NAPA, Calif. – Dustin Johnson’s first major was only part of a dream season that culminated with the PGA Tour player of the year award on Tuesday.

Johnson made it a clean sweep of the tour’s biggest honours that are named after its most prominent players. He won the Jack Nicklaus Award as player of the year, the Arnold Palmer Award for leading the money list and the Byron Nelson Award for having the lowest adjusted scoring average.

“I don’t even know if I dreamed this would be happening,” Johnson said.

Johnson previously won the PGA of America’s points-based award as player of the year and the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average.

The PGA Tour award is a vote of the players, and Johnson said he didn’t even vote.

That didn’t matter. While the PGA Tour does not disclose vote totals, no one could match the year Johnson had.

The 32-year-old American ended his string of disappointment in the majors by winning the U.S. Open at Oakmont under extraordinary circumstances. Because of the USGA’s indecision over a potential rules violation, Johnson played the final seven holes not knowing if he would be penalized, and he made sure it didn’t make a difference.

He followed that up with by winning a World Golf Championship two weeks later at Firestone, and he won the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick. The only disappointment was losing the lead at the Tour Championship and losing the FedEx Cup when Rory McIlroy won at East Lake.

Even so, Johnson established himself as a threat nearly every week. He finished out of the top 10 in only seven of his 21 starts on the PGA Tour this year. He won the money list with over $9.3 million and his performance in the final three FedEx Cup events – 10 of his last 12 rounds were in the 60s – allowed him to pull away from Jason Day, Adam Scott and Jordan Spieth to post the lowest scoring average.

Johnson said he worked harder this year than ever before, but not too hard. On a scale of 1 to 10, he measured his work ethic at a 7 1/2, compared with about a 5 in previous years.

“There’s still room to work harder, but I’m at a level that works best for me so I don’t get too burned out,” he said. “I feel like I’m putting in enough quality work that works for my mentality so I’m not overdoing it.”

The key moment for Johnson this year came on a rainy Wednesday after the pro-am at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera. Instead of ducking into the clubhouse for lunch, he headed for the range and began working for the first time with TrackMan, a device using radar technology that allows a player to get dialed in on every aspect of his game. Johnson used it only for his wedges.

By year’s end, he was in the top five in driving distance and proximity to the hole from 50 yards to 125 yards. The last player to do that was Tiger Woods in 2005.

“Knowing the work I’m putting in is working drives me to work harder, it makes me more driven to be better,” Johnson said. “That’s what gives me confidence.”

Patience is paying off for Canadian golfer Mackenzie Hughes.

Thing are falling into place for the 25-year old from Dundas, Ont., who will be making his debut as a full-fledged PGA Tour member this week at the Safeway Open in Napa, Calif. Next week he’ll marry his long-time partner Jenna Shaw in a ceremony in his adopted home of Charlotte, N.C.

“To be where I am now is kind of surreal when I think about it,” Hughes said over the phone en route to the West Coast. “Even though things were dragging along this summer, early on, everything’s happened relatively quickly from last year to where I am now. I’m grateful, but by no means do I think I don’t deserve it. More than anything, I’m just excited to get going.”

Hughes has learned to temper that excitement while looking for his path to the PGA Tour. His approach paid dividends when he captured the Price Cutter Charity Championship on the Web.com Tour in August and finished 17th on that Tour’s money list. The top 25 finishers earn a spot on the PGA Tour for the following season.

Hughes’ maiden victory came after he rolled in an 18-inch birdie put on the final hole to win by one shot.

“It’s probably one of the hardest things to do as a professional golfer, not get too far ahead of yourself,” he said. “There were tons of times when I got ahead of myself, about what the win would mean for me and my family, and then brought myself back.”

The two-time Canadian Men’s Amateur Champion (2011 and 2012) captured the Order of Merit title in 2013 on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada, which gave him full status on the Web.com circuit in 2014. But he struggled, admitting he was inexperienced for such a big stage.

In 2015 he returned to the PGA Tour Canada, where he finished 13th on the money list. He earned a spot on the Web.com Tour last winter in a qualifying tournament.

“When we launched the Mackenzie Tour as PGA Tour Canada in 2013, we hoped to see many journeys like Mackenzie’s unfold,” said PGA Tour Canada Tour president Jeff Monday. “Seeing players benefit from their performances in Canada and then go on to prove themselves a the next level is certainly encouraging.”

Hughes was part of Golf Canada’s national team program as an amateur and remains involved today. Hughes’ coach is Derek Ingram, who leads the national team and was at the helm of Canada’s Olympic golf team in Rio de Janeiro.

“The recipe Mackenzie has been using the last few years to get on the PGA Tour is almost exactly the same recipe he needs going forward,” Ingram said. “We are going to work on the same plan, be disciplined and professional in his approach, and just continue to be Mackenzie Hughes.

“We’re going to focus on getting a little bit better, but not search for unicorns out there. He knows if he plays his game, he will have plenty of success.”

Hughes connected with fellow Canadian PGA Tour golfers David Hearn and Nick Taylor prior to this week. Both advised Hughes on what they wished they could have done differently in their first seasons on Tour.

“They had great advice for me. It’s nice to know what some of those guys learned in their first year and just put it in my back pocket,” said Hughes. “I’m not going to play with Rory McIlroy one day and change my swing to hit it like him. It’s important to have that belief that what you did to get there (the PGA Tour) is good enough.”

Where Hughes finished on the Web.com Tour’s money list determined what PGA Tour events he will be able to get into during the six-tournament ‘Fall Series’ portion of the 2016-17 Tour schedule. He does not have enough status to pick-and-choose the rest of his schedule like veterans Hearn or fellow Olympian Graham DeLaet.

He wedding will keep him from next week’s event in Kuala Lumpur, but he will return for the Sanderson Farms Championship – won by Taylor in 2014.

Taylor, Hearn, DeLaet, Adam Hadwin, and fellow Web.com Tour graduate Brad Fritsch are also in the field at this week’s Safeway Open, which begins Thursday.

The comeback of Tiger Woods is going to have to wait at least two more months.

Three days before he was to return at the Safeway Open, Woods said he wasn’t ready to return against PGA Tour competition.

He first said on Sept. 7 that he planned to play, then officially committed to the tournament on Friday.

Woods, who had back surgery three times last year, says he feels strong and his health is good. But he says that after several days of practice in California, he feels his game is vulnerable.

Ryder Cup inspired me to play my best. Unfortunately as I prepared, I still need work and refining. https://t.co/wCFjIznK6R

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) October 10, 2016

Along with pulling out of the Safeway Open, Woods said Monday he was withdrawing from the Turkish Airlines Open next month.

He plans to play at his Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas the first week of December.

Woods was to play the Safeway Open with Phil Mickelson and defending champion Emiliano Grillo.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Tiger Woods will be at Presidents Cup next year with or without his golf clubs.

U.S. captain Steve Stricker said Wednesday he has chosen Woods, Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III and three-time Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples to be his assistants for the matches next year at Liberty National.

International team captain Nick Price said his three assistants would be Ernie Els, Geoff Ogilvy and Tony Johnstone.

Woods was an assistant to Love at Hazeltine when the U.S. won the Ryder Cup over Europe last week.

Woods is to return to competition next week after being out more than a year recovering from back surgery. Stricker says he hopes Woods is at Liberty National as a player. If not, he’ll have him as an assistant captain.

LATROBE, Pa. – With a large tear forming in his left eye, Jack Nicklaus asked everyone from the elite to the everyman to remember the time Arnold Palmer touched their lives during an emotional farewell to the King on Tuesday.

“I hurt like you hurt,” Nicklaus said. “You don’t lose a friend of 60 years and don’t feel an enormous loss.”

The service at Saint Vincent College in Palmer’s hometown was filled with just as much laughter and warmth from stories of the most significant player in the modern game. The basilica at the college was packed with golf’s biggest names from around the world.

Charlie Mechem, the former LPGA commissioner who became one of Palmer’s most trusted advisers, referred to them as the “elite battalion” of Arnie’s Army.

Palmer died Sept. 25 in Pittsburgh as he was preparing for heart surgery. He was 87. His private funeral for family members was Thursday.

“We were looking down at the air strip and the fog just suddenly lifted,” Ernie Els said Tuesday after landing in one of several private jets that descended on Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. “This is a beautiful day. We’ve all met different people in life. He was a man who didn’t change. It didn’t matter if you cut the grass or you were a president. He was the same with everybody.”

Palmer’s co-pilot, Pete Luster, flew his plane around Saint Vincent College for nearly an hour before the service, tipping the left wing as he zoomed by.

Mechem set a happy tone by pointing to a large photograph of Palmer with a grin that made everyone feel so important. He asked the crowd to remember the Palmer who hitched up his pants and gave a thumbs-up.

“There’s an old saying that there are no irreplaceable people,” Mechem said, his voice cracking toward the end of the ceremony. “Whoever made that line didn’t know Arnold Palmer. There will never be another.”

Palmer won 62 times on the PGA Tour, including seven major championships.

The service was another reminder that Palmer was not the greatest golfer who ever lived, or even the best from his generation. He just had the greatest influence through television, through marketing and mostly through eye contact.

PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem tried to explain Palmer’s popularity by mentioning his attacking style of golf, his appeal on television and the way he carried himself.

“He had this other thing,” Finchem said. “It was the incredible ability to make you feel good – not just about him, but about yourself. I was amazed by how people reacted to him. He took energy from that and turned right around and gave it back.”

CHASKA, Minn. – This wasn’t about being maybe the best team ever assembled. The Americans were simply a team, and they finally won back the Ryder Cup.

Phil Mickelson led the Americans behind the scenes. Patrick Reed powered them with his passion on the golf course. And it was Ryan Moore, the final captain’s pick who wasn’t even on the team until a week ago Sunday, who delivered the cup-clinching point at Hazeltine.

Moore finished eagle-birdie-par for a 1-up victory over Lee Westwood, and the celebration was on.

“When put in the right environment, the U.S. team brought out some amazing golf,” Mickelson said. “And we’re bringing back the Ryder Cup because of it.”

There was no meltdown like Medinah four years ago, when the Americans blew a 10-6 lead under captain Davis Love III.

Europe never really had a chance.

Reed outdueled and outshouted Rory McIlroy for a 1-up victory, and by then the back end of the scoreboard was filled with American red.

The final score was 17-11, the biggest rout for the United States since 1981. That U.S. team is considered the best team ever assembled with 11 major champions. In a radio interview going into the Ryder Cup, Love was trying to explain that the Americans didn’t have to do anything “super human” when he said, “This is the best team maybe ever assembled.”

Ultimately, this wasn’t about measuring against the past as much as it was building to the future.

The Americans lost for the third straight time in 2014 at Gleneagles, and it was team divided over everything from how the captain was selected to how the team should be built. Mickelson put his image on the line by publicly challenging captain Tom Watson at the closing press conference in Scotland, and he was the strongest voice among five players on a task force that was assembled to figure out why the Americans couldn’t seem to win.

Mickelson was under pressure all week and delivered 2 1/2 points, including a halve with Sergio Garcia in which both birdied the final two holes.

“You keep losing, you feel like you have to do something different,” said Love, who avoided becoming the first U.S. captain to lose the Ryder Cup twice. “They had a lot of pressure on them for the last two years. And every time we picked a guy, there was more and more pressure on the team and more and more questions. And I’m just proud the way every one of them played. It was a great team effort.”

The golf was equally great.

Reed faced the tallest order in the leadoff match with Rory McIlroy, and the quality of golf was as high as it gets. Reed squared the match by driving the fifth green to 8 feet for eagle, and he kept the tee until the 18th. Reed matched McIlroy’s birdie on No. 6, McIlroy matched Reed’s birdie on No. 7 and the par-3 eighth hole was as sensational as it gets in a Ryder Cup.

McIlroy holed a 60-foot birdie putt, leapt into the air and cupped his hand to his ear, mocking the American crowd to yell even louder. Reed then holed a birdie putt from 35 feet, charging the crowd before turning to wag his finger at McIlroy. They bumped fists and patted each other on the back, both 5 under through eight holes.

Their standard of gold dipped after that, perhaps because they spent so much energy pumping fists, and Reed finally took his first lead when McIlroy bogeyed the 12th hole. McIlroy’s putter went cold, and Reed closed him out with a 7-foot birdie on the 18th.

Mickelson made 10 birdies, and Garcia made nine birdies against no bogeys in their match.

Among the lone bright spots for Europe was Thomas Pieters, the Belgian rookie who had the best debut of any European rookie by going 4-1. He took down J.B. Holmes in the third match, right after Henrik Stenson dismantled Jordan Spieth. By then, it was ominous.

There would be no comeback like Medinah. There would be no celebrating for Europe, which it had done eight of the last 10 times.

The Americans stood atop a bridge to the left of the 18th green and sprayed champagne on themselves and the crowd, an enormous gathering that sent endless cheers of “U-S-A” and “Red, white, blue” across Hazeltine for three straight days.

Every U.S. player contributed a point.

For Europe, Westwood was among four players who ended the week without a point.

The Ryder Cup Task Force was dismantled after Love was named captain for the second time, though Mickelson and Tiger Woods remain on a committee for the next Ryder Cup in 2018 in France. Europe has not lost consecutive Ryder Cups since 1993.

CHASKA, Minn. – Patrick Reed took over his match and the rest of the Americans followed suit. Now they need to win only five of 12 singles matches to win the Ryder Cup.

The Americans won three of the four afternoon matches for 9 1/2 to 6 1/2 lead Saturday.

Reed holed out a wedge from the fairway for eagle on the par-5 sixth hole to take a lead that he and Jordan Spieth never relinquished against Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose.

Phil Mickelson delivered the key putts for another point, and Lee Westwood gave the Americans help they didn’t need by missing a 2-foot putt on the final hole.

Not even the undefeated partnership of Rory McIlroy and Thomas Pieters could dig Europe out of a hole.

The next challenge for the Americans is history. They led 10-6 at Medinah four years ago only for Europe to rally for another victory.

CHASKA, Minn. – Henrik Stenson tracked the flight of his shot from the middle of the 11th fairway and didn’t like where it was headed. The ball had barely settled into a greenside bunker when he flipped the fairway wood end-over-end into the air like a baton.

“Welcome to America, Henrik!” someone in the gallery howled with delight.

Never mind that Stenson and his family have lived in a very exclusive enclave in Orlando, Florida, for four years now. More important is that it was the Swede who had the last laugh Friday at the Ryder Cup.

He teamed with Englishman Justin Rose in the afternoon’s fourballs to begin the comeback that Rory McIlory and rookie Thomas Pieters finished in grand style to pull Europe to 5-3 by the time the gates at Hazeltine National Golf Club were closed.

The closing flourish was something to see.

Like Stenson-Rose, the McIlroy-Pieters duo got beat handily as the Americans rolled out a 4-0 sweep of the morning foursome. No U.S. team had managed to sweep a session since 1981, which may explain why Captain Davis Love left his opening and anchor pairings intact. So did Darren Clarke, his European counterpart, and his turned out to be the better gamble.

No sooner had McIlory’s 20-footer dropped for eagle to seal a 3-and-2 win over Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar, than he pumped his fist, then stopped and bowed deeply to the sometimes-raucous and overwhelmingly hometown crowd ringing the 16th green.

“I wanted to put an exclamation point on that session for us,” McIlroy said. “I thought about that celebration before I hit the putt.”

It was the kind of gesture we’ve come to expect from Spaniard Sergio Garcia. He teamed with countryman Rafael Cabrera Bello to win his afternoon match and has often served as the emotional engine for the European side, a role he inherited from the late Seve Ballesteros, another of his countrymen.

But Garcia was relatively subdued after his win and, if McIlroy, as well as Stenson and others whose style is less demonstrative, step forward and claim a leadership role, these Ryder Cup matches will be something to see.

With six rookies on his side, Clarke opted to pair the Olympic medallists – Rose won gold at Rio and Stenson grabbed silver – and put them out as his leadoff pair for both the foursomes and fourballs. They managed just one birdie through the 16 holes in the alternate-shot format and got beat 3 and 2 by Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed.

“Obviously, Jordan and Patrick made a few more putts and got the momentum early,” Stenson said.

But the Swede had an inkling he’d get the chance to square things.

“Jordan just told me he would see me this afternoon,” Stenson added, and Spieth turned out to be right.

But this time, the Europeans got some traction early, turning a 1-down deficit around with three straight birdies by Stenson and leading 2-up before they turned for the back nine. When Stenson dumped that fairway wood at par-5 11th into the bunker and wound up making par, Rose stepped up and halved the hole with a nervy 6-footer for birdie. That fueled another run as Stenson and Rose took the next three holes and closed out the match 5 and 4.

“Makes it sweeter when you beat the guys you lost to in the morning,” Stenson said.

The Ryder Cup is known for rowdy galleries. A vocal heckler walked the walk after talking the talk during the practice round on Thursday.

Rory McIlroy and Andy Sullivan took multiple cracks at a 12-foot putt on No. 8 and missed every time. David Johnson, of Mayville, North Dakota, let them know about it, saying he could make the putt. Henrik Stenson pulled Johnson from the gallery and Justin Rose laid a $100 bill right next to the ball, daring Johnson to make it.

After wisecracking that the putter he was handed was too short, Johnson muttered, “home soil, right?” Then he drilled the putt , eliciting a roar from the crowd. Johnson pumped his arms wildly and earned high fives from the entire Euro foursome as they exited the green.

Has the @rydercup started already?? pic.twitter.com/s6EImcbnZv

— Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory) September 29, 2016

CHASKA, Minn. – Momentum means everything at the Ryder Cup.

Shot to shot, match to match, even era to era, it’s swung back and forth between the United States and Europe, sometimes at a glacial pace and occasionally with head-turning speed.

This time, it’s the visitors who arrive with the wind at their backs. Europe has won the last three, six of the last seven and eight of the last 10.

But if the history of that small gold trophy that English seed merchant Samuel Ryder first put up for grabs in 1927 proves anything, it’s that momentum is hard to catch and even harder to hold onto.

Here are five key swings in momentum at past Ryder Cups:

1967: “The finest golfers in the world.”

Golfers don’t come any tougher or more taciturn than Ben Hogan. The United States had largely dominated Ryder Cup play in the preceding four decades – against teams drawing players only from Great Britain and Ireland – but captain Hogan must have sensed his side was about to step on the gas. He listened as counterpart Dai Rees introduced his team at length and in glowing terms to the audience at the Champions Golf Club in Houston. Then Hogan asked his team to stand, read their names and said simply: “Ladies and gentlemen, the United States Ryder Cup team … the finest golfers in the world.” The Americans won 23 1/2-8 1/2 and kept their grip on the cup for the next eight matches in a row.

1987: First European victory on U.S. soil

Players from continental Europe joined the fray in 1979 and first made their mark with a rare, lopsided home win at The Belfry in 1985. Many of the young golfers who would become Europe’s “golden generation” – Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Jose-Maria Olazabal, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam – were just hitting their stride. But they had to prove their mettle by scoring a first-ever win on U.S. soil – at Muirfield Village, no less, on a course Jack Nicklaus designed. Trailing after two days, a U.S. charge in singles was blunted when Ben Crenshaw, frustrated by a missed putt, broke his putter in half and used his 1-iron or sand wedge on the greens the rest of the way. He lost to Ireland’s Eamonn Darcy on the final hole and Europe appeared to be set for a long run of success.

1991: “War by the Shore”

American golf fans didn’t care much about the Ryder Cup when their countrymen were dominating. But the galleries at the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, for the “War by the Shore” let Europe know how much they wanted it back. Rowdy and close enough to the players on most holes to let those sentiments be heard in explicit terms, the matches came down to the final putt on the final hole of the final singles match between Langer and Hale Irwin. Langer missed a 6-footer for par and a chance to retain the cup.

1999: What are all those people doing on the green?

The swing in momentum at Kiawah turned out to be short-lived. The U.S. team won in 1993, but returned to Brookline Country Club after back-to-back losses in 1995 and 1997, and were down 10-6 heading into the final-day singles. Captain Crenshaw wagged his finger at reporters as he walked out of a news conference, saying “I’ve got a good feeling about this.” In the team room that night, future U.S. President George W. Bush read the famed “Victory or Death” letter penned by Col. William Barrett Travis to the team. Americans won the first seven matches, Justin Leonard made a 45-foot birdie putt at the 17th green as teammates, caddies and even some wives stormed onto the green and soon after, the greatest final-day comeback in Ryder Cup history went into the books. Unfortunately for the U.S. team, this swing was even shorter-lived.

2012: “It ain’t over until we say it’s over!”

Europe arrived on a roll, having won four of the last five. But back on home soil, it was the Americans who were rolling, leading 10-5 late Saturday and 2-up in the last match on the course. But Englishman Ian Poulter had other ideas. He birdied the last five holes to make it 10-6 and a suddenly resurgent Europe mowed down the Americans 8 1/2-3 1/2 in singles. German Martin Kaymer faced a 6-footer – the same length from which countryman Langer had missed almost 20 years earlier _ to clinch the win. “I did think about him, especially when I walked around the hole and read the putt from the other side,” Kaymer said. He poured it into the cup.