Tiger’s grueling Masters day, Lydia Ko’s Olympic triple, Wyndham Clark’s 60 at Pebble and 11 other underrated feats in 2024

Scottie Scheffler won everything. So did Nelly Korda. Bryson DeChambeau turned around his public perception, and the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund … well, the schism is still ongoing, yet there is hope the end may be approaching. While these stories dominated golf’s headlines in 2024, there was plenty that went under the radar that are worth a mention before we turn the calendar to 2025. Here are 14 underappreciated moments from the past year in golf.

Tiger Woods makes cut at Masters
Colin Montgomerie pointed out the uncomfortable truth this summer that it might be time for Tiger to hang it up. But despite his body betraying him, Woods made it through a 23-hole marathon Friday at Augusta National, surviving windy conditions with a second-round 72 to reach the weekend. It was his 24th consecutive made cut at the Masters, besting the previous mark of 23 shared by Gary Player and Fred Couples. Yes, it’s a limited field, but a quick glance at the notables who missed this year’s Masters cut—Viktor Hovland, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Wyndham Clark—underlines just how hard it is to reach the weekend, let alone do it for a quarter century.

Lydia Ko’s Olympic record
After one of her worst seasons as a professional Lydia Ko responded with vigor in 2024, winning four times—highlighted by grabbing her third major at the AIG Women’s Open at the Old Course. However, two weeks before her triumph at St. Andrews, Ko won the gold at the Olympics, a feat in itself, and one that now gives her a gold, silver and bronze medal in the three competitions since golf returned to the Summer Games.

Scottie Scheffler’s 66 after arrest
Scheffler’s shocking arrest in the Valhalla parking lot ahead of Friday’s second round of the PGA Championship merits consideration for story of the year. What that overshadowed is Scheffler’s performance when he returned to the course later that morning. Despite a limited warm-up—which included stretching in his jail cell—Scheffler turned in a five-under 66, which kept him in contention heading into the weekend.

Xander Schauffele’s cut streak
Schauffele earned his breakthrough major win at the PGA Championship and proved it was no aberration by capturing the claret jug two months later at Royal Troon. What you might have missed was Schauffele making every single cut in 21 starts this year to extend his streak to 55 made weekends. He still has a ways to go to catch Woods’ record of 142 straight made cuts, yet anytime your mentioned with Tiger you’re doing something right.