2004 in golf
Encyclopedia
Major championships
- April 11 - The Masters2004 Masters TournamentThe 2004 Masters Tournament was the 68th Masters Tournament held from April 8-11 at Augusta National Golf Club. Phil Mickelson won his first, long awaited major championship with a birdie on the 18th hole to defeat Ernie Els by one stroke...
- Phil MickelsonPhil MickelsonPhilip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed...
wins the first majorMen's major golf championshipsThe men's major golf championships, commonly known as the Major Championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf...
of his career - June 20 - U.S. Open2004 U.S. Open Golf ChampionshipThe 2004 United States Open Championship was the 104th U.S. Open, played from June 17 to June 20 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Shinnecock Hills, New York. The U.S. Open returned to Shinnecock Hills for the first time since 1995. Retief Goosen won his second U.S. Open Championship and second...
- Retief GoosenRetief GoosenRetief Goosen is a South African professional golfer who has been in the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for over 250 weeks between 2001 and 2007. His main achievements have been two U.S...
wins the second major (and U.S. Open) of his career - July 18 - The Open Championship2004 Open ChampionshipThe 2004 Open Championship was the 133rd Open Championship, played from 15-18 July at Royal Troon Golf Club. Todd Hamilton held off Ernie Els in a playoff after carding a final round 69. Phil Mickelson finished third, followed by Lee Westwood in fourth. The win made Todd the fifth consecutive...
- Todd HamiltonTodd HamiltonWilliam Todd Hamilton is an American professional golfer.Hamilton was born in the small west-central Illinois city of Galesburg. He grew up in an even smaller Henderson County town on the Mississippi called Oquawka. He attended Union High School in Biggsville, Illinois and played golf regularly on...
wins at Royal Troon in a playoff over Ernie ElsErnie ElsTheodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... - August 15 - PGA Championship2004 PGA ChampionshipThe 2004 PGA Championship was the 86th PGA Championship, played from August 12 to August 15 at the Straits Course of the Whistling Straits complex in Haven, Wisconsin . It was the first PGA Championship held at Whistling Straits. Vijay Singh earned his third major win in a three hole playoff...
- Vijay SinghVijay SinghVijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008...
wins in a three-hole playoff over Chris DiMarcoChris DiMarcoChristian Dean DiMarco is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. DiMarco has won seven tournaments as a pro, including three PGA Tour events.-Early years:...
and Justin LeonardJustin LeonardJustin Charles Garrett Leonard is an American professional golfer.Leonard was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He attended Lake Highlands High School and graduated in 1990. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and was the individual NCAA champion in 1994. He was a two-time All-American...
Events
- January 11 - Mercedes Championships winner: Stuart ApplebyStuart ApplebyStuart Appleby is an Australian professional golfer.-Early life:Appleby was born in Cohuna in rural northern Victoria, and grew up on a nearby dairy farm. He began in golf by hitting balls from paddock to paddock after his farm chores were completed...
, $1,060,000 (66-67-66-71—270) - January 15-16 - At the age of 14, golf prodigy Michelle WieMichelle WieMichelle Sung Wie is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. At age 10, she became the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship. Wie would also become the youngest winner of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and the youngest to qualify for a LPGA Tour event...
becomes the youngest woman (and only the fourth overall) to play at a PGA TourPGA TourThe PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
event, shooting 72-68 (even par) at the Sony Open in HawaiiSony Open in HawaiiThe Sony Open in Hawaii is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, and is part of the tour's FedEx Cup Series. It has been contested at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii since the event's modern-day inception as the Hawaiian Open in 1965. Starting in 1971, the tournament was held...
at Waialae Country Club in her hometown of Honolulu. She missed the cut by one stroke. - January 18 - South African Airways Open at Somerset West, South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
winner: Trevor ImmelmanTrevor ImmelmanTrevor John Immelman is a South African professional golfer and winner of the 2008 Masters Tournament.-Early years:Immelman was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Born into a golfing family , he took up golf at the age of five. He attended Hottentots Holland High School...
(71-69-69-67—276) - January 25 - Phil MickelsonPhil MickelsonPhilip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed...
wins for the first time in 19 months, beating Skip KendallSkip KendallJules I. "Skip" Kendall is an American professional golfer.Kendall was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has three Nationwide Tour victories, and finished runner-up in PGA Tour tournaments on four occasions....
on the first extra hole at the Bob Hope Chrysler ClassicBob Hope Chrysler ClassicThe Bob Hope Classic is a professional golf tournament played each January in California's Coachella Valley. Part of the PGA Tour's early season West Coast Swing, this tournament is well known for its celebrity pro-am, as well as having five daily 18-hole rounds of competition vs. the Tour standard...
. - February 1 - Jonathan KayeJonathan KayeJonathan Andrew Kaye is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.-Biography:Kaye was born in Denver, Colorado. He graduated from the University of Colorado in 1993 and turned pro that same year...
breaks from the pack on the final day in the FBR OpenFBR OpenThe Waste Management Phoenix Open is a nationally televised golf tournament, a part of the PGA Tour, held at the Tournament Players Club of Scottsdale, Arizona around the last weekend in January...
, winning by shooting five birdies in seven holes. - February 8 - Vijay SinghVijay SinghVijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008...
claims his first victory of 2004 at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. - February 15 - John DalyJohn Daly (golfer)John Patrick Daly is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour.Daly is known primarily for his driving distance off the tee , his non-country club appearance and attitude, and his rough-and-tumble personal life. Daly remains one of the most popular and intriguing figures on the PGA Tour...
ends an eight-year winless drought by beating Chris Riley and Luke DonaldLuke DonaldLuke Campbell Donald is an English professional golfer who is the current World Number One. He plays mainly on the U.S. based PGA Tour but is also a member of the European Tour. In 2006 he reached the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in his career. In January 2007, he...
in the Buick InvitationalBuick InvitationalThe Farmers Insurance Open is a PGA Tour professional golf tournament played in the San Diego, California area in the early part of the Tour season, known as the "West Coast Swing." The tournament was noted for having singer-actor Andy Williams as a celebrity host from 1968 to 1988. The tournament...
. - February 22 - Mike WeirMike WeirMichael Richard Weir, CM, O.Ont is a Canadian professional golfer on the PGA Tour. He spent over 110 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 2001 and 2005. He is best known for winning the Masters in 2003....
wins his second Nissan OpenNissan OpenThe Northern Trust Open, is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, first played in 1926. Formerly known as the Nissan Open and originally known as the Los Angeles Open, it is played annually in February in Pacific Palisades, California. The tournament has been contested at the Riviera...
. - February 29 - Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
defeats Davis Love IIIDavis Love IIIDavis Milton Love III is an American professional golfer.Love was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina before turning professional in 1985. He earned his PGA Tour card in the fall of 1985, on his first attempt. He quickly established himself on the PGA...
to win the WGC-Accenture Match Play ChampionshipWGC-Accenture Match Play ChampionshipThe WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship is one of the annual World Golf Championships. It is a knockout event and is staged in January or February each year...
for a record second year in a row - February 29 - Annika SörenstamAnnika SörenstamAnnika Sörenstam is a Swedish-American professional golfer whose achievements rank her as one of the most successful golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golfer...
wins her third ANZ Ladies MastersANZ Ladies MastersThe ANZ Ladies Masters is a golf tournament that is played in Australia. It is one of the leading tournaments on the ALPG Tour and has been co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour since 2001. Between 1997 and 2000 it was an event on the LPGA Tour....
. - March 28 - Grace ParkGrace Park (golfer)Grace Park is a South Korean professional golfer on the LPGA Tour.-Amateur career:Park was born in Seoul, South Korea. She moved to Hawaii at the age of 12, and then to Arizona. She received the 1996 Dial Award as top female high-school scholar-athlete in the United States...
wins the first major of the LPGALPGAThe LPGA, in full the Ladies Professional Golf Association, is an American organization for female professional golfers. The organization, whose headquarters is in Daytona Beach, Florida, is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from...
season, the Kraft Nabisco ChampionshipKraft Nabisco ChampionshipThe Kraft Nabisco Championship is one of the four major championships on the LPGA Tour. It was founded in 1972 by Dinah Shore and has been classified as a major since 1983...
, by one shot over 17-year-old Aree SongAree SongAree Song is a Korean professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. Her father is South Korean and her mother is Thai. She was born in Bangkok, Thailand...
. Michelle WieMichelle WieMichelle Sung Wie is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. At age 10, she became the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship. Wie would also become the youngest winner of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and the youngest to qualify for a LPGA Tour event...
finished fourth, four shots behind Park. - March 28 - Adam Scott wins The Players ChampionshipThe Players ChampionshipThe Players Championship is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour.Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, the inaugural event in 1974 was played at Atlanta Country Club in Marietta, Georgia before moving to the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas in 1975 and Inverrary...
by one shot over Pádraig HarringtonPadraig HarringtonPádraig P. Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who plays on The European Tour and The PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008.-Background:...
. Scott is the tournament's youngest winner ever. - May 9 - Se Ri PakSe Ri PakPak Se Ri is a South Korean professional golfer, playing on the LPGA Tour. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in November 2007.-Career overview:...
wins the LPGA Michelob ULTRA Open at KingsmillMichelob ULTRA Open at KingsmillThe Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill was a women's professional golf tournament, played from 2003 through 2009 on the LPGA Tour. It took place annually in Virginia in May, with the final round traditionally played on Mother's Day since 2004...
, qualifying her for the World Golf Hall of Fame. She will not be eligible for induction, however, until she completes her 10th year on tour in 2007. - June 13 - Annika SörenstamAnnika SörenstamAnnika Sörenstam is a Swedish-American professional golfer whose achievements rank her as one of the most successful golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golfer...
successfully defends her title in the second major of the LPGA season, the LPGA ChampionshipLPGA ChampionshipThe LPGA Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Wegmans LPGA Championship, is the second-longest running tournament in the history of the Ladies Professional Golf Association surpassed only by the U.S. Women's Open. It is one of four majors on the LPGA tour...
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Awards
- PGA Tour Player of the Year: Vijay SinghVijay SinghVijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008...
- PGA Tour leading money winner: Vijay SinghVijay SinghVijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008...
wins a record $10,905,166 - PGA Tour rookie of the year: Todd HamiltonTodd HamiltonWilliam Todd Hamilton is an American professional golfer.Hamilton was born in the small west-central Illinois city of Galesburg. He grew up in an even smaller Henderson County town on the Mississippi called Oquawka. He attended Union High School in Biggsville, Illinois and played golf regularly on...
Men's tours' official sites
- PGA Tour, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour
- European Tour, European Seniors Tour and Challenge Tour
- Japan Golf Tour (English version)
- Asian Tour
- PGA Tour of Australasia
- Sunshine Tour
Women's tours' official sites
Rankings
- Official World Golf Rankings - updated each Monday
- Women's World Rankings - updated each Monday
- World Amateur Golf Rankings
Golf news sites
Australia basedUK based
U.S. based