In this year-end edition we applaud Tiger Woods’ comeback, agonize over Phil Mickelson’s curious year and criticize trouble in the U.S. Ryder Cup team room.

Made Cut

The comeback. Like an iron shot from deep rough, there really was no telling where this could have gone.

In retrospect, Tiger Woods had acknowledged that he had no idea how 2018 was going to play out following his return from fusion surgery on his lower back. Could he physically handle the rigors of four days of competition? Could he piece together a game in time to become competitively relevant? Could he keep pace with the younger generation?

Slowly each question was answered.

He endured 72 holes at Torrey Pines, played back-to-back weeks (on both coasts) in February and found himself in contention in March at the Valspar Championship.

At The Open and PGA Championship he proved he could still contend in majors, and the final piece to the comeback puzzle fell into place at the Tour Championship, where he cruised to a two-stroke victory.

“This entire year has been amazing,” Woods said on Sunday at the Hero World Challenge. “Just been so blessed to have the opportunity. To come from where I came from last year at this point to have the ability to actually play and compete again in the game and do it consistently is quite amazing.”

How long Woods can sustain this level of play will always be a question and he did show signs of aging toward the end of the season. But considering how far he came in ’18, it was a comeback for the ages.

A new path. It was clear from the beginning of his tenure as PGA Tour commissioner that Jay Monahan was going to be a different kind of leader.

Monahan was young and forward-thinking when he took over for Tim Finchem in January 2017. This season he put those skills on display in what turned out to be a year of profound change for the Tour.

The revamped schedule was a Herculean challenge for Monahan and his leadership team, but there were plenty of other areas where he proved to be a savvy leader.

Following years of bitter legal battles with Vijay Singh and a group of Tour caddies, the new commish found a way to smooth over hurt feelings and settle both lawsuits.

Monahan also opened the door for sports betting in golf, a move many believe could be a boon for the game, and earlier this month announced a leadership change at the World Golf Foundation, which was in desperate need of a facelift.

All things considered, it was a good year for the new boss.

Made Cut-Did Not Finish (MDF)

Extreme makeover. To be clear, next year's revamped Tour schedule was desperately needed.

The dramatic makeover – which includes the PGA Championship’s moving to May and The Players heading to March – addressed many of the circuit’s biggest issues, including a finale that annually was an afterthought on the sports calendar behind football and a points-based season-long race that left many fans confused.

With that change, however, came some unsavory compromises. The strokes-based scoring system that will be used starting next fall at East Lake is sure to create plenty of issues (it’s worth noting that had the system been used in ’18 Woods would not have won the finale) and the new condensed schedule will be a challenge for both players and fans.

The new schedule isn’t perfect, but that option didn’t really exist.