This article summarizes the highlights of professional and amateur golf in the year 2012.
Men's professional golf
Major championships
5–8 April: The Masters – American Bubba Watson defeated South African Louis Oosthuizen on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to earn his first major championship. 14–17 June: U.S. Open – American Webb Simpson won by one stroke over Graeme McDowell and Michael Thompson. 19–22 July: The Open Championship – South African Ernie Els won his fourth major by one stroke over Australian Adam Scott. 9–12 August: PGA Championship – Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy won his second major, at the age of 23. His eight-shot win over England's David Lynn was the largest victory margin in the championship's stroke-play era. McIlroy also returned to number 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
World Golf Championships
22–26 February: WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship – American Hunter Mahan won his second WGC tournament, beating Rory McIlroy 2&1. McIlroy would have risen to number 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking if he had won. 8–11 March WGC-Cadillac Championship – England's Justin Rose won his first WGC tournament by one stroke over American Bubba Watson. 2–5 August: WGC-Bridgestone Invitational – American Keegan Bradley won by one stroke over compatriots Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker. 1–4 November: WGC-HSBC Champions – England's Ian Poulter won his second career WGC by two strokes over four others.
FedEx Cup playoff events - see 2012 FedEx Cup Playoffs
23–26 August: The Barclays – American Nick Watney won by three shots over countryman Brandt Snedeker. 31 August – 3 September: Deutsche Bank Championship – Rory McIlroy won by one shot over Louis Oosthuizen. 6–9 September: BMW Championship – McIlroy won by two shots over Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood. 20–23 September: Tour Championship – American Brandt Snedeker won the tournament (and the FedEx Cup) by three shots over Justin Rose.
Other leading PGA Tour events
10–13 May: The Players Championship – American Matt Kuchar won by two strokes over four others.
For a complete list of PGA Tour results see 2012 PGA Tour.
Leading European Tour events
24–27 May: BMW PGA Championship – Englishman Luke Donald won for the second straight year and again became the World Ranking Number 1. 22–25 November: DP World Tour Championship, Dubai – World #1 Rory McIlroy won his 5th European Tour title by two strokes, tying the tournament record of –23 set by Lee Westwood in 2009.
For a complete list of European Tour results see 2012 European Tour.
Team events
28–30 September: Ryder Cup – Team Europe retained the Cup, 14½–13½, after having been down 10–6 to Team USA after Saturday play. This equaled the previous record for the largest final-day comeback in Ryder Cup history, when Team USA came back from the same deficit in 1999. 14–16 December: Royal Trophy – Asia won on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff after match with Europe ended in an 8–8 tie.
Tour leaders
PGA Tour – Rory McIlroy (US$8,047,952) This total does not include FedEx Cup bonuses. European Tour – Rory McIlroy (€5,519,118) This total includes the US$1.0 million (€781,091) bonus for winning the Race to Dubai. Japan Golf Tour – Hiroyuki Fujita (¥175,159,972) Asian Tour – Thaworn Wiratchant (US$738,047) PGA Tour of Australasia – Peter Senior (A$268,292) Sunshine Tour – Branden Grace (R2,760,319) OneAsia Tour – Kim Bi-o (US$380,745) Tour de las Américas – Marco Ruiz (26,884 points) PGA Tour Latinoamérica – Ariel Cañete (US$91,396)
Awards
PGA Tour
FedEx Cup – Brandt Snedeker won the FedEx Cup after winning the Tour Championship. PGA Player of the Year – Rory McIlroy Player of the Year (Jack Nicklaus Trophy) – Rory McIlroy Leading money winner (Arnold Palmer Award) – Rory McIlroy (US$8,047,952) Vardon Trophy – Rory McIlroy Byron Nelson Award – Rory McIlroy Rookie of the Year – John Huh Comeback Player of the Year – None Payne Stewart Award – Steve Stricker European Tour Golfer of the Year – Rory McIlroy Rookie of the Year – Ricardo Santos Web.com Tour Player of the Year – Casey Wittenberg