Tiger Woods Foundation

Keegan Bradley, a shoo-in for the PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year, surprised everyone by winning the PGA Championship, his second victory of the season.

Earlier, Bradley entered the final round of the HP Byron Nelson Championship four strokes behind tournament leader Ryan Palmer but posted a 2-under 68 Sunday to finish regulation tied with Palmer at 3-under 277. Bradley went on to defeat Palmer on the first playoff hole with a par-4 on the 18th hole.

In August, Bradley won the PGA Championship in a three-hole aggregate playoff over Jason Dufner at Atlanta Athletic Club. He is the first rookie to win two tournaments, including a major, since Todd Hamilton won The Honda Classic and the British Open in 2004 and is the first player since Ben Curtis at the 2003 British Open to win his first start in a major championship. Francis Ouimet at the 1913 U.S. Open was the other to win his first major championship start. In addition, Bradley is the first player since Shaun Micheel to win the PGA Championship in his first start at the event. A total of seven players have accomplished the feat -- Micheel, Jim Barnes (1916), Tom Creavy (1931), Bob Hamilton (1944), Doug Ford (1955), Bob Tway (1986) and John Daly (1991). He won at the age of 25 years, 2 months, 7 days, joining John Daly, Tiger Woods and Martin Kaymer as the only winners of the event under age 30 since 1990. Bradley is the first player to win a major championship the year after graduating from the Nationwide Tour.

Paul Casey won the European Tour for the first time since 2009 when he took a one-stroke victory over Peter Hanson at the Volvo Golf Champions at The Royal GC in Bahrain. Casey entered the final round tied, with the duo staying next to each other all afternoon before he grabbed the title when he parred the 72nd hole and Hanson bogeyed.

In March, Casey fired a 7-under 64 at the Transitions Championship -- his lowest PGA TOUR round since a 64 in the first round of the 2010 Honda Classic -- to hold the first-round lead. He eventually finished T37.

Playing in Canada, he finished fifth at the Telus World Skins Game in Banff, Alberta, Canada, where he earned one skin and $20,000. The field also included Jhonattan Vegas, Lucas Glover, Stephen Ames and Anthony Kim.

Last year, Casey posted a career-best seven top-10s to finish a career-best sixth in the FedExCup, capped by his first appearance at THE TOUR Championship.

His maiden PGA TOUR victory came in 2009 when he earned his first win with an 11-under 277 at the Shell Houston Open, defeating J.B. Holmes with a bogey on the first playoff hole after Holmes, who had finished two hours and 40 minutes ahead of him, hit his tee shot into the water hazard. It was his first appearance at the event, and the victory was the first by a European at the Shell Houston Open.

K.J. Choi has found his form again this year with his win at The PLAYERS in May. It was his eighth career PGA TOUR victory with a playoff triumph over David Toms. Choi converted a 10-feet, 4-inch birdie putt on No. 17 and a 4-feet, 10-inch par putt on No. 18 to force the playoff, the first of his PGA TOUR career, becoming the first Korean and first Asian-born player to win the championship. His win at TPC Sawgrass was his first victory since the 2008 Sony Open in Hawaii, a span of 74 events on TOUR.

Choi announced May 23, following his win, that he would host the K.J. Choi Invitational in October at Sky72 GC in Incheon, South Korea. The event is a co-sponsored event between the Asian Tour and the Korean Tour.

Making his 300th career start on the PGA TOUR, the 2007 AT&T National champion finished two strokes behind Nick Watney at the AT&T National for the fourth runner-up finish of his career. By finishing second, Choi marked the seventh time in eight attempts he has finished no worse than second when holding the lead at the midway point of a TOUR event.

He finished T10 at the BMW Championship, his third straight top-10 finish at the event, leading him to his eighth start at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, where he finished T3 for his third-consecutive top-10 at the event. It represented a career-best eighth top-10 finish of the season. Choi finished No. 11 in the FedExCup, giving him four top-15 finishes in the five years of the season-long competition.

Jason Day has only one career victory in his five-year PGA TOUR career, but that doesn't tell the whole story when it comes to big tournaments.

He won the 2010 Byron Nelson Championship and had 10 top-10s and 12 top-25s this year, both personal bests.

In his first runner-up finish in the majors this year, Day birdied the final two holes for a 4-under 68 and at the Masters Tournament with Adam Scott, two strokes behind champion Charl Schwartzel. The two joined fellow Aussies Bruce Crampton, Jack Newton and Greg Norman who have come painfully close to winning a green jacket.

It was quite a week for Day, who equaled the lowest score in any round by a first-year participant with an 8-under 64 in the second round, marking the lowest second-round score by any player in Masters history. He fell just one stroke shy of the course record, held by Nick Price and Greg Norman.

Day finished second in his first career start at the U.S. Open on the strength of a 65-68 finish at Congressional CC. Day is the only player to record top 10s in the last three majors-second in the 2011 U.S. Open, T2 in the 2011 Masters and T10 in the 2010 PGA Championship.

Sporting a flat-brimmed cap and bright, color-coordinated clothes, Rickie Fowler is the symbol for the new generation of golf on the PGA TOUR. He has game, certainly, only lacking is his first victory here in the states. And many agree it won't be long until he becomes the bride and not the bridesmaid.

Fowler has four runner-up finishes in his pro career that began in earnest last year.

In early October this year, Fowler won his first tournament as a professional, the Kolon Korea Open on the OneAsia Tour, when he rolled to a six-stroke win over Rory McIlroy at Woo Jeong Hills CC. Fowler took control of the tournament in the third round when he shot an 8-under 63. He followed that with a 3-under 68 Sunday. The victory was worth a little under $250,000 U.S., but the first one is always the hardest.

His confident play began in July, showing much promise in the big tournaments, as he enjoyed his best finish among seven major championship starts with a T5 at the British Open at Royal St. George's. He opened with three par-or-better rounds to enter the final round three strokes behind winner Darren Clarke, then closed with a 2-over 72 in windy conditions to finish tied with fellow Americans Chad Campbell and Anthony Kim in the top five.

In August, Fowler finished T2 at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational for his third top 10 in five World Golf Championships starts. He led the field with only 100 total putts and was one of only five players to record all four rounds in the 60s.

It would be kind of hard to match last year, especially if you're Jim Furyk. This year, probably still recovering from his whirlwind season last year, he cruised through the year with four top-10s compared to his seven last year. Furyks's best 2011 finish was a solo 6th at the Deutsche Bank Championships.

His spectacular 2010 season included a career-best three PGA TOUR victories, including THE TOUR Championship, en route to FedExCup title and Player of the Year honors. Furyk joined past FedExCup winners Tiger Woods (2007 and 2009) and Vijay Singh (2008) as winners of the season-long competition.

He won his first tournament of the year by closing with a 2-under 69 for a one-stroke victory over K.J. Choi in the Transitions Championship, his first victory since the 2007 RBC Canadian Open. He had gone 58 starts on the PGA TOUR without winning.

Furyk won again the week after the Masters at the Verizon Heritage Classic for his 15th career title.

Furyk finished T37 at the Deutsche Bank Championship and T15 at the BMW Championship to enter THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola in 11th place in the FedExCup standings. An even-par 70 Saturday gave him a oneshot lead heading into the final round. He capped off a final-round, even-par 70 with a spectacular 72nd-hole sand save and the 2010 FedExCup. For his efforts, Furyk collected $1.35 million for the tournament win and $10 million for winning the FedExCup.

If you like come-out-of-nowhere stories, Bill Haas provided an epic this year. In a winnertakes- all playoff, he parred the third playoff hole, the par-3 18th hole, to defeat Hunter Mahan to win the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola and the FedExCup. Haas won the prize by 15 points over Webb Simpson and became the first player in his 20s to win the season-long competition.

He entered the final round three strokes behind Aaron Baddeley and Hunter Mahan, but carded a final-round 68 to finish regulation tied with Mahan at 8-under 272. In the playoff, Haas appeared to have shot himself out of winning both purses on the second playoff hole, the 17th hole at East Lake GC, when his approach to the par 4 landed in the water adjacent to the green. He made a great up and down for par to continue the playoff. As a result of his win, Haas pocketed the $1,440,000 first-place check and $10 million prize for winning the FedExCup.

Haas became just the third player to win the TOUR Championship in his first appearance, joining Chad Campbell and Bart Bryant.

He and his father, Jay, are the only fatherson combination to tee it up in the TOUR Championship.

This was the first year since 2006 Zach Johnson has missed the winner's circle. His four-year streak began with winning the 2007 Masters Tournament, his first of two victories that year.

All of his four PGA TOUR wins since then have been either in the states of Georgia or Texas. His first career TOUR victory was at the 2004 BellSouth Classic, also in suburban Atlanta, where he won the AT&T Classic in 2007.

The Texas pattern is similar. Johnson won the 2008 Valero Texas Open and successfully defended his title the following year in a playoff over James Driscoll. With the help of a third-round 60, he got within striking distance. The third-round 60 was the second of his career, making him the only player in TOUR history to record multiple rounds of 60 in his career.

Keeping the streak in Texas, Johnson picked up his seventh career win, at the 2010 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, and earned his fifth trip to THE TOUR Championship, ultimately finishing 17th in the final FedExCup standings. Johnson shot a tournament record, 21-under 259 at Colonial, sealing his victory with a pair of birdies in the short span of play in between two late, final-round weather delays. Johnson posted rounds of 64-64 on the weekend to beat Brian Davis by three strokes for his seventh TOUR victory of his career.

Matt Kuchar started his season with three consecutive top-10 finishes and finished third at the World Golf Championships- Accenture Match Play Championship to crack the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time, improving from No. 13 to No. 10. He is currently 8th.

When the TOUR moved into Florida, Kuchar tallied his fourth-consecutive top-10 finish in a World Golf Championships event with a fifth-place finish at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship. The finish was his fifth top 10 of the season in seven starts.

By comparison, in 2010, he led the PGA TOUR with 11 top-10 finishes despite having only two through his first seven starts of the season.

Kuchar's sixth top-10 finish came at the Shell Houston Open in April, then he finished T6 at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, moving into a tie with Hunter Mahan, Luke Donald and Nick Watney for most top 10s on TOUR with seven.

He finished T2 at the Memorial Tournament to nab his fourth consecutive top 10 at Muirfield Village GC. It was his seventh career start at the event. Kuchar notched a fourth runner-up finish in 246 career starts on TOUR. He nearly successfully defended his 2010 Barclays win with a runner-up showing. The finish propelled him to No. 2 in the FedExCup standings, the position he ended the 2010 season. The fifth runnerup performance of Kuchar's career was his 20th top-10 finish over the past two years-tops on TOUR.

Martin Laird had a remarkable run in Florida on the weekend of March 27th considering all the accolades he received for winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational, whether dubious or not.

He carried a two-stroke lead into the final round and then posted a 3-over 75 to finish one stroke ahead of Steve Marino to win the Orlando-area tournament. His rollercoaster final round included three birdies, four bogeys, a double bogey and a two-putt for par from almost 87 feet on the 72nd hole for the win.

The final-round 75 is the highest finish by a winner on the PGA TOUR since Trevor Immelman won the 2008 Masters Tournament with a 3-over 75. His score is the highest in a non-major since Peter Lonard won the 2005 Heritage with a 4-over 75.

The Scot became the first European winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He is just the fourth international-born player to win, joining South African Ernie Els (1998 and 2010), Australian Rod Pampling (2006) and Vijay Singh of Fiji (2007).

Laird recorded the 300th win on the PGA TOUR by a former Nationwide Tour player. He finished 74th in his only other start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (2010).

Hunter Mahan finished strong during the 2011 season after posting nine top-10s that included two runner-ups.

Early in the season at Pebble Beach he posted a final-round, 6-under-par 66 to narrowly miss winning the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. It was his fifth career runner-up finish, ending two strokes back of champion D.A. Points.

The sixth runner-up finish of his career and second of the season was a playoff loss to Bill Haas at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, after carrying a share of the 54-hole lead with Aaron Baddeley into the final round. The finish represented a careerhigh ninth top-10 finish of the season and dropped his career record to 1-2 in playoffs.

By making it to East Lake, Mahan joined Steve Stricker as the only players to tee it up in all 20 PGA TOUR Playoff events since the launch of the FedExCup. He also joined Stricker and Phil Mickelson as the only three players to reach the TOUR Championship in each of those five years.

He came from four strokes back of 54-hole leader Brandt Snedeker in the final round to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open by one stroke over Rickie Fowler. Then, late in the season, Mahan carded a 6-under-par 64 to come from three shots back to earn his second victory of the year at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. At the age of 28, he joined Dustin Johnson, Bill Haas, Anthony Kim, Sean O'Hair and Camilo Villegas as the only players in their 20s with three or more PGA TOUR victories. His first was at the 2007 Travelers Championship.

It was a banner year for Webb Simpson in 2011. He won his first TOUR event by three shots at the Wyndham Championship, with rounds of 66-65-64-67. The Wake Forest graduate is the 16th first-time winner in the 71-year history of the Wyndham Championship. He led after the third round and went on to victory. His only other previous 54-hole lead or co-lead was a tie for first with eventual champion Bubba Watson at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans earlier in the season. He became the seventh different winner of the Wyndham Championship from an ACC school and is the third Wake Forest graduate to win the Wyndham Championship. Lanny Wadkins in 1983 and Scott Hoch in 2001 also won there.

Two weeks after his win in Greensboro, Simpson birdied the second extra hole to defeat Chez Reavie at the Deutsche Bank Championship, becoming the first player since Ernie Els in 2010 to win twice in a three-week span. Simpson closed with a birdie on No. 18 to finish regulation and then birdied both playoff holes.

He finished fifth at the BMW Championship in his second career start at the event and retained the No. 1 spot in the FedExCup standings heading into the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola.

It was quite a year for Steve Stricker with his two victories and handfuls of notes that went along with them.

He won the Memorial Tournament by one shot over Matt Kuchar and Brandt Jobe. During the second round, he aced No. 8 with a 6-iron from 188 yards in the second round, the second of his career on the PGA TOUR. The hole-in-one was the fifth on the eighth hole at the Memorial. To kick off the third round, he recorded an eagle-2 on the 442-yard second hole with a 53 degree sand wedge from 116 yards. Stricker followed that three holes later with an eagle-3 on the 529- yard fifth hole. He became one of the last four players on TOUR to make an ace during a ournament and go on to win and became the 13th player since 1983 to record eagles on a par-3, par-4 and par-5 in the same week in stroke-play events on TOUR and the first in Memorial Tournament history. Not only that, but he is the 14th player since 1983 to have three eagles in a week at the Memorial. No one has recorded four in one tournament at Muirfield Village GC. Stricker has now held the outright lead five times on TOUR after 54-holes and has converted each into victory. Yet, since 1983 he is the first winner of the Memorial to play the back nine overpar for the week at 4-over. He was 20-under on the front.

In July, Stricker birdied his 72nd hole from the fringe from 25 feet in dramatic style to claim his third straight win at the John Deere Classic by a stroke over Kyle Stanley. In the process, he became the only player to record multiple wins in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The win also made him the eighth player since 1983 to win multiple events in at least three consecutive seasons on TOUR. He also became just the 17th different player to win a TOUR event in three consecutive years.

Had personal-best finish in the FedExCup (No. 23) and made it to Atlanta for the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola for the second consecutive year. Made 19 of 27 cuts to go with five top 10s and 13 top 25s ... Making his ninth start of the season, posted his first top-10 finish, with a T8 at the Masters Tournament. It represented his first top-10 finish in 15 major championship starts ... Started the final round seven strokes off the pace at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial but made his way all the way to a solo third-place finish, thanks, in part, to holing out from 141 yards for eagle on No. 10. His previous-best finish was T5 in his first Colonial appearance in 2004 ... Was the 54-hole leader by a stroke over Adam Hadwin at the RBC Canadian Open, where he finished T6 with Scott Piercy and Woody Austin ... After opening with a 2-over 73, closed with rounds of 68-66-66 to finish solo-seventh at the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston for his fourth top 10 of the season ... Finished ninth at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola for his fifth top 10 of the season. As a result, finished a career-best No. 23 in the FedExCup ... After the conclusion of the PGA TOUR Fall Series, he traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic, an unofficial PGA TOUR event co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Shook off the disappointment of the RBC Canadian Open by taking a one-stroke lead in to the final round, shot a Sunday 64 at The Mines Resort and GC and won by six strokes over Jeff Overton ... Just missed on a top 10 at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China, the following week. Had four under-par rounds at Sheshan International GC to T11.

Just one day after making a double bogey on the 18th hole at TPC Blue Monster at Doral, Watney drained a 13-foot birdie putt at the same hole to cap a stellar finalround, 6-under 67 to clinch the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship by two strokes over 54-hole leader Dustin Johnson. It was also the same hole where Watney's 30-foot putt came up just two inches short at the 2009 Cadillac Championship, leaving him second behind Phil Mickelson for his previous-best finish in three overall starts at the Cadillac Championship. With his third PGA TOUR victory, he became one of seven players under age 30 with at least three TOUR wins.

Following his seventh top-10 of the season, Watney was spurred on by a third round, course-record, 8-under 62, and went on to win the AT&T National by two strokes over K.J. Choi. His fourth career win helped him overtake Donald for the top spot in the FedExCup rankings. Watney entered the final round tied with Rickie Fowler at 9-under before a bogey-free 66 made him the TOUR's third multiple winner of the season along with Bubba Watson and Mark Wilson and moved him into a tie with Kuchar and Luke Donald for the TOUR lead, with eight top-10 finishes.

Bubba Watson was one of only three players with multiple wins in 2011. Coming into the year, he had garnered only one PGA TOUR title so far, but picked up his second, winning by one shot over Phil Mickelson at the Farmers Insurance Open with rounds of 71-65-69-67-272. Watson converted an up-and-down from the greenside bunker for birdie on the 72nd hole to take a two-stroke lead and watched as Mickelson's eagle attempt from 72 yards came up just feet short. He became the fifth left-hander to record multiple wins on TOUR -- Mickelson (38), Mike Weir (eight), Bob Charles (six), Steve Flesch (four). Watson finished 13-under on the par-5s and led the field in Greens in Regulation at 81.9 percent and in Driving Distance with a 316.6-yard average.

He finished fourth in his first appearance at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, the first first-time participant to advance to the semifinals at the event since Geoff Ogilvy won in 2006 and became the first left-hander to reach the semifinals in tournament history.

Later in the year, Watson became the second multiple winner of the season along with Mark Wilson following his playoff win over Webb Simpson at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Simpson and Keegan Bradley would win twice later in the season to join the elite group. He won with a birdie-4 on the second extra hole to claim his third career title. The Zurich event is where Watson made his first career TOUR start in 2002.

Outstanding year consisted of six top-10 finishes, highlighted by his first career win on TOUR ... Converted an 11-foot par putt on the 72nd hole to card a final round, 4-under-par 67 and win the Transitions Championship by one stroke over Webb Simpson in his 33rd career start. The par on No. 18 in the final round was his only par on the closing nine holes. He carded a 2-under 33 that featured five birdies and three bogeys. The win was his third top 10 of the season and moved him from No. 18 to No. 3 in the FedExCup standings. Converted 17 of 17 putts from inside 20 feet during the final round, including a 16-foot birdie putt to tie for the lead on No. 17. He needed just 23 putts on the day, 10 on the back nine. Made 22 birdies during the week, tied for most in the field. He became the first player to win the Transitions Championship in his first start since Retief Goosen in 2003 and the first to make the event his maiden PGA TOUR victory since Carl Pettersson in 2005 ... After holding a share of the 54- and 72-hole leads, lost on the second playoff hole (No. 10) to Jhonattan Vegas in his second career start at the Bob Hope Classic. Runner-up finish was first career top 10 in his 28th event on the PGA TOUR. Made a birdie-4 on the 90th and final hole in regulation at the Palmer Private Course at PGA West to force a playoff with Vegas and Bill Haas. After Haas was elminated on first playoff hole, Vegas hit his drive in the water on the second playoff hole but rallied to make a 13-foot par putt for the win. Woodland was unable to get up and down for par from a greenside bunker ... Next top-10 finish came two weeks later, at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Four rounds in the 60s earned him T8 honors at TPC Scottsdale ... Was first in the Q-School/Nationwide Tour re-order after the Mayakoba Golf Classic ... Rounds of 71-68-68-71 at PGA National led to a T6 finish at The Honda Classic, his third top-10 in six starts ... Finished sixth at the Memorial Tournament in his first start at the event. Finish moved him into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time ... Opened with a 5-under 65 to sit just one shot behind Trevor Immelman after the first round of The Greenbrier Classic and hung around the lead the rest of the tournament. Final-round, 1-under 69 left him T4 and one stroke shy of the three-man playoff won by Scott Stallings. It was his sixth top-10 of the season, propelling him to No. 7 in the FedExCup standings ... Finished no worse than 25th in his last six starts of the season.

Warding off injuries and implementing a new swing method, Tiger Woods is on the brink of his return to the apex he has set in his 15-year career.

With 71 career PGA TOUR titles, his last being the 2009 BMW Championship, Woods began his season this year on a positive note when he posted a final-round, 6-under 66 to finish T10 at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, his first top-10 of the season and best showing since a T4 at the 2010 U.S. Open. It marked the 11th time in as many starts that he has finished with a top-10 at the event and the eighth time in as many starts inside the top 10 at the TPC Blue Monster at Doral. The showing represented his best round on TOUR since a second-round, 6-under 65 at the 2010 Deutsche Bank Championship, and it was his best final round since a 63 to finish T11 at the 2009 Deutsche Bank Championship.

Woods continued the momentum on another of his favorite venues when he closed with a 5-under 67 to finish T4 at the Masters Tournament, the best closing round of his career at Augusta National but still left him four strokes behind Charl Schwartzel and in search of his first come-from-behind win in a major championship.

Woods entered the final round seven behind Rory McIlroy, but a front-nine, 5-under 31 -- highlighted by a birdie-birdie-eagle stretch beginning on No. 6 -- had him tied for the lead as he made the turn at Augusta National. He closed with an even-par 36 on the back nine to finish T4, his 10th top-five finish at the Masters, moving out of a tie for second with Mickelson, Ben Hogan, Tom Kite, Arnold Palmer, Sam Snead and Tom Watson, and trailing only Jack Nicklaus' 15.