Golf Monthly Awards 2023 - Best Players, Best Shot And Breakout Star

The 2023 golfing year is in the books, and it was another one full of incredible performances, memorable shots and moments, historic feats, breakout stars and epic comebacks.

We've seen Jon Rahm win The Masters and his second Major, Lilia Vu seemingly come from nowhere to claim two Majors, and Europe's men and women end the year with both the Ryder and Solheim Cups in their respective possessions.

So, who were the best players? What was the best shot? Who was the breakout star of the year?

We took a look back through the year in the men's and women's professional games and selected our winners for a number of different categories...

Best Men's Player

Jon Rahm

• Masters win (second Major)
• Four wins in total
• Ryder Cup win
• Two runners-up
• No missed cuts from 22 events

What a year it was for Jon Rahm, who picked up his fourth PGA Tour victory of the season and his second career Major title in April at The Masters.

The Spaniard outlasted Brooks Koepka in a weather-affected week in Augusta to join countrymen Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia as Masters winners. 

While Rahm was the dominant player in the world at that point, he was unable to pick up more wins as the year went on. Nevertheless, a Major and three other PGA Tour wins - along with a starring role for Team Europe at the Ryder Cup - is more than enough to take our Player of the Year honors.

NOMINATIONS:

• Wyndham Clark: Two wins including US Open
• Scottie Scheffler: World No.1, two wins + six top-5s, no missed cuts
• Rory McIlroy: Two wins, Race to Dubai, best ever Ryder Cup
• Brooks Koepka: Fifth Major win, T2 at The Masters
• Viktor Hovland: Three wins including FedEx Cup

Best Women's Player

Lilia Vu

• Two Major wins plus two LPGA Tour victories
• World No.1
• LPGA Tour Player of the Year
• Eight top-10s

Lilia Vu ends the year as World No.1, LPGA Tour Player of the Year and top money winner after beginning it without an LPGA Tour title.

Vu nearly won in Saudi Arabia in her first start of 2023, where she probably felt like she let the trophy slip, but bounced back to win her maiden LPGA Tour title in Thailand in her very next start. Just two months later she became a Major champion at the Chevron Championship, and her second Major title came four months later with a dominant final round display to take down home favorite Charley Hull at the AIG Women's Open.

The 26-year-old then picked up her fourth title of the year in November to cement herself on top of the world rankings. What a year.

NOMINATIONS:

• Celine Boutier: Evian Championship win plus three other wins
• Ryoning Yin: Women's PGA Championship winner plus debut LPGA Tour title, reached World No.1 spot
• Allisen Corpuz: US Open winner
• Carlota Ciganada: 4/4 points in Solheim Cup plus one tournament win

Shot Of The Year

Carlota Ciganda, 17th hole Solheim Cup final day

Ciganda secured the crucial 14th point for Suzann Pettersen's Team Europe at the 2023 Solheim Cup thanks to a stunning iron shot into the 17th hole under the most intense pressure.

Playing on home soil, the Spaniard rifled an iron into the par 3 to leave a tap-in birdie for a 2&1 victory over Nelly Korda in the crucial 11th match. Ciganda won four points from her four matches at Finca Cortesin and seemingly had ice running through her veins. There was nobody else Suzann Pettersen would have wanted to be hitting that shot in that moment.

NOMINATIONS:

• Tommy Fleetwood, 16th hole Ryder Cup final day
• Wyndham Clark, 14th hole US Open final round
• Rory McIlroy, 18th hole Scottish Open final round
• Chase Koepka, 'Party Hole' LIV Golf Adelaide final round
• Michael Block, 15th hole PGA Championship final round
• Victor Perez, 17th hole Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship final round

Round Of The Year

Bryson DeChambeau: 58, LIV Greenbrier final round

There have been some incredible rounds in elite golf this year, but none as low as Bryson DeChambeau's victorious 58 at The Greenbrier.

The Crushers GC star shot 61-58 in the last two rounds to win his first LIV Golf League title after 13 birdies and a solitary bogey in his 12-under-par final day total. It also included a long birdie putt at the par 3 18th, which sent him and the crowds wild, as he won by six strokes.

DeChambeau had been struggling with his body and game for the past two seasons, but that 58 really kickstarted his form and he went on to win in Chicago a month later before starring in the Team Championship for a Crushers win.

NOMINATIONS:

• Lilia Vu: AIG Women's Open final round (67)
• Viktor Hovland: BMW Championship final round (61)
• Ludvig Aberg: RSM Classic final round (61)
• Matt Wallace: DP World Tour Championship third round (60)

Breakout Star

Ludvig Aberg

• Turned pro in June
• Won on DP World Tour and PGA Tour
• Won Ryder Cup

Ludvig Aberg surely couldn't have predicted how incredible his 2023 season would be. He began the year as a college student and turned pro with a PGA Tour card after topping the PGA Tour University rankings.

The Swede got off to hot start on the PGA Tour with a T3 at the John Deere Classic and came over to Europe to show Luke Donald he had what it takes to make his Ryder Cup side - despite still never teeing it up in a Major. Aberg then won his maiden pro title at the European Masters with a final round 64 before making his debut for Team Europe as one of Donald's wildcards. He won 1.5 points from three matches, which included a record 9&7 win over Koepka and Scheffler alongside Viktor Hovland.

And he wasn't done there, as his first PGA Tour triumph followed in November at the RSM Classic, where he finished with back-to-back 61s for a four-stroke victory.

NOMINATIONS:

• Lilia Vu
• Wyndham Clark
• Rose Zhang
• Michael Block

Comeback Of The Year

Camilo Villegas

Villegas hadn't won since 2014 but came close to picking up his first title in over nine years at the WWT Championship, ultimately finishing T2nd behind Erik Van Rooyen. He bounced back a week later, though, to lift the trophy at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship with a final round 65 to seal an incredible comeback.

The 41-year-old had been through heartbreak since his previous win, having tragically lost his 22-month old daughter in 2020. He spent years out of the spotlight playing a mix of PGA and Korn Ferry Tour events, but the former World No.7 is back in the winner's circle now and the golfing world is better for it.

NOMINATIONS:

• Rickie Fowler
• Lucas Glover
• Jason Day
• Marcel Siem
• Caroline Hedwall
• Chris Kirk

Tournament Of The Year

Solheim Cup

• US 4-0 up after first session
• 14-14 tie, Europe retain

The 2023 Solheim Cup delivered huge drama and entertainment as Spain's Finca Cortesin hosted the biennial Europe vs USA match where Suzann Pettersen's home side welcomed Stacy Lewis' Americans.

Team USA flew out of the blocks with an opening 4-0 foursomes win, but Europe battled back hard over the next four sessions to tie it up at 14-14 for an enthralling, and controversial, half. Star performances came from the likes of Carlota Ciganda, who birdied the 17th hole in her match with Nelly Korda to secure the crucial point, Leona Maguire, Caroline Hedwall, Maja Stark and Emily Pedersen.

It might not have been able to match the extraordinary noise and crowd levels of the Ryder Cup, which followed the next week, but it was certainly a closer contest and could have swung either way in the Sunday singles. It'll go down as one of the best Solheim Cups in history.

NOMINATIONS:

• Ryder Cup
• AIG Women's Open
• Dubai Desert Classic