The PGA Tour's 2017 season started with Brendan Steele claiming his second-ever PGA Tour victory at the Safeway Open, before Justin Thomas claimed a second PGA Tour victory himself at the CIMB Classic the following week. If you'd told any golf fan that Steele would remain on one victory for the season, you wouldn't have raised an eyebrow. If you'd told them that Thomas would go on to claim another four victories, a Major, the FedEx Cup, Player of the Year & the Arnold Palmer Award as the season's top-earner, you'd be peeling eyebrows off the ceiling. But, as is the nature of golf, a relatively low-key early-season event in Malaysia kick-started one of the most impressive seasons in modern golf and became the making of a golf superstar.

Despite his successful defence of the CIMB Classic title, it was perhaps not until the Sony Open in Hawaii that we saw JT showcase his greatness for the first time. Coming into the tournament off the back of a win in the SBS Tournament of Champions in the previous week, Thomas claimed consecutive wins in Hawaii. The American shot a new tournament record and became the youngest player ever to shoot a sub-60 round as he struck 59 on his opening round, courtesy of eagles to open and close the round.

Speaking of rising stars, January saw Jon Rahm win his first-ever PGA Tour victory at the Farmers Insurance Open in California. On paper, this holds little significance (Rahm was one of twelve maiden winners in 2017) but I can't be the only one expecting this to be the first of many for the young Spaniard. Jon Rahm finished 2016 as World No. 137 but now sits at World No. 5.

The following month, Dustin Johnson made history en route to becoming the World No. 1. DJ's win at the Genesis Open, the thirteenth of his career, meant he joined Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as one of only three players to win a tournament in each of his first ten professional season. Fittingly, this win propelled him to top spot in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).

From consistent TOUR victories to elusive Majors, Sergio Garcia famously scalped his maiden Major title with a playoff win over Justin Rose in the Masters at Augusta National. Kim Si-Woo pulled off a gargantuan shock at The PLAYERS Championship in May, coming from behind on the final day, the 21-year-old South Korean was also the youngest player to win the tournament by more than a year and a half. Brooks Koepka made it seven maiden Major winners on the bounce with another surprising victory at the U.S. Open, before Jordan Spieth (who else) put an end to the run with his third career Major in the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Justin Thomas capped off the year's Majors and put himself in the driving seat for Player of the Year with a win at the PGA Championship.

The lucrative $10 million FedEx Cup prize made the final four tournaments- the FedEx Cup playoffs- a tense affair for the world's best. DJ pulled off a playoff win in the opening playoff event- The Northern Trust- with a moment of magic against Jordan Spieth. JT made it five for the year in the Dell Technologies Championship to all-but confirm the Player of the Year and FedEx Cup titles. Marc Leishman finished strongly with a BMW Championship win, but it was Xander Schauffele's TOUR Championship victory to close the season that grabbed headlines. The victory earned him a well-deserved Rookie of the Year title as he climbed from World No. 299 to World No. 32.

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com