The year is slowly coming to an end. When the time has come for winter sports, most other disciplines have a winter break. There are also a few days off in December for the golfers on the PGA Tour. After the Presidents Cup and the QBE Shootout, the Sentry Tournament of Champions will not continue until January 2. Time for us to take a look at the best golfers of the past year. Here are the top 5 in the world rankings at the end of 2019.
Justin Thomas (USA)
Although Justin Thomas is only 26 years old, he has been one of the world’s top golfers for a good two years. His breakthrough came in 2017, when he won the PGA Championship and the FedEx Cup, among others, and, not surprisingly, was named Player of the Year. In 2019, he reached the final round of the Genesis Open and won the BMW Championship in Chicago, among others. This puts him in fifth place by the end of the year.
Dustin Johnson (USA)
Dustin Johnson is also among the most successful golfers this year. The former world number one won the Saudi International in February. With his sixth success on the European Tour, he joins the ranks of legends such as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jack Nicklaus. At both the Masters and PGA Championships, he was beaten in one fell swoop by the winner. This year, however, he is one of the favorites to win the PGA Championship with an odds of 12.00 (as of December 9th). With these odds ascribed by the bookmaker, a victory should be quite realistic for the golf professional.
Jon Rahm (Spanien)
Together with Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm belongs to the “Young Guns” in this list. Already on an amateur level, he has made history in 2016 with his 60 weeks at the top of the world ranking list. After finishing in sixth place at the end of last year, he is already in third place among the professionals this year. His success at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at the Lahinch Golf Club made the headlines when he literally outclassed his competitors.
Rory McIlroy (Nordirland)
Rory McIlroy is in second place in the world rankings at the end of the year. This is a huge leap compared to last year, when he was in eighth place. Already at the beginning of the year he proved to be in good form with five top 6 finishes in a row. He also won the RBC Canadian Open in June, which makes him a Triple Crown winner, having already won the 2014 Open and the 2011 US Open. With the success in Canada, he is now one of the winners of the three oldest golf events in the world.
Brooks Koepka (USA)
Also this year Brooks Koepka leads the world ranking. In May he managed to defend the PGA Championship for the first time since Tiger Woods. With this success he also regained the first place. He also won the WGC-FedEx St. Jude invitation tournament. He also managed to crack the Aon Risk Reward Challenge. This earned him the title Player of the Year for the second time in a row.
