2017 PGA Tour: Ranking The Months By Its Winners

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As part of our series of year-end reviews, we look at the 11 months of the 2016-17 PGA Tour season, and rank them based on the quality of its champions in the aggregate. For equitable comparisons, we excluded opposite field events as well as the team event in New Orleans.

In terms of star power, the top singular months were February and August, as all the winners finished the year ranked inside the top 10 in the world. As for longer stretches of time, the first 12 weeks of the year was about as good as it gets with Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson combining for five wins. Other big stars who won during this three-month stretch included Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Jon Rahm, and Rickie Fowler.

12-WEEK WINTER STRETCH

  • SBS Tournament of Champions: Thomas (No. 3)
  • Sony Open: Thomas (No. 3)
  • CareerBuilder Challenge: Swafford (No. 94)
  • Farmers Insurance: Rahm (No. 4)
  • Waste Mgt Open: Matsuyama (No. 5)
  • Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Spieth (No. 2)
  • Genesis Open: Johnson (No. 1)
  • The Honda Classic: Fowler (No. 7)
  • WGC-Mexico: Johnson (No. 1)
  • Valspar Championship: Hadwin (No. 60)
  • Arnold Palmer Invitational: Leishman (No. 12)
  • WGC-Dell Match Play: Johnson (No. 1)

Another star-filled timeline occurred during a nine-week period starting in July with the Open Championship, right through the Tour Championship in September. During this late-summer stretch, Spieth and Thomas captured the final two majors, while top-ranked stars such as DJ, Matsuyama, Marc Leishman, and Henrik Stenson also took home titles.

9-WEEK SUMMER STRETCH

  • The Open Championship: Spieth (No. 2)
  • Canadian Open: Vegas (No. 44)
  • WGC-Bridgestone: Matsuayama (No. 5)
  • PGA Championship: Thomas (No. 3)
  • Wyndham Championship: Stenson (No. 9)
  • Northern Trust: Johnson (No. 1)
  • Dell Tech Championship: Thomas (No. 3)
  • BMW Championship: Leishman (No. 12)
  • Tour Championship: Schauffele (No. 25)

After that, despite major championships being contested, it was a mixed bag relative to marquee names winning the big prizes.


1.) FEBRUARY 2017

One of only two months during the season that saw all its champions finish the year ranked inside the top 10 in the world, including wins by Nos. 1 and 2, Johnson and Spieth, respectively.

Winners (4): Matsuyama (5), Spieth (2), Fowler (7), Johnson (1)
Total Points: 15
Avg Points: 3.75

Waste Management Open
Hideki Matsuyama -17

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Jordan Spieth -19

Genesis Open
Dustin Johnson -17

The Honda Classic
Rickie Fowler -12


2.) AUGUST 2017

Alongside February, the other month where all the winners would go on to finish the year ranked in the World Top 10.

Winners (4): Matsuyama (5), Thomas (3), Stenson (9), Johnson (1)
Total Points: 18
Avg Points: 4.5

WGC-Bridgestone Invitational
Hideki Matsuyama -16

PGA Championship
Justin Thomas -8

Wyndham Championship
Henrik Stenson -22

THE NORTHERN TRUST
Dustin Johnson -13


3.) SEPTEMBER 2017

Thomas followed up his first major win with a playoff victory in Boston, his fifth of the season, en route to the 2017 FedExCup title. The month was anchored by second-of-the-season wins for both Leishman and Schauffele.

Winners (3): Thomas (3), Leishman (12), Schauffele (25)
Total Points: 40
Avg Points: 13.3

Dell Technologies Championship
Justin Thomas -17

BMW Championship
Marc Leishman -23

Tour Championship
Xander Schauffele -12


4.) OCTOBER 2016

A win by Brendan Steele officially kicked off the 2016-17 season. However, it was the victories of Thomas and Matsuyama that made this wrap-around month one of the best.

Winners (3): Steele (45), Thomas (3), Matsuyama (5)
Total Points: 52
Avg Points: 17.3

Safeway Open
Brendan Steele -18

CIMB Classic
Justin Thomas -23

WGC-HSBC Champions
Hideki Matsuyama -23


5.) JUNE 2017

What looked like a solid month early on, with wins by Dufner and Berger, became one of the best after tail end victories by Koepka and Spieth.

Winners (4): Dufner (34), Berger (28), Koepka (8), Spieth (2)
Total Points: 72
Avg Points: 18

Memorial Tournament
Jason Dufner -13

FedEx St. Jude Classic
Daniel Berger -10

U.S. Open
Brooks Koepka -16

Travelers Championship
Jordan Spieth -12


6.) MARCH 2017

A pair of wins by DJ, highlighted a month that also saw the Leishman capture the first of his two titles on the year.

Winners (4): Johnson (1), Hadwin (60), Leishman (12), Johnson (1)
Total Points: 74
Avg Points: 18.5

WGC-Mexico
Dustin Johnson -14

Valspar Championship
Adam Hadwin -14

Arnold Palmer Invitational
Marc Leishman -11

WGC-Dell Match Play
Dustin Johnson 1-up


7.) JANUARY 2017

Two wins by Thomas, and another by Rahm bookended the opening month of the year. A win by Swafford skewed an otherwise strong month of quality winners.

Winners (4): Thomas (3), Thomas (3), Swafford (94), Rahm (4)
Total Points: 104
Avg Points: 26

SBS Tournament of Champions
Justin Thomas -22

Sony Open
Justin Thomas -27

CareerBuilder Challenge
Hudson Swafford -20

Farmers Insurance Open
Jon Rahm -11


8.) APRIL 2017

Overall a solid month, but one that was clearly highlighted by Garcia’s historic win at the Masters. The month closed with Chappell winning his first career title in one of the best finishes of 2017.

Winners (4): Henley (46), Garcia (10), Bryan (67), Chappell (32)
Total Points: 155
Avg Points: 38.75

Shell Houston Open
Russell Henley -20

The Masters Tournament
Sergio Garcia -9

RBC Heritage
Wesley Bryan -13

Valero Texas Open
Kevin Chappell -12


9.) MAY 2017

Only one of two months that didn’t include a top 10 ranked player among its stable of winners. Yet Harman’s win in Carolina, like Chappell’s in Texas, was one of the top 10 best finishes of the year.

Winners (4): Harman (25), Kim (42), Horschel (70), Kisner (26)
Total Points: 163
Avg Points: 40.75

Wells Fargo Championship
Brian Harman -10

THE PLAYERS Championship
Si Woo Kim -10

AT&T Byron Nelson
Billy Horschel -12

DEAN & DELUCA Invitational
Kevin Kisner -10


10.) JULY 2017

Not exactly a star-studded month, but one that was headlined by Spieth’s epic back-nine comeback at Birkdale en route to his third major championship title.

Winners (5): Stanley (48), Schauffele (25), DeChambeau (98), Spieth (2), Vegas (44)
Total Points: 217
Avg Points: 43.4

Quicken Loans National
Kyle Stanley -7

The Greenbrier Classic
Xander Schauffele -14

John Deere Classic
Bryson DeChambeau -18

The Open Championship
Jordan Spieth -12

RBC Canadian Open
Jhonattan Vegas -21


11.) NOVEMBER 2016

Perez clearly highlighted this month, as the 41-year old fan favorite went on to enjoy a career year, and followed it up with another win in 2018’s wrap-around portion at the CIMB. Yet, it’s also the only month that had a winner who finished the year outside the top 100. In fact, both Pampling and Hughes did little of anything beyond these early wins, and teamed up to make this month by far the worst in terms quality champions.

Winners (3): Pampling (247), Perez (19), Hughes (143)
Total Points: 409
Avg Points: 136.66

Shriners Hospitals for Children Open
Rod Pampling -20

OHL Classic at Mayakoba
Pat Perez -21

The RSM Classic
Mackenzie Hughes -17


CREDITS: Getty Images


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