For the first time in the 20-year history of Google Trends, Tiger Woods was not the most searched-for golfer of the year. Scottie Scheffler’s whirlwind season of seven official wins, including the Masters—and his notable arrest during the PGA Championship at Valhalla—gave him a marginal victory over Woods as the most Googled golfer of 2024, according to data provided by the search engine.

Google provided Golf Digest with the most popular golfers (overall), golf-related term (overall) and golf courses for its U.S. search engine. To get a ranking for each, Google Trends sports “fanalyst” Annanya Raghavan listed searches according to its trends data within the search engine. “Search interest” was analyzed for subjects using a sample of all searches and then indexing the topics in relation to the top item on each list. So the top player in each category tops the list at 100 percent, and the percentages decrease from there. Raw numbers for search volume were not available.

Scheffler generated 100 per cent of the search interest for golfers, while 15-time major winner Woods collected 99.1 per cent of Scheffler’s queries. Since 2004, when Google Trends was created, Woods, a dominant World No. 1 and 82-time PGA Tour winner in his prime, topped the search engine for golfers every year.

Scheffler was much more of a quiet achiever in Google popularity, until this year.

The 28-year-old kicked down the door of professional golf, on and off the course this year. The World No. 1, who also became a father this year, won seven official tournaments, including Bay Hill, the Players Championship and a second career victory at the Masters. He also won the Olympic gold medal, where he burst into tears of pride and joy at the medal ceremony in Paris. Scheffler recorded another unofficial victory at last week’s Hero World Challenge, Woods’ event in the Bahamas.

In May, the Texan unintentionally grabbed global headlines when he was arrested outside Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., during the PGA Championship. That was before the second round when Scheffler was charged after a misunderstanding with police officers and traffic directions as he attempted to enter the golf course. The charges against Scheffler were later dropped.

Scheffler, who won the season-long FedEx Cup, was the first player to sit atop the world rankings for a calendar year since Tiger Woods in 2009. His Hero win, though unofficial, was his ninth win in 21 starts.

Woods’s relegation to second place on Google’s list was almost certainly due to his lack of tournament play and public appearances. Woods, soon to be 49, teed up in just five official starts this year. He made a record 24th consecutive cut at the Masters but missed the weekend at the PGA Championship, U.S. Open at Pinehurst and the Open at Royal Troon. Woods did not make a formal public appearance between Troon in July and his Hero event last week. He did not tee up in the Bahamas because of recent surgery aimed to resolve a nerve impingement in his lower back but is committed to play with his son Charlie in the PNC Championship next week.

Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, who won the Zurich Classic team event and the Wells Fargo Championship, as well as suffering a devastating runner-up to Bryson DeChambeau in the U.S. Open, was third on Google’s top 10. PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray, who won the Sony Open in Hawaii in January but tragically died by suicide in May, was fourth.

DeChambeau’s standing on the list at No. 5 seemed surprisingly low, considering he won a second career major at the U.S. Open while also garnering tens of millions of views across his social media network. DeChambeau created a juggernaut YouTube series called “Break 50” with guests including President-elect Donald Trump and Tom Brady, as well as a wildly popular video series in which he attempted daily to make a hole-in-one over his own house. DeChambeau garnered 31.3 per cent of the search interest of Scheffler.

Rounding out the top 10 were Jordan Spieth, women’s World No.1 Nelly Korda, who had seven season wins, a two-time major winner in 2024, Xander Schauffele, John Daly, and Rickie Fowler.

Most Googled golfers for 2024 (U.S.):

  1. Scottie Scheffler (100.0)
  2. Tiger Woods (99.1)
  3. Rory McIlroy (43.2)
  4. Grayson Murray (31.5)
  5. Bryson DeChambeau (31.3)
  6. Jordan Spieth (16.4)
  7. Nelly Korda (15.2)
  8. Xander Schauffele (14.5)
  9. John Daly (13.6)
  10. Rickie Fowler (9.6)

With golf’s participation soaring across the U.S. and globally, it’s no surprise that the most searched golf-related term was “golf courses near me.” “U.S. Open golf,” which garnered 89.5 per cent of the search interest, was second, while “LIV Golf” was third.

Top searched terms (U.S.)

    1. golf courses near me (100.0)
  2. us open golf (89.5)
  3. liv golf (55.3)
  4. shop golf shirts (46.5)
  5. golf now (30.6)
  6. olympic golf (27.1)
  7. callaway golf (25.2)
  8. golf channel (24.5)
  9. golf cart (24.0)
  10. golf shoes (21.4)

As for the top-searched golf courses, which the experts at Google also compiled, there was no surprise at No. 1, although the order of the top 10 is compelling. The home of the Masters, Augusta National, is always near or on top, and likely got even more interest because of the potential damage it suffered from Hurricane Helene, which devastated towns in the southeast in October. Torrey Pines, the San Diego municipal course that hosts the PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open, was a distant second, with 70.3 per cent of the interest, while the home of the Players Championship, TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Veda Beach, Fl., was third. Below is the top 10.

Top searched courses (U.S.)

  1. Augusta National Golf Club (100.0)
  2. Torrey Pines Golf Course (70.3)
  3. TPC Sawgrass (56.1)
  4. Valhalla Golf Club (48.4)
  5. Streamsong Golf Resort (30.1)
  6. Pinehurst No. 2 (27.5)
  7. Bethpage Black Golf Course (24.7)
  8. Whistling Straits Golf Course (23.9)
  9. Pebble Beach Golf Links (23.8)
  10. TPC Scottsdale (23.0)

Main image: Kevin C. Cox