The PGA Tour’s first wrap-around season has come to a close with a familiar name atop the money list (Rory McIlroy, for the second time in three years) and a star on the rise atop the FedEx Cup standings (Billy Horschel). But it wasn’t an easy road for either. Before his mid-summer hot streak, McIlroy was best known in 2014 for second-round meltdowns and a broken engagement. Horschel had just two top-10 finishes before his playoffs breakthrough.
But Rory and Billy weren’t the only players worth following in 2014. Jimmy Walker dominated the early portion of the season with three wins by mid-February. Patrick Reed steamrolled his way into the conversation as one of the “five best” players in the world with two wins in six starts. Martin Kaymer gave us a preview of McIlroy’s dominance by nearly going wire-to-wire at both The Players and the U.S. Open. Here’s a statistical look at how the game’s best got where they did in 2014.
Out of nowhere
To say Horschel’s playoff hot streak was unexpected is understating the point. He is the lowest-ranked player entering the playoffs (69th) to win the FedEx Cup, and he had the fewest top-10s in the regular season of any eventual champion (and the first with more top-10s in the playoffs than the regular season). He is the third cup champion in the last four years who did not win a tournament during the regular season. Horschel went from 72nd on the regular season money list to seventh, and that doesn’t include the $10 million annuity he earned for winning the cup. Not a bad month.
Regular season top-10 finishes for the FedEx Cup champion
| Year | Player | Top-10s | Best finish | Playoff top-10s | Best playoff finish |
| 2014 | Billy Horschel | 2 | T-6: Hyundai, Memphis | 3 | Won BMW, Tour Ch. |
| 2013 | Henrik Stenson | 6 | 2nd three times | 2 | Won Boston, Tour Ch. |
| 2012 | Brandt Snedeker | 4 | Won Farmers | 3 | Won Tour Ch. |
| 2011 | Bill Haas | 6 | T-2: Hope, Greenbrier | 1 | Won Tour Ch. |
| 2010 | Jim Furyk | 6 | Won Transitions | 1 | Won Tour Ch. |
| 2009 | Tiger Woods | 11 | Won five times | 3 | Won BMW |
| 2008 | Vijay Singh | 6 | Won Bridgestone | 3 | Won Barclays, Boston |
| 2007 | Tiger Woods | 9 | Won five times | 3 | Won BMW, Tour Ch. |
The money man
Rory McIlroy won $8,280,096 in 17 events, including wins at the Open Championship, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA Championship. He also won more than $8 million in 2012. In between, in 2013, he inexplicably finished 41st on the PGA Tour money list with less than $2 million. He is the first player in PGA Tour history to drop $6 million in earnings from one year to the next and follow it up by increasing his money won by $6 million the next year.
With apologies to Geoff Ogilvy and his stunning run to the Tour Championship, McIlroy is the best candidate for Comeback Player of the Year.
Largest money gains from 2013 to 2014 (PGA Tour members both years)
| Player | 2014 earnings | 2013 earnings | Difference |
| Rory McIlroy | $8,280,096 | $1,802,443 | $6,477,653 |
| Bubba Watson | 6,336,978 | 1,759,276 | 4,577,702 |
| Jimmy Walker | 5,787,016 | 2,117,570 | 3,669,446 |
| Martin Kaymer | 4,532,537 | 882,937 | 3,649,600 |
| Chris Kirk | 4,854,777 | 1,728,616 | 3,126,161 |
| Kevin Na | 3,153,107 | 110,864 | 3,042,243 |
| Rickie Fowler | 4,806,117 | 1,816,742 | 2,989,375 |
| Brendon Todd | 3,396,747 | 473,220 | 2,923,527 |
The long and the short of it
Bubba Watson led the PGA Tour in driving distance at 314.2 yards. Only John Daly (11 times) has led in driving distance more often than Watson, who has now led the Tour five times (2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2014).
Watson’s distance of all drives (305.1 yards) also led the Tour, and he had the only 400-yard bomb during the season, his 424-yard blast on the 16th hole during round three of the WGC-Bridgestone finishing 27 yards longer than the Tour’s next longest shot (Webb Simpson at Hyundai, 397 yards).
Watson smacked one-third of his tee balls more than 320 yards, quite a difference from the last man on the list, Luke Donald, who only hit four balls more than 320 yards this year.
Highest percentage of drives hit more than 320 yards
| Rank | Player | Percentage | No. of drives |
| 1 | Bubba Waston | 33.42 | 262 |
| 2 | Dustin Johnson | 27.68 | 160 |
| 3 | Rory McIlroy | 26.34 | 177 |
| 4 | Andrew Loupe | 26.04 | 182 |
| 5 | J.B. Holmes | 21.69 | 233 |
Lowest percentage of drives hit more than 320 yards
| Rank | Player | Percentage | No. of drives |
| 173 | Justin Leonard | .81 | 7 |
| 174 | Brian Davis | .71 | 8 |
| 175 | David Toms | .66 | 5 |
| T-176 | Ken Duke | .65 | 6 |
| T-176 | Luke Donald | .65 | 4 |
Going low and staying there
Despite the fact Horschel performed the Florida Gator chomp on the 18th green after winning the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta, it was still a great year for Georgia Bulldogs.
Former UGA golfers won 10 times in 2014, including two wins by Chris Kirk, Bubba Watson and Patrick Reed, who played for the Bulldogs before transferring to Augusta State. It might be forgotten now because it happened almost a year ago, but one of those winners was Harris English at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. English shot 21 under that week with four rounds in the 60s. It was a part of a stretch in which he had 26 straight subpar rounds, tied with Pat Perez for the most consecutive rounds at par or better in 2013-14. (Coincidentally, both players began their streak in the fourth round of the McGladrey Classic.)
Horschel had the year’s fourth-longest, and no, it wasn’t from the playoffs. The player who didn’t have a top-five finish in the regular season did manage to string together 19 straight rounds at par or better around the calendar turn.
Most consecutive rounds at par or better in 2014
| Player | Rounds | Duration |
| Harris English | 26 | McGladrey (4th round) to WGC-Cadillac (1st round) |
| Pat Perez | 26 | McGladrey (4th round) to No. Trust (1st round) |
| Kevin Na | 21 | Mayakoba (1st round) to No. Trust (1st round) |
| Billy Horschel | 19 | Frys.com (2nd round) to Farmers Ins. (2nd round) |
Working on the weekend
Can you name the five players who appeared in 10 or more PGA Tour events in 2014 and didn’t miss a cut?
Some of the names come easy, like Adam Scott, who extended his Tour-best streak of cuts made to 43. Or Jim Furyk, who has made his bones finishing well up the leaderboard. But for all his poor second-round performances early this year Rory McIlroy didn’t miss a cut. Neither did Steve Stricker, the semi-retired star who only played 11 times and skipped the playoffs to rest a hip injury. (We’re all about coincidences at the Stat Attack, and wouldn’t you guess that Scott and Stricker began their cuts-made streak at the same tournament, the 2012 Memorial.)
The fifth player to make the cut in every tournament he played might surprise you. Non-member Francesco Molinari played 12 PGA Tour events and didn’t miss a weekend. His luck didn’t transfer overseas, where he missed the cut in the Nordea Masters and Scottish Open on the European Tour.
Bill Haas, meanwhile, didn’t technically miss a cut all year, but his withdrawal from the Heritage prior to the second round because of a wrist injury ended a 14-event cut streak. He didn’t miss another all year and had he continued to play at Hilton Head his current streak would be 30 events.
Most consecutive cuts made on the PGA Tour
| Player | Consecutive cuts | 2014 starts | Last missed cut |
| Adam Scott | 43 | 17 | 2012 Byron Nelson |
| Steve Stricker | 35 | 11 | 2012 Players |
| Jim Furyk | 28 | 21 | 2013 British Open |
| Rory McIlroy | 22 | 17 | 2013 British Open |
| Bill Haas | 15 | 28 | 2014 Heritage |
| Francesco Molinari | 15 | 12 | 2013 U.S. Open |
Where did they go?
But 2014 wasn’t all about successes, as there were notable disappointements as well. This was the first time in more than 20 years that neither Tiger Woods, Phil Mickleson or Ernie Els qualified for the Tour Championship. Neither did defending champ Henrik Stenson, who began the year with a wrist injury. Woods played just seven times due to injury and finished 218th on the FedEx Cup standings. Here’s a look at some other players who were off their game this year.
Notables who didn’t qualify for the Tour Championship
| Player | FedEx Cup rank | What happened? |
| Luke Donald | 89 | His worst finish since 2008. he was second in strokes gained-tee to green in 2011, and fell to 83rd in 2014 |
| Jason Dufner | 90 | He was 167th on Tour in strokes gained-putting and fell from 26th in GIR in 2013 to 59th in 2014 |
| Nick Watney | 105 | No top-10 finishes until August killed any potential Playoff push and an MC at Barclays eliminated him for the year. |
| Roberto Castro | 135 | A surprise TC qualifier in 2013, he didn’t qualify for the Playoffs this year, falling from 33rd to 169th in GIR. |
