Zealander Danny Lee became the second amateur golfer to win a

event, at the Johnnie Walker Classic. Lee also became the youngest ever winner on the

. * 8 September: 17-year-old Japanese golfer Ryo Ishikawa beat

Rory McIlroy Rory Daniel McIlroy (born 4 May 1989) is a Northern Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He is a former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking and has spent over 100 weeks in that position du ...

's record as the youngest ever golfer to reach the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings. * 27 November:

was involved in an early morning car accident close to his Orlando, Florida home. A media storm subsequently developed around the circumstances of the accident and newspaper allegations that Woods had been having an extra-marital affair. Woods pulled out of his Chevron World Challenge tournament and admitted to 'transgressions' and apologised for letting his family down. Subsequently, after multiple women came forward alleging to have had affairs with Woods, he announced on 11 December that he would be taking an indefinite leave from competitive golf, and admitted to marital infidelity.

Women's professional golf

LPGA majors *2–5 April: Kraft Nabisco Championship - American Brittany Lincicome won her third LPGA tournament and first major after scoring an eagle on the last hole. *11–14 June:

LPGA Championship The Women's PGA Championship (branded as the KPMG Women's PGA Championship for sponsorship reasons) is a women's professional golf tournament. First held in 1955, it is one of five majors on the LPGA Tour. It is not recognized as a major by the ...

- Swedish rookie

Anna Nordqvist --> , death_place = , height = , weight = , nationality = , residence = Orlando, Florida, U.S. , spouse = , partner = , children = , college = Arizona State University (2.5 years) , yearpro = ...

won her first major and first LPGA tournament by four strokes over Lindsey Wright. *9–12 July: U.S. Women's Open - A birdie on the 72nd hole gave Korean Eun-Hee Ji a one-shot win over

Candie Kung Candie Kung (; born 8 August 1981) is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. Amateur career Kung was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. She was a three-time American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) All-American and was n ...

for her first major and second LPGA tournament title. *30 July-2 August: Ricoh Women's British Open - Catriona Matthew became the first Scottish woman to win a major, competing 11 weeks after giving birth to her second child. Ladies European Tour major (in addition to the Women's British Open) *23–26 July: Evian Masters - Japan's

Ai Miyazato is a former Japanese professional golfer who competed on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the LPGA of Japan Tour (JLPGA). She was the top-ranked golfer in the Women's World Golf Rankings on three occasions in 2010. Early life, family and amateur ...

defeated Sweden's Sophie Gustafson on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff for her first LPGA Tour win. ''For a complete list of Ladies European Tour results see Ladies European Tour.'' Additional LPGA Tour events *17–20 September: Samsung World Championship - Korean Na Yeon Choi won her first LPGA Tour title by one shot over

of Japan. *19–23 November:

LPGA Tour Championship The LPGA Tour Championship, in full the LPGA Tour Championship Presented by Rolex, was the season-ending women's professional golf tournament on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. After two seasons it was discontinued, replaced by the CME Group Titleholde ...

- Rookie

won the rain-shortened championship, her second win of the 2009 season. ''For a complete list of LPGA Tour results see

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...

.'' Team events *21–23 August: Solheim Cup - Team USA won the Cup for the third straight meeting with a 16–12 victory over Team

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Money list leaders *

– Jiyai Shin ( $1,807,334) * Ladies European Tour – Sophie Gustafson (

281,315) * Duramed Futures Tour – Mina Harigae ( $88,386) *

LPGA of Korea Tour The LPGA of Korea Tour is a South Korean professional golf tour for Women's sports, women. LPGA stands for Ladies Professional Golf Association. LPGA of Korea runs this tour, not the American LPGA. It is one of the world's five leading women's golf ...

– Hee Kyung Seo (

₩ The won sign , is a currency symbol. It represents the South Korean won, the North Korean won and, unofficially, the old Korean Empire won, Korean won. Appearance Its appearance is "W" (the first letter of "Won") with a horizontal strike ...

663,759,286) *

LPGA of Japan Tour The LPGA of Japan Tour is a professional golf tour for women organised by the Japan Ladies Professional Golfers' Association. The tour was founded in 1968. It is the second richest women's golf tour in the world. The U.S.-based LPGA Tour is the mo ...

–

Sakura Yokomine is a Japanese professional golfer. She is one of the leading players on the LPGA of Japan Tour and was in the top twenty of the February 2006 debut edition of the Women's World Golf Rankings. She finished T-11 at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tourn ...

( ¥175,016,384) * Ladies Asian Golf Tour – Bo-Mi Suh ( $48,500) * ALPG Tour –

Katherine Hull Katherine Kirk (born 26 February 1982) is a professional golfer from Australia, currently playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the ALPG Tour. She played under her maiden name, Katherine Hull, until her marriage to Tom Kirk on 2 August 2012 ...

( A$125,980) Awards * LPGA Tour Player of the Year –

Lorena Ochoa Lorena Ochoa Reyes (; born 15 November 1981) is a Mexican former professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 LPGA Tour, 2003 to 2010 LPGA Tour, 2010. She was the Women's World Golf Rankings#World number ones, top-ranked ...

claimed the title for the fourth consecutive year * LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year – Jiyai Shin won over second-place finisher

*LPGA Tour Vare Trophy –

won the title with a scoring average of 70.16. * LET Player of the Year – Catriona Matthew * LET Rookie of the Year –

clinched the title while playing only six events on the tour. Other happenings *13 July: LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens resigned under pressure from players after four years in the job. Marsha Evans was named interim commissioner while a search was undertaken for a permanent replacement.Bivens resigns post after four years as LPGA commissioner
/ref> *28 October: The LPGA Tour announced that Michael Whan had been hired as its new commissioner.LPGA Tour names Whan commissioner
/ref> *18 November: The LPGA announced that the 2010

will be sponsored by Wegmans in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, in place of that city's annual Wegmans LPGA tour stop. The LPGA Championship used to be sponsored by

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

and took place in eastern Maryland.

Senior men's professional golf

Senior majors *21–24 May: Senior PGA Championship - Playing in his first Champions Tour event, Michael Allen won by two shots over Larry Mize, becoming the first player since

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

in 1990 to win a major in his Champions Tour debut. *23–26 July:

Senior British Open The Senior Open Championship, or simply The Senior Open (and originally known as the Senior British Open), is a professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and over. It is jointly owned and run by The R&A, the same body that organises The O ...

- American Loren Roberts won his second Senior British Open and fourth senior major in a playoff with

Fred Funk Frederick Funk (born June 14, 1956) is an American professional golfer. He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He previously played on the PGA Tour, where he was an eight-time winner. Funk's signature win came at The Players Championship ...

and

Mark McNulty Mark William McNulty (born 24 March 1953) is a Zimbabwean-Irish professional golfer. He was one of the leading players on the European Tour from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, and featured in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking f ...

. *30 July-2 August: U.S. Senior Open - American

won his second senior major by six strokes over Joey Sindelar. *20–23 August: JELD-WEN Tradition - American Mike Reid won his second senior major in a playoff with John Cook. *1–4 October:

Senior Players Championship The Senior Players Championship, stylised by the PGA Tour as The SENIOR PLAYERS Championship, is one of the five major championships on golf's PGA Tour Champions. The inaugural event was played in 1983 and the age minimum is 50, the standard f ...

- American Jay Haas won his third senior major, shooting six-under 64 in the final round to chase down Tom Watson by one shot. Full results * 2009 Champions Tour * 2009 European Senior Tour Money list leaders * Champions Tour - German Bernhard Langer topped the money list for the second straight year with earnings of $2,139,451. * European Senior Tour - Scotsman Sam Torrance topped the Order of Merit with earnings of

170,696.

Amateur golf

*19–22 May: NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships - Arizona State won its seventh team championship. María Hernández of

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

won the individual title. *27–30 May: NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships -

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

won its first team championship.

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

finished strong, coming in as a runner-up. Matt Hill of North Carolina State won the individual title. *14–20 June:

The Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

- Sixteen-year-old

Matteo Manassero Matteo Manassero (born 19 April 1993) is an Italian professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour. In 2010, he became the youngest golfer to win a European Tour event. His most notable victory to date was in the 2013 BMW PGA Championshi ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

became the youngest person and first Italian ever to win the event. *3–9 August: U.S. Women's Amateur - Korean-American Jennifer Song defeated American Jennifer Johnson 3 & 1. *24–30 August:

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

- Seventeen-year-old Korean

An Byeong-hun An Byeong-hun (; born 17 September 1991), also known as Byeong-Hun An or Ben An, is a South Korean professional golfer. In August 2009, he became the youngest-ever winner of the U.S. Amateur. Early life Born in Seoul, South Korea, An is the ...

became the youngest person and first from his country to win the event. *12–13 September:

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup ...

- Team USA won the Cup for the third straight time, defeating Team Great Britain & Ireland 16½–9½.

World Golf Hall of Fame inductees

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

(Lifetime Achievement) * Christy O'Connor Snr (Veterans) *

José María Olazábal José María Olazábal Manterola (, ; born 5 February 1966) is a Spanish Basques, Basque professional golfer from the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country, who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has wo ...

(International) *

Lanny Wadkins Jerry Lanston "Lanny" Wadkins Jr. (born December 5, 1949) is an American professional golfer. He won 21 tournaments on the PGA Tour, including one Men's major golf championships, major, the 1977 PGA Championship. He ranked in the top 10 of the Of ...

(PGA Tour)

Table of results

This table summarizes all the results referred to above in date order. The following biennial events will next be played in 2010:

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

, Curtis Cup, Espirito Santo Trophy.

References

{{Golf Golf by year