My vote for Man of the Year in golf did not win a major or any tournament on Tour for that matter, but he did give us all a reason to smile.
With one cataclysm of controversy after another disrupting professional golf over the past few years, the game needed a laugh and it came in one of the most relatable, and as anyone who has been similarly afflicted can attest to, courageous attempts to inform us on “Live From” at the majors.
Johnson Wagner, time after time and one time in particular at the US Open, in trying to recreate great shots of the day and demonstrate what the very best in the game are capable of, brought the whole world of golf together through a kindred connection to his calamity of errors. One could say he failed his way to success, but that strikes the ear too hard and misses the architectural charm of these moments. It was just a nice guy willing to risk public embarrassment trying to give the audience some insight into how good the best in the game are and in the most original, unexpectedly comedic and authentic way, he succeeded.
It is not hard to find choreographed social media posts of people bending shots around and through all manner of obstacles, and upon holing out acting as if they just discovered fire in celebration. But to see someone on live TV try to do something that they know they struggle with, in a selfless effort to make the show better, and then handle the mishaps with such grace and goodwill, well, when it comes to TV divinity, all that was missing was the wafer and the wine.
Johnson Wagner was just what this game needed in 2024.