Padraig Harrington ended Europe's wait for a major, but it was Tiger Woods who continued to set the standards.
A look back at a memorable 2007
The year in pictures
2007 turned out to be another stellar year for the irrepressible Tiger Woods, but it also ushered in the first European victory at a major since 1999 as Padraig Harrington edged out Sergio Garcia to win the Open Championship.
Harrington came from six back on the final day to overcome long-time leader Garcia in a play-off - and that despite a double-bogey six at the 18th in regulation that included two trips to Barry Burn, evoking memories of Jean Van de Velde.
The Dubliner showed great composure and all of his trademark fighting spirit to wipe those blunders from his mind and produce a superb up-and-down to keep alive his hopes.
He was let back in by Garcia whose putting woes came back to haunt him and then some on a final day when seemingly nothing would drop for the Spaniard and his belly-putter.
A ten-foot par-putt on the last would have seen him crowned champion, but it lipped out and Harrington never looked back after storming two clear on the first play-off hole, sealing victory back at the 18th with a three-footer for bogey that capped a quite extraordinary day of tension.
Woods never quite got going at Carnoustie and eventually finished in a tie for 12th - although that in itself provided another example of the world number one's ability to grind it when not at his best.
Indeed, following Zach Johnson's unexpected triumph at Augusta and Angel Cabrera's success in the US Open at Oakmont, Tiger headed into the USPGA facing up to his first 'majorless' year since 2004 with some claiming impending fatherhood had seen him take his eye off the ball.
Lucky 13 for Tiger
However, if ever proof were needed of the American's supremacy, it came in resounding style at Southern Hills as the 31-year-old chalked up major number 13, closing to within five of Jack Nicklaus in the process.
Woods simply steamrollered the field with a display of unswerving consistency, discipline and no little brilliance with a two-shot winning margin over Woody Austin barely telling the story of a tournament he never looked like losing from the middle of the second round.
It says something of Woods' pursuit of perfection that what sticks in the mind most was not perhaps his eventual victory, but a missed putt on the 18th at the end of his second round that would have seen him post a 62 - the best-ever major round.
It proved the most high-profile of no fewer than seven wins in the season for Woods who for good measure also mopped up the inaugural race for the FedEx Cup and its handsome $10 million (£5 million) prize pot.
His first victory came in January at the Buick Invitational - which helped him set a new record of seven straight PGA Tour victories - and more followed at the CA Championship, the Wachovia Championship, the Bridgestone Invitational, the BMW Championship, the Tour Championship and of course the USPGA.
But it wasn't all about Tiger as Johnson and Cabrera secured their membership to the exclusive major winners' club.
Johnson the Master, Cabrera champion
The unassuming American kept his head while those around him at a freezing Augusta National seemed determined to lose theirs - Justin Rose will still be ruing an untimely errant drive at the 17th on the Sunday.
Johnson ultimately emerged two strokes clear of Woods (still to win a major when not leading going into the final day), Retief Goosen and Rory Sabbatini and having done so was helped into the legendary green jacket by Phil Mickelson.
Having won a major in each of the last three years, Lefty had to settle for the unofficial fifth in 2007 as he won the Players Championship at Sawgrass for the first time.
Cabrera's victory at Oakmont was no less surprising than Johnson's, although hardly a shock was the fact he was also forced to hold off Woods, and Jim Furyk, to do so.
Oakmont had been billed as the toughest test in golf and, staging its eighth US Open, the course with the treacherous bunkers and devilish greens certainly pushed players to their limits.
The consensus was it was tough but fair, perhaps best exemplified by Paul Casey who managed a truly memorable 66 but also an instantly forgettable 77 during the course of the week.
While many chose to take on Oakmont with a set game-plan, Cabrera attacked it the only way he knew how with some typically raw and monstrous hitting.
Despite some predictable moments of self-inflicted trouble, the burly South American ended at +5, one stroke ahead of Furyk and Woods, whose challenge finally died on the 72nd green when a 25-footer for birdie slipped past the hole.
Rose blooms
Although he didn't win one, second best record in the majors in 2007 - behind Woods - belonged to Rose who finished no worse than 12th at the four big ones.
The Englishman had been hampered by a back injury for the early part of the year but put together a storming finish to it ensuring an excellent campaign became a truly breakthrough season, capped off by a first European Order of Merit title.
Another nail-biting finish to the annual race saw Rose, Harrington and Ernie Els all harbouring hopes of emerging as Europe's number one ahead of the final event of the season at Valderrama.
However, with Els having already committed to a prior engagement in Singapore, it was Rose who prevailed as he held his nerve to win the Volvo Masters in a play-off, Harrington just missing out on a second successive Order of Merit title having finished in a tie for fourth.
There were no fewer than 18 first-time winners on the European Tour in 2007, amongst them talented young Spaniard Pablo Martin who made history when he became the first amateur to win a European Tour event when he clinched the Portugal Open at the beginning of April.
Honourable mention should also go to young Argentine Andres Romero broke his duck with victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship just a week after a heroic final-round performance at the Open that saw him briefly snatch the lead before blowing up with a double bogey-bogey finish that left him one shot adrift of Harrington and Garcia.
McIlroy comes of age
The Open also saw another major young talent spring into the national consciousness with Northern Irish teenager Rory McIlroy wowing the crowds with a sparkling opening round of 69 on his way to the silver medal.
The 18-year-old went on to further illustrate his rich potential by placing third at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and secured his playing privileges for 2008 after finishing in a tie for fourth at the Madrid Open a week later.
Although he missed out on the Order of Merit crown, Els did notch up a seventh World Match Play Championship in his own backyard at Wentworth, but the Big Easy's year ended on a sour note as he triple-bogeyed the last to throw away victory at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
In the women's game, Mexican Lorena Ochoa was as, if not more dominant than Woods, winning eight titles during the year including a first major when she coasted to a four-shot triumph in the Women's British Open at St. Andrews in August.
Europe's women tried and failed to reclaim the Solheim Cup with America recording a 16-12 victory despite the best efforts of a partisan home crowd in Halmstad, Sweden.
Nick Faldo's Great Britain and Ireland team came from behind to beat Continental Europe 16½ -11½ in the Seve Trophy, although Faldo would happily swap that for success when he captains Europe in next year's Ryder Cup at Valhalla.
However, the final word has to go to Tiger who became a father for the first time in 2007 when daughter Sam Alexis was born in June.
The American has held the world number one spot for a total of 476 weeks and, now seemingly more focused and driven than ever, looks unlikely to be relinquishing that crown any time soon.
