2015 Season Year in Review
- Dan Hauser
- 6 Oct, 2015
Jordan Spieth’s 1st half: What else can you say about Jordan Spieth’s season other than “wow!” He had 15 top 10s in 25 events played on the PGA Tour in 2015 and five wins. Those five wins included 2 majors and the Tour Championship and with that the FedEx Cup title, but the first half of his season might have been the most impressive of it all. If you go back to the very end of the 2014 calendar year, Jordan Spieth won seven times worldwide from November of 2014 through July of 2015.
He won by six at the Australian Open, dusted the field by 10 at the Hero World Challenge, held off Patrick Reed at the Valspar and won the first two legs of the grand slam. If you factor in the fact that he missed out on the playoffs at St. Andrews by a shot, lost in a playoff at the Shell Houston Open, and finished second at both the Valero Texas Open and the Crowne Plaza Invitational, you could argue Spieth had one of the most dominant stretches in golf in the modern era outside of a guy by the name of Tiger Woods. Spieth put the icing on top of the cake by winning the Tour Championship, and with that, Player of the Year, the FedEx Cup, and the money title.
Jason Day’s 2nd half: If Spieth’s performance on the course was the story of the first half of 2015, then there is no question Jason Day’s dominance was the story of the second half of the season. After seeing his chance at his first major slip away late during the Open Championship, Day regrouped and turned on the after burners for the home stretch of the season.
Like Spieth, Day also won five times in 2015, with four of those wins coming AFTER the Open Championship. He took down Bubba at the Canadian Open, the week after the heartbreak at St. Andrews. He put a stop to Spieth’s attempt at the single season grand slam by going shot for shot with the 22 year old at Whistling Straights and coming out on top to win the PGA Championship. He then went on to win two of the four FedEx Cup playoff events before finally running out of steam in the Tour Championship.
His performance down the stretch was so impressive, there was legitimate discussion on whether he or Spieth should be Player of the Year, something that seemed incomprehensible just a few months earlier when it was a lock that Spieth would win it.
Rickie Fowler: Going into 2015, Rickie Fowler was know more for his clothes and his endorsements off his course then his play on the course. He had one PGA Tour win but was deemed overrated by many of his peers in an anonymous poll that was released on golf.com. Fowler did a good job of quieting those critics with three worldwide wins in 2015, including a stunning come from behind win at The PLAYERS Championship that saw him six shots back with six to play before lighting the back half of the course on fire to get into a playoff. Showing no fear, Fowler went pin hunting all over the famed island green 17th hole not once, but three times in the playoff to get the win over Kevin Kisner. After, he stated that the trophy sitting next to him should quiet all his critics. Ricky added wins at the Scottish Open which always has a deep field the week before the Open Championship and the Deutsche Bank Championship. If it wasn’t for the play of Spieth and Day, one could argue that the play of Fowler would have been the biggest story of 2015.
Dustin Johnson at Chambers Bay: By far the lasting image of 2015 and quite possibly years down the line will be Dustin Johnson standing over his ball on the 18th hole at Chambers Bay, having just three putted his way to losing the U.S. Open. Situations like that are known to leave scar tissue for even the toughest of the mentally tough. Throw in the fact that DJ already had the rules snafu the last time the PGA Championship was held at Whistling Straights in 2010 and that could cause someone to leave the game all together. Johnson seemed to be as ok as someone who just went through a situation like that could be after. While DJ did’t get another win after, he did have four more top 10 finishes to end 2015.
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About Dan Hauser
As an avid golfer and sports enthusiast, Dan has had a passion for sports starting at a very young age. Dan’s other passion has always been writing. Since the time he could write, he has always enjoyed sharing information with people and telling stories through writing. In middle school he combined his two loves by joining the school newspaper in the sports department.
