2017 Golfing Season review by Iain Carter - BBC Golf Correspondent

Review for Vision4Sport Events
By Iain Carter

This was the year that golf got younger.  No fewer than seven of the world’s top ten men are below the age of thirty - a more youthful demographic than a sport such as tennis.

That’s an extraordinary thought given that thirty used to be the age benchmark for when pro golfers were thought to be heading into their prime years.

Not anymore.  Golf is a sport for athletes; the characters currently dominating the world game are the children of the Tiger Woods era.

These players - the Jordan Spieths, Justin Thomas’s and Rory McIlroys grew up observing and trying to emulate the athleticism Woods brought to the game.

They are powerful, fearless hitters who propel the ball a country mile.  Modern equipment technology, affording bigger sweetspots and seemingly jet propelled balls dictate that clubhead speed is the most coveted quality.

While range time remains important so too does physical conditioning in the gym.  McIlroy finished early a winless 2017 to devote time to healing a dodgy back to ready himself for the new year.

And it easy to see why.  Two of the four majors this year were won by out and out twenty-something power players; Brooks Koepka at the US Open and Justin Thomas at the US PGA.

Open champion Jordan Spieth is no slouch off the tee either, but his Royal Birkdale triumph was also down to his phenomenal short game.

And Sergio Garcia remains a supreme ball striker and that ability was at the heart of his Masters victory last April.

The charismatic Spaniard provided the story of the year, winning a playoff with Justin Rose in such thrilling style it was perfectly in keeping with Augusta’s reputation for staging the most glamorous of the four majors.

It was his first win in one of the big four tournaments that define careers and it came at the 74th attempt.  Even British fans celebrated his success despite the fact that he beat an Englishman to claim that first Green Jacket.

Koepka’s US Open triumph came at a monstrous Erin Hills, measuring more than 7,800 yards and the longest major setup in the history of the game.

It was a venue made for raw athleticism, perhaps too much so for the purists, and it emboldened an ever louder lobby calling for the distance game to be reined back.

This may prove a turning point for the sport.  The USGA’s Mike Davis, one of golf’s most influential figures, has subsequently said the length modern balls travel is becoming “horrible” for the sport.

Watch this space.

A more refined approach was needed at Birkdale where the Open was marked by a new record score as Branden Grace carded the first 62 in major championship history.

The South African took full advantage of soft, benign conditions and some generous third round pin positions to post his historic score, but the week belonged to Spieth.

Somehow the young Texan conjoured an epic finish after threatening to throw away the Claret Jug in the early stages of his final round.

Fellow American Matt Kuchar was out in front as Spieth made a remarkable bogey after an infamous penalty drop among the range trucks on the thirteenth.

From that point, Spieth surged.  He went birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie and despite playing the closing holes in a highly creditable two under, Kuchar ultimately lost by three strokes.

Spieth’s close buddy Thomas was waiting to congratulate him at the end of a thrilling championship and a couple of weeks later the roles were reversed.

At Quail Hollow it was Thomas who powered through the final day to snatch his first major at the PGA.  Thereafter the 24 year old reeled off victory in the multi million dollar FedEx Cup and became an easy choice for PGA Tour player of the year.

Only two years Thomas’ senior, Southport’s Tommy Fleetwood completed his triumph in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai by edging out Rose in a fight that went to the very last shot of the season.

Such an exciting climax was in keeping with the youthful and adventurous nature of contemporary golf.

Oh, and the game’s biggest beast - a certain Tiger - concluded 2017 with an encouraging return from his latest back surgery.  At nearly 42 he proved capable of outdriving the prodigious Thomas and thus demonstrated that the older brigade still have a role to play.

And how that whets the appetite for what was already shaping up to be an epic 2018.