2021 in golf

This article summarizes the highlights of professional and amateur golf in the year 2021.

Men's professional golf

Major championships">Men's major golf championships">Major championships

8–11 April: Masters Tournament – Hideki Matsuyama became the first Japanese male golfer to win a major championship, and the first Asian-born golfer to win the Masters, finishing one stroke ahead of Will Zalatoris.
20–23 May: PGA Championship – Phil Mickelson won by two strokes over Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen; it was his second PGA Championship victory, and his sixth major championship victory. He is the oldest player to win a major championship.
17–20 June: U.S. Open – Jon Rahm won by one shot over Louis Oosthuizen. It was his first major victory and he became the first U.S. Open champion from Spain.
15–18 July: The Open Championship – Collin Morikawa won by two strokes over Jordan Spieth. It was his first Open Championship victory, and his second major victory.

[World Golf Championships]

25–28 February: WGC-Workday Championship – Collin Morikawa won by three strokes over Billy Horschel, Viktor Hovland, and Brooks Koepka.
24–28 March: WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play – Billy Horschel defeated Scottie Scheffler, 2 and 1, in the championship match. It was his first WGC victory.
5–8 August: WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational – Abraham Ancer defeated Sam Burns and Hideki Matsuyama on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. It was his first WGC win.
28–31 October: WGC-HSBC Champions – ''Cancelled''

[FedEx Cup] playoff events

19–22 August: The Northern Trust – Tony Finau defeated Cameron Smith in a playoff.
26–29 August: BMW Championship – Patrick Cantlay defeated Bryson DeChambeau in a playoff.
2–5 September: Tour Championship – Patrick Cantlay won by one stroke over Jon Rahm.

Other leading PGA Tour events

11–14 March: The Players Championship – Justin Thomas won by one stroke over Lee Westwood for his first Players victory.

''For a complete list of PGA Tour results see 2020–21 PGA Tour.''

Leading European Tour events

9–12 September: BMW PGA Championship – Billy Horschel won by one stroke over Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Laurie Canter, and Jamie Donaldson. He became the second American golfer to win the BMW PGA Championship.
18–21 November: DP World Tour Championship, Dubai – Collin Morikawa won by three strokes over Alexander Björk and Matt Fitzpatrick. He also won the Race to Dubai.

''For a complete list of European Tour results see 2021 European Tour.''

Team events

24–26 September: Ryder Cup – Team USA defeated Europe by a score of 19 to 9.

Tour leaders

PGA Tour
*FedEx Cup – Patrick Cantlay
*Leading money winner – Jon Rahm
European Tour – Collin Morikawa
Japan Golf Tour – Chan Kim
Asian Tour – season extended into 2022
PGA Tour of Australasia – Brad Kennedy – 2020–21 season
Sunshine Tour – Christiaan Bezuidenhout – 2020–21 season

Awards

PGA Tour
*PGA Player of the Year – Jon Rahm
*Player of the Year (Jack Nicklaus Trophy) – Patrick Cantlay
*Vardon Trophy – Jon Rahm
*Byron Nelson Award – Jon Rahm
*Rookie of the Year (Arnold Palmer Award) – Will Zalatoris
*Payne Stewart Award – Justin Rose
European Tour
*Golfer of the Year –
*Rookie of the Year – Matti Schmid
Korn Ferry Tour
*Player of the Year – Stephan Jäger

Results from other tours

Other happenings

20 June: Jon Rahm regained the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking after winning the U.S. Open, gaining it for the third time, replacing Dustin Johnson.
11 July: Dustin Johnson regained the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking, gaining it for the seventh time, replacing Rahm.
18 July: Rahm regained the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking, gaining it for the fourth time, replacing Johnson.

Women's professional golf

LPGA majors

1–4 April: ANA Inspiration – Patty Tavatanakit won her first major by two strokes over Lydia Ko.
3–6 June: U.S. Women's Open – Yuka Saso won her first major in a playoff over Nasa Hataoka.
24–27 June: KPMG Women's PGA Championship – Nelly Korda won her first major by three strokes over Lizette Salas.
22–25 July: The Evian Championship – Minjee Lee won her first major at the first hole of a sudden-death playoff over Lee Jeong-eun.
19–22 August: Women's British Open – Anna Nordqvist won her third major by one stroke over Georgia Hall, Madelene Sagström and Lizette Salas.

Additional LPGA Tour events

18–21 November: CME Group Tour Championship – Ko Jin-young won for the second consecutive year. She also won the Race to the CME Globe, Player of the Year, and topped the money list.

For a complete list of LPGA Tour results, see 2021 LPGA Tour.
''For a complete list of Ladies European Tour results see 2021 Ladies European Tour.''

Team events

4–6 September: Solheim Cup – The European team defeated the United States, 15 to 13.

Money list leaders

Other tour results

Other happenings

28 June: Nelly Korda became the number one golfer in the Women's World Golf Rankings after her win at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, replacing Ko Jin-young.
25 October: Ko regains number one position from Korda after winning the BMW Ladies Championship.
8 November: Korda regains the number one position from Ko.

Senior men's professional golf

Senior majors

6–9 May: Regions Tradition – Alex Čejka beat Steve Stricker in a playoff to claim his first senior victory in only his third start on the PGA Tour Champions.
27–30 May: KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship – Alex Čejka won his second senior major in his second start.
24–27 June: Bridgestone Senior Players Championship – Steve Stricker won his third senior major by six strokes over Jerry Kelly.
8–11 July: U.S. Senior Open – Jim Furyk won his first senior major by three strokes over Retief Goosen and Mike Weir.
22–25 July: The Senior Open Championship – Stephen Dodd won his first senior major by one stoke over Miguel Ángel Jiménez.

Charles Schwab Cup playoff events

22–24 October: Dominion Charity Classic – Bernhard Langer won in a playoff over Doug Barron, becoming the oldest winner on the PGA Tour Champions.
5–7 November: TimberTech Championship – Steven Alker won by two strokes over Jim Furyk and Miguel Ángel Jiménez.
11–14 November: Charles Schwab Cup Championship – Phil Mickelson won by one stroke over Alker.

Full results

Senior women's professional golf

29 July – 1 August: U.S. Senior Women's Open – Annika Sörenstam won by eight strokes over Liselotte Neumann.
26–29 August: Senior LPGA Championship – Trish Johnson won her second Senior LPGA by one stroke over Becky Morgan.

Amateur golf

14–17 January: Latin America Amateur Championship – Cancelled
8–9 May: Walker Cup – The United States team won, 14–12.
21–26 May: NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships – Rachel Heck took the individual title and Ole Miss captured their first team title.
28 May – 2 June: NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships – Turk Pettit took the individual title and Pepperdine captured their second team title.
7–12 June: The Womens Amateur Championship – Louise Duncan of Scotland defeated Jóhanna Lea Lúðvíksdóttir of Iceland, 9 and 8, in the final.
14–19 June: The Amateur Championship – Laird Shepherd of England defeated countryman Monty Scowsill after 38 holes.
23–26 June: European Amateur – Christoffer Bring of Denmark won by two strokes over Ludvig Åberg of Sweden.
21–24 July: European Ladies Amateur Championship – Ingrid Lindblad of Sweden won by three strokes over Alexandra Försterling of Germany.
2–8 August: U.S. Women's Amateur – American Jensen Castle defeated Hou Yu-chiang of Taiwan, 2 and 1, in the final.
9–15 August: U.S. Amateur – James Piot defeated Austin Greaser, 2 and 1, in the final.
26–28 August: Curtis Cup – The United States team won, 12.5–7.5.
3–6 November: Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship – Keita Nakajima of Japan, the number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, defeated Kho Taichi of Hong Kong in a playoff.

'''Other happenings'''

Golf in multi-sport events

29 July – 7 August: Summer Olympics – In the men's tournament: Xander Schauffele of the United States won the gold medal, Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia won the silver and Pan Cheng-tsung of Chinese Taipei won the bronze after a seven-man playoff. In the women's tournament: Nelly Korda of the United States won the gold medal, Mone Inami of Japan took the silver medal in a playoff over Lydia Ko of New Zealand who won bronze.

Deaths

16 January – Jimmy Powell, American professional golfer who had four wins on the Senior PGA Tour.
20 January – Lonnie Nielsen, American professional golfer who had two wins on the Champions Tour.
26 January – Bob McCallister, American professional golfer who had two wins on the PGA Tour.
19 February – Bill Wright, American professional golfer who was the first African-American to win a United States Golf Association national title.
25 February – Lyndsay Stephen, Australian professional golfer who had two wins on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
13 March – Rocky Thompson, American professional golfer who had three wins on the Senior PGA Tour.
18 March – DeWitt Weaver, American professional golfer who had two wins on the PGA Tour.
23 March – Bob Lewis, American amateur golfer who finished runner-up at the 1980 U.S. Amateur.
29 March – Jerry McGee, American professional golfer who had four wins on the PGA Tour.
6 April – Al Mengert, American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour.
23 April – Bill Johnston, American professional golfer who had two wins on the PGA Tour.
23 May – Lionel Platts, English professional golfer.
25 June – Brian Bamford, English professional golfer.
16 July – David Snell, English professional golfer.
20 September – Billy Maxwell, American professional golfer who won the 1951 U.S. Amateur and seven PGA Tour events.
23 September – Bruce Fleisher, American professional golfer who won the 1968 U.S. Amateur, one PGA Tour event and 18 Champions Tour events.
24 October - Fredrik Andersson Hed, Swedish professional golfer who had one win on the European Tour.
28 November - Lee Elder, American professional golfer who won four PGA Tour events and eight Senior PGA Tour events. He was also the first black golfer to play in the Masters Tournament.