Golfers Who Had an Unexpectedly Good 2015 Season
We know the golfers who had "good" seasons in 2015. Among them Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and to a lesser degree, Rory McIlroy. These golfers led the money list, the FedEx Cup points standing, accumulated the most wins, top-10s, etc.
Among these golfers, however, some success was expected. Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson, for example, played much the same as they have in recent years. Others from the group above achieved more surprising success.
And of course, outside of those who did the best work in '15, other players were surprisingly good. Of course, such an assessment necessitates a slightly different set of criteria.
Let's take a look at seven golfers with better-than-expected resumes in 2015 and look at how each golfer exceeded expectations.
Jason Day
1 of 7
2014-2015 season highlights: 20 starts: 18 cuts made. 5 wins (Farmers Insurance Open, RBC Canadian Open, PGA Championship, The Barclays, BMW Championship); 11 top-10 finishes, 15 top-25 finishes
Money list: 2
2013-2014 money list: 16
Why it was unexpectedly good
Jason Day won his first major in 2015, which was less unexpected than winning five times during the course of his campaign. He had won just two times in the last five years combined. He nearly doubled his top-10 total from 2014 and moved from the "best golfer without a major" list to the "best golfer in the world" list.
Rickie Fowler
2 of 7
2014-2015 season highlights: 21 starts: 17 cuts made. 2 wins (The Players Championship, Deutsche Bank Championship, plus the Scottish Open on the European Tour); 7 top-10 finishes; 10 top-25 finishes
Money list: 4
2013-2014 money list: 8
Why it was unexpectedly good
When some of Rickie Fowler's peers named him one of the most overrated players on tour, they were referencing his career prior to The Players Championship, which Fowler won in steely fashion. He also won a FedEx Cup playoff event and a European Tour event. Fowler had won just once in his career prior to the Players win (2012).
Charley Hoffman
3 of 7
2014-2015 season highlights: 28 starts: 21 cuts made. 1 win (OHL Classic at Mayakoba); 7 top-10 finishes; 12 top-25 finishes
Money list: 11
2013-2014 money list: 46
Why it was unexpectedly good
Charley Hoffman hadn't won a PGA Tour event since 2010, and he recorded his highest number of top-10 finishes in his career, as well as four top-five finishes last year. He hadn't recorded more than one in his career. And at nearly 40 years of age, an upturn in form was unexpected from the Californian.
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Danny Lee
4 of 7
2014-2015 season highlights: 36 starts: 24 cuts made; 1 win (Greenbrier Classic); 8 top-10 finishes; 13 top-25 finishes
Money list: 13
2013-2014 money list: 120
Why it was unexpectedly good
As you can see above, Danny Lee made a huge jump in the money list. Winless in two full seasons on tour and spending more time on the Web.com Tour over the past five years, Danny Lee had a breakout 2015 campaign. As a golfer who missed the cut in nearly half of his starts in 2013-2014, Lee's win and eight top-10s were certainly unexpected.
Jason Bohn
5 of 7
2014-2015 season highlights: 27 starts: 21 cuts made. 2 second-place finishes; 6 top-10 finishes; 11 top-25 finishes
Money list: 36
2013-2014 money list: 65
Why it was unexpectedly good
True, Jason Bohn has been playing steadily better golf over the past three seasons, he doubled his top-10 finishes from 2014-2015 and halved his cuts missed. At 43, and averaging just 280 yards off the tee (151st on tour), Bohn is exceeding expectations.
Daniel Berger
6 of 7
2014-2015 season highlights: 31 starts: 17 cuts made; 2 second-place finishes; 6 top-10 finishes; 13 top-25 finishes
Money list: 25
2013-2014 money list: N/A
Why it was unexpectedly good
PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Daniel Berger played unexpectedly well last season. Certainly, it's out of the ordinary for a rookie to finish 25th on the money list. And Berger, with his two second-place finishes, nearly recorded a win in his maiden campaign. At 15th on the 2014 Web.com Tour money list and without a win on that tour two years ago, there was no indication Berger would join the tour and perform.
Kevin Kisner
7 of 7
2014-2015 season highlights: 30 stars: 22 cuts made; 3 second-place finishes; 6 top-10 finishes; 10 top-25 finishes
Money list: 20
2013-2014 money list: 100
Why it was unexpectedly good
Kevin Kisner took decent play in 2013-2014 and took a step forward in 2014-2015. His three second-place finishes were his first top-fives of his four seasons on tour. And his six top-10 finishes and 10 top-25s doubled his previous year's total. With strong play so far in the new season, Kisner looks like he'll be a winner on tour soon, something no one would have expected at the beginning of last season.
Stats via PGATour.com
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