If the previous decade was dominated by a single player, the 2010s was about trying to fill the void Tiger Woods left atop the sport. It wasn’t a spot he vacated without a fight, though. Woods still had a large impact in the 2010s, authoring some of this decade’s most memorable victories and adding another PGA TOUR Player of the Year Trophy to his collection. BEST OF THE DECADE: The ultimate Best of Decade list | Stats of the decade | Equipment developments Woods entered the decade as golf’s biggest star, but his quest to rebuild his game and his life was the biggest story when 2010 began. No one asserted themselves in his absence, and he returned with a vengeance by winning eight times in 2012 and 2013. As Woods’ back started to give him trouble, a new crop of stars arrived on the scene. They’d grown up watching Woods and were inspired by his dominance. The latter half of the 2010s was defined by a crop of players who took turns atop the game — players such as Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Jason Day. Where golf used to be a battle between the generations, it was increasingly becoming a young man’s game. It was fun to watch and sets up well for the next 10 years. Before turning the calendar, let’s count down our top 10 players of the decade. 10. PHIL MICKELSON Mickelson started the decade with an emotional victory at Augusta National. It ended with a win that was testament to his incredible longevity. Perhaps the greatest round of his career sat between those two benchmarks. Mickelson won the first major of the 2010s. It was his third green jacket, and the fact that his wife, Amy, could greet him behind the 18th green made it even more special. She was battling breast cancer at the time, as was his mother. Mickelson’s final-round 66 at Muirfield gave him an unexpected win at the 2013 Open Championship. It was a masterful performance on a trying links in the tournament least-suited for his style of play. “I never knew if I would be able to win this tournament. I always hoped and believed but I never knew it,â€� Mickelson said afterward. He had to wait more than 4 1/2 years for his next PGA TOUR victory, but Mickelson’s win at the 2018 World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, and then at this year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, proved his agelessness and unbounded enthusiasm for the game. Only his social media videos have been more entertaining to watch. 9. BUBBA WATSON When Watson arrived on the PGA TOUR in 2006, he quickly gained attention for his pink driver shaft, homemade swing and big, bending tee shots. He established himself among the elite – and possibly earned a spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame – with his play in the 2010s. Watson’s 12 PGA TOUR victories were the third-most in the decade. That haul includes two Masters and two World Golf Championships. The tears flowed when he won his first title at the 2010 Travelers. A few weeks later, he lost a playoff to Martin Kaymer at the PGA Championship. It was just two years later that he made the improbable journey from tiny Bagdad, Florida, to a permanent place in the game’s lore as a Masters champion. He won his second green jacket two years later. He also has had success at another classic course, winning three times at Riviera Country Club. And he won three times at the Travelers Championship, proving that he’s tough to beat on a course that fits his unique style of play. In an age of analytics, Watson proved that there’s still room for creativity. 8. JASON DAY Day had one of the best runs of the decade from 2015-16. He won seven times in 17 starts, including victories at the PGA Championship and THE PLAYERS, and reached No. 1 in the world. He won a dozen times during the 2010s, including a major, PLAYERS, two World Golf Championships and two FedExCup Playoffs events. He did it with booming drives and a deft touch around the greens, including the best Strokes Gained: Putting season ever recorded. He’s still just 32 years old, so several big years could still be ahead of him. It just depends if he can keep injuries at bay and keep his desire high. 7. JUSTIN ROSE Golf is increasingly becoming a young man’s game, but Rose, who burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old, saved his best season for his late 30s. How did he do it? A continued obsession with improvement. As one of the first players to embrace high-tech training methods, Rose was a trailblazer for the modern PGA TOUR pro. “From how he eats, to how he trains, to how he breaks down a golf course, he has a very thoughtful approach to maximizing his probability for success,â€� said Rose’s swing coach, Sean Foley. “Sometimes people are afraid to change what they do or how they do it. His lack of satisfaction in what he’s doing has really pushed us to look under every rock.â€� A 20-yard gain in driving distance helped him win the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion. Turning his biggest weakness, his putting, into a strength, helped him win the 2018 FedExCup at age 38. He was the same age when he reached No. 1 in the world ranking for the first time. Throw in an Olympic gold medal and few players can match Rose’s haul in the 2010s. 6. JUSTIN THOMAS Thomas has won 11 times since joining the PGA TOUR in the 2014-15 season. Only one player has more titles in that span (Dustin Johnson, 12). Thomas’ 10 wins since the start of the 2016-17 season are two more than anyone else. His breakout season came in 2017, when he won five times and claimed the FedExCup. A wrist injury sidelined him this spring, but it looks like he’s ready to resume his winning ways after claiming two wins in a four-event span (BMW Championship, THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES). Thomas is just the fifth player in the past 60 years to win at least 11 PGA TOUR titles, including a major, before turning 27. The others? Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. Thomas celebrates his 27th birthday in April. Conventional wisdom says that his best years are still ahead of him. That means his impact on the next decade could be even bigger than the large one he had on the 2010s. 5. TIGER WOODS The decade got off to an ignominious start for Woods, but he worked his way back to the top of the world ranking by winning eight times in 2012 and 2013. He was named the PGA TOUR’s Player of the Year for a record 11th time in 2013, when his five wins included his second PLAYERS Championship. Injuries sidelined him for the next several seasons but also set the stage for one of the greatest comebacks in sports. There was a time when Woods struggled to get out of bed because of his bad back. He had multiple surgeries, but it wasn’t until he underwent a spinal fusion that he was able to return to the course full-time. Woods leading an exuberant horde down East Lake’s 18th fairway and the joyful celebration he shared with his children at Augusta National will go down as two of the game’s enduring images. He added another highlight before the calendar turned, winning THE ZOZO Championship to tie Sam Snead’s record for PGA TOUR wins (82). All that guarantees that Woods will be one to watch for a fourth decade. 4. BROOKS KOEPKA Koepka’s career started in anonymity on the Challenge Tour. He won around the world before returning to the United States. His first full season on the PGA TOUR came in 2015. He was the game’s dominant force in the second half of the decade. He won four majors from 2017-19, going back-to-back at both the U.S. Open and PGA Championship. He’s the only player in the game’s history to accomplish that. He closed out the 2010s by finishing in the top four in all four of this year’s majors. Koepka’s brawny game and bravado have made him the game’s alpha character. The same discipline that he’s exhibited in the gym is an asset on the toughest conditions. He’s at his best when others complain about severe setups, showing the patience to play for the safe side of the pin while other players are making frustrating bogeys. “I think sometimes the majors are the easiest ones to win,â€� Koepka said at this year’s PGA. “Half the people shoot themselves out of it, and mentally I know I can beat most of them.â€� 3. JORDAN SPIETH Spieth was in high school when the decade started. It will end with him in the midst of a 2 1/2-year winless drought. His influence in the 2010s extends beyond a resume that will likely lead to the World Golf Hall of Fame, though. While it feels like he’s been on TOUR for more than a decade, he’s still just 26 years old and the owner of 11 PGA TOUR titles, including three majors. Spieth was the trailblazer for the Class of 2011 and the young players who followed. He used sponsor exemptions to earn his card at 19, then became the first teenager to win on TOUR since 1931 Two years later, he had the best season of the decade. He won five times and flirted with the Grand Slam before capping his season by claiming the FedExCup. He hasn’t won since his dramatic victory at the 2017 Open Championship, but Spieth has shown a knack for pulling off the improbable. That will serve him well in his quest to regain his former form. 2. DUSTIN JOHNSON Johnson suffered some of the most stinging losses of the 2010s, but like McIlroy, he also won 18 times. That haul includes the 2016 U.S. Open, six World Golf Championships and four FedExCup Playoffs events. He was the only player to qualify for the TOUR Championship in all 10 seasons, and his average FedExCup finish this decade was 10.6. He finished in the top 5 of the FedExCup standings in half of those seasons. He also had the most top-5 (58) and top-10 (88) finishes of the decade. He was only a few strokes away from winning the career Grand Slam, as well. In addition to his win in Oakmont, he finished runner-up in the other three majors. Among those close calls was the infamous bunker ruling at the 2010 PGA, a final-round 82 at the 2010 U.S. Open and a 2-iron that sailed O.B. in the final round of the 2011 Open Championship. He also finished a stroke behind Tiger Woods at this year’s Masters and almost forced Koepka into a record-setting collapse at the 2019 PGA. It’s easy to focus on what could have been. But don’t let that overshadow what Johnson did during the 2010s. 1. RORY McILROY He was a pudgy, mop-topped kid when he burst onto the PGA TOUR in the first year of the decade. His first victory in the United States is still memorable thanks to his fantastic final-round 62 at Quail Hollow. It was a harbinger, introducing American fans to McIlroy’s explosive play. We saw it again with his eight-shot victories at the 2011 U.S. Open and 2012 PGA Championship. McIlroy and Tiger Woods are the only players to win multiple majors by eight or more shots. McIlroy’s 18 PGA TOUR victories between 2010 and 2019 are tied with Dustin Johnson for most in that span. McIlroy and Brooks Koepka both won four majors in this decade, and McIlroy’s haul also included the 2019 PLAYERS, three World Golf Championships and five FedExCup Playoffs events. McIlroy is the only player to win two FedExCups in this decade (Woods is the only other player to win the Cup multiple times, doing so in 2007 and 2009). All those accomplishments make McIlroy a unanimous choice for the top player of the decade.
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