Sam Torrance: The golf year in review, from Superman Bryson DeChambeau to doyen of commentary Peter Alliss
This has been a strange year and that has been true in golf as well.
We all hope that normality can resume in every respect in 2021, and that tournaments will not have to be postponed or cancelled again.
In the circumstances, the European Tour deserves great credit for putting measures in place to resume and finish the season.
And there were still some fascinating stories worth looking back on for my golf review of 2020.
Bryson DeChambeau
Bryson DeChambeau’s transformation from Clark Kent to Superman was the biggest surprise of the year.
He put in an extraordinary performance to win the US Open by six shots at Winged Foot.
His innovation and huge hitting didn’t just bring him a first major championship, they also posed questions about the future direction of the game.
Few have had an impact on this year quite like DeChambeau.
Dustin Johnson
Dustin Johnson is a complex character,so the usual rules don’t always apply.
He’s the cowboy, and he definitely has the swagger of a gunslinger.
Normally, winning the Masters would be the making of a player, but Johnson is so laid back I struggle to see it changing him.
Still, he had a great 2020, with that sublime display at Augusta and a FedEx Cup triumph, too.
He’s back at No1 in the world rankings and he’s good enough to stay there for a long time.
Lee Westwood
He may be 47 but there is no sign of Lee Westwood fading any time soon.
In a gripping finish to the European Tour season, he became the oldest man by some distance to win the order of merit.
It’s testament to the hard work he puts in at the gym and how seriously he treats practice.
Lee is a good friend, a great guy and, having spent many a Ryder Cup alongside him, I’d love to see him make an 11th appearance for Europe in 2021.
Eurostars
Plenty of other European players also shone this year in a limited schedule.
Tyrrell Hatton followed up victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational with more at Wentworth in the PGA Championship.
Jon Rahm enjoyed two brief spells as world No1, which will hopefully give him a taste for more.
And English youngster Sam Horsfield won twice in the space of a month on the European Tour’s UK swing, at the Hero Open and then the Celtic Classic.
Viktor Hovland
Viktor Hovland announced himself on the scene in incredible fashion this year.
The Norwegian, who went to college in the US, won his first PGA Tour event in February and another in December.
The 23-year-old then flew straight to Dubai where he finished tied for third in the DP World Tour Championship.
His sudden arrival reminds me a bit of Rahm’s.
Hovland is only a baby but he hits it a mile, is a great iron player and has great short game and putting skills.
I also love his character; he gets on with it and just delivers.
I’m sure huge success is coming his way.
Tiger and son
We got a glimpse of another exciting talent when Tiger Woods and his 11-year-old son Charlie played together at an exhibition event in Florida last week.
I thought the shots of him and his son on the range, the synchronicity of the two swings and every mannerism identical, was fascinating to watch.
The kid’s only 11 and he looks like he’s got a big future ahead of him.
We’re far from finished with the name Woods in golf, it seems.
Peter Alliss
It was so sad to lose the doyen of golf commentary in Peter Alliss.
I was fortunate enough to do my apprenticeship with him for seven or eight years, and he was an incredibly humorous, loving and kind man.
There have been so many great plaudits offered for this great man.
Peter is gone and he will be sadly missed.