PGA Tour rewind: Bryson, COVID-19 dominate top stories of 2020

What an unprecedented year.

The COVID-19 pandemic made 2020 extremely challenging for everyone, with the sports world being no exception. Thankfully, the PGA Tour may have been the least impacted by the coronavirus of all the major sports, which allowed golfers and fans to enjoy a relatively full season that produced compelling stories, dramatic finishes, and a number of memorable moments.

Here are the top stories from the PGA Tour in 2020.

COVID-19 pandemic

When the final three rounds of the Players Championship and the three following events were canceled on March 13, the sports world in North America officially came to a halt.

The PGA Tour was the last of the major sports to hit pause on its season as the COVID-19 pandemic made its presence felt in the United States. While Round 1 from TPC Sawgrass was ongoing, the NBA and NHL postponed operations and MLB shut down spring training activities, which ultimately forced the Tour's hand.

From there, tournament cancellations began to accumulate, notably scrapping the Open Championship for the first time since World War II. The Masters and PGA Championship were postponed, which gave fans hope that the sport would be back at some point in the summer.

Resiliency of PGA Tour

After a long, three-month break finally passed, the PGA Tour was one of the first sports in North America to return, doing so on June 11 at the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Despite the absence of fans and noticeably less buzz as players approached the final holes on Sundays, the PGA Tour remained largely unchanged from a viewing perspective. It may have taken some time for players, caddies, and others associated with the Tour to get accustomed to the new safety protocols and health measures, but eventually, golf adapted to its new normal.

Of course, a handful of players and caddies tested positive for COVID-19, but the Tour deserves credit for limiting the spread among its members and for its ability to deliver weekly events with no gaps in the schedule. Twenty-six tournaments were played following the Tour's return, including three majors and the full FedEx Cup Playoffs, which salvaged the 2019-20 season and allowed the upcoming campaign to remain unaffected.

Bryson DeChambeau

If it weren't for a global pandemic, 2020 would have been the year of Bryson DeChambeau, who transformed from a top-tier pro into the longest hitter on Tour, a U.S. Open champion, and the most polarizing character in golf.

In late 2019, DeChambeau hinted that physical changes were coming, and the COVID-19 break only accelerated his growth - he re-emerged in June looking like he hadn't left the gym for three straight months.

From there, he was the talk of the Tour. With swing speeds exceeding 130 mph and drives flying over 350 yards with ease, DeChambeau grabbed headline after headline and garnered a ton of attention from his fellow competitors.

It wasn't only his incredible distance off the tee, which led him to two trophies following the shutdown, that made him relevant. Rather, the highs and lows of DeChambeau's performances made him a must-watch whenever he was in action.

At the Memorial Tournament, he made a 10 in Round 2 that involved him asking a rules official for a third opinion after being denied a drop while his ball sat under a fence. Then there was the fire-ant situation when DeChambeau pleaded his case for a free drop because he thought he spotted the insects - which, under the rules of golf, are considered "burrowing animals" - near his ball. At the Masters, he said Augusta National was a par 67 for him because of his length and then had to battle to make the cut after a triple-bogey eight on his fourth hole of the tournament.

Let's not forget about him breaking his driver at the 2020 PGA Championship, his multiple run-ins with cameramen for remaining focused on him for what DeChambeau deemed too long, saying his goal is to live to 130 or 140 years old, or citing "Happy Gilmore" as his inspiration to chase more distance.

While plenty of uncertainty remains about next year, one thing is guaranteed: DeChambeau will continue to make noise, for better or for worse.

DJ's dominance

While DeChambeau was the center of attention for most of 2020, Dustin Johnson quietly went about his business and turned in the best season of his career.

Johnson won the Travelers Championship, his third start following the return of golf, before shooting 80-80 at the Memorial and then withdrawing from the 3M Open in a bizarre stretch of form. But the 36-year-old rebounded quickly and dominated the Tour.

Starting at the PGA Championship, Johnson went on a run that included three more PGA Tour victories - The Northern Trust by 11 shots, the Tour Championship to claim the FedEx Cup, and, of course, the Masters - and finished inside the top two in six of his final seven starts, all while testing positive for COVID-19 in October. He soared into the No. 1 spot in the world rankings and doesn't appear willing to give it up anytime soon.

Youth movement

In five or 10 years, 2020 will likely be remembered as the breakout year for a collection of young stars.

Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland each won twice over the past 12 months, with the former earning his first major championship. Sungjae Im also claimed his first Tour title at the Honda Classic to round out the group of winners younger than 24 years old.

Then there was Matthew Wolff, who had a chance to win both of the first two majors he played in. The 21-year-old was in the thick of things at the PGA Championship and played in the final group alongside DeChambeau at the U.S. Open.

All four of the aforementioned players are currently inside the top 20 in the world rankings, with 24-year-old Scottie Scheffler not too far behind.

Wasted years

For a few of the most popular players in the game, 2020 was a wasted year, and those that struggled will be excited to flip the calendar.

Rory McIlroy failed to record a win anywhere in the world in 12 months for only the second time since 2008. It was obvious that McIlroy took a very long time to get adjusted to the new PGA Tour following the layoff - a break that ruined some nice momentum he built through February and early March.

Tiger Woods only played nine times in 2020 and has one top-10 finish to show for it. The soon-to-be 45-year-old can't afford to waste seasons at this point in his career. He now sits 40th in the world ranking and will have to prove that he still has some gas left in the tank in 2021.

Rickie Fowler figured the three-month layoff would be a good time to work on a swing change. As a result, he came out of the break with terrible form, and his world ranking plummetted below the top 50, putting his 2021 Masters invite in jeopardy.

And then there's Jordan Spieth, who failed to use the extended time off to recapture his game and played equally poorly through the summer as he has for nearly three years. It's shocking to think his last victory on the PGA Tour was the 2017 Open Championship, but here we are.

Baffled by Brooks

If we're going to discuss wasted years, Brooks Koepka deserves his own section.

2020 was a tough one for golf's alpha male on multiple fronts. His play was awful, with no worldwide wins for the first time in his pro career and five missed cuts in 17 events. He was hampered by injuries again, forcing him to skip the first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs and the U.S. Open. Overall, Koepka's forgettable year saw him tumble from No. 1 in the world at the beginning of 2020 to No. 12 by the end of it.

But Koepka's mouth drew even more attention than his poor performances on the course. In January, Koepka fired back at DeChambeau's comments about his physique with a picture of his four major trophies - a great comeback that sparked a year-long beef, whether the animosity between the two is real or not.

Then, at the PGA Championship, Koepka said he wasn't worried about any of the other competitors near the top of the leaderboard - specifically calling out Johnson for only having won one major - because of their inexperience at winning major championships. He promptly shot 74 in the final round after entering the day only two off the lead to finish in a tie for 29th.

In summary, Koepka played poorly, fell outside the world top 10, and went toe to toe with two of the three major winners in 2020. It can only get better from here.