Men's professional golf
- 7–10 April: The Masters – South African Charl Schwartzel won his first major title with a two stroke margin over Australians Adam Scott and Jason Day.
- 16–19 June: U.S. Open – Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy won with an eight stroke victory over Australian Jason Day for his first major win.
- 14–17 July: The Open Championship – Northern Irishman Darren Clarke won his first major championship by three strokes over Americans Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson.
- 11–14 August: PGA Championship – American rookie Keegan Bradley won his first major championship in his first major start, beating Jason Dufner in a three-hole playoff.
- 23–27 February: WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship – Englishman Luke Donald won his first WGC tournament, beating German Martin Kaymer 3&2.
- 10–13 March WGC-Cadillac Championship – American Nick Watney won his first WGC tournament with a two-stroke margin over compatriot Dustin Johnson.
- 4–7 August: WGC-Bridgestone Invitational – Adam Scott won his first WGC tournament by four strokes over Luke Donald and Rickie Fowler.
- 3–6 November: WGC-HSBC Champions – Martin Kaymer won his first WGC tournament by three strokes over Swede Freddie Jacobson.
FedEx Cup playoff events – see 2011 FedEx Cup Playoffs
- 25–28 August: The Barclays – Dustin Johnson won by two strokes over defending champion Matt Kuchar. The tournament was shortened to 54 holes in anticipation of Hurricane Irene.
- 2–5 September: Deutsche Bank Championship – Webb Simpson won on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff over Chez Reavie.
- 15–18 September: BMW Championship – Justin Rose won by two stroke over John Senden.
- 22–25 September: Tour Championship – Bill Haas won on the third playoff hole over Hunter Mahan.
Other leading PGA Tour events
- 12–15 May: The Players Championship – South Korea's K. J. Choi defeated American David Toms on the first playoff hole to claim the title.
For a complete list of PGA Tour results see 2011 PGA Tour.
Leading European Tour events
- 26–29 May: BMW PGA Championship – Englishman Luke Donald defeated compatriot and World Ranking Number 1 Lee Westwood on the first playoff hole to claim the title and become the new World Ranking Number 1.
- 8–11 December: Dubai World Championship – Álvaro Quirós of Spain eagled the 72nd hole to claim a two shot victory over Paul Lawrie.
For a complete list of European Tour results see 2011 European Tour.
Team events
- 7–9 January: Royal Trophy – Team Europe defeated Team Asia 9–7 for its second consecutive win and fourth in the event's five editions.
- 15–18 September: Vivendi Seve Trophy – Team Great Britain and Ireland defeated team Continental Europe, 15½ to 12½, for the sixth consecutive time.
- 17–20 November: Presidents Cup – The American team defeated the International team 19–15. It was the fourth consecutive win in this event for the Americans.
- 24–27 November: Omega Mission Hills World Cup – The American team of Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland won giving the United States their 24th win in the World Cup.
Tour leaders
- PGA Tour –
Luke Donald (US$6,683,214)
- This total does not include FedEx Cup bonuses.
- European Tour – Luke Donald (€5,323,400)
- This total includes the US$1.5 million (€1,107,174) bonus for winning the Race to Dubai.
- Japan Golf Tour –
Bae Sang-moon (¥151,078,958) - Asian Tour –
Juvic Pagunsan (US$788,299) - PGA Tour of Australasia –
Greg Chalmers (A$554,285) - Sunshine Tour –
Garth Mulroy (R3,464,463) - OneAsia Tour – Andre Stolz (US$464,812)
Awards
- PGA Tour
- FedEx Cup – Bill Haas won the FedEx Cup after winning the Tour Championship in a playoff over Hunter Mahan.
- PGA Player of the Year – Luke Donald
- Player of the Year (Jack Nicklaus Trophy) – Luke Donald
- Leading money winner (Arnold Palmer Award) – Luke Donald
- Vardon Trophy – Luke Donald
- Byron Nelson Award – Luke Donald
- Rookie of the Year –
Keegan Bradley - Comeback Player of the Year – None[1]
- Payne Stewart Award – David Toms
- European Tour
- Golfer of the Year – Luke Donald
- Rookie of the Year – Tom Lewis
- Golfer of the Year –
- Nationwide Tour
Other tour results
- 2011 Asian Tour
- 2011 PGA Tour of Australasia
- 2011 Canadian Tour
- 2011 Challenge Tour
- 2011 Japan Golf Tour
- 2011 Nationwide Tour
- 2011 OneAsia Tour
- 2011 Sunshine Tour
- 2011 Tour de las Américas
Other happenings
- 27 February – Martin Kaymer became the new world Number 1 succeeding Lee Westwood after finishing second in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. He was the first German World number 1 after Bernhard Langer.
- 12 April – The Sunshine Tour announced that it will host a new World Golf Championships tournament starting in 2012. The event, to be called the Tournament of Hope, is expected to be played in December and is planned to have a purse of US$10 million, the richest in the sport.[2]
- 24 April – Lee Westwood replaced Martin Kaymer as world Number 1 after winning the Indonesian Masters on the Asian Tour.
- 30 May – Luke Donald became the new world Number 1 after winning the BMW PGA Championship, by defeating former world Number 1 Lee Westwood on the first hole of the playoff.
- 4 December – Tiger Woods won the unofficial event he hosts, the Chevron World Challenge, chasing down Zach Johnson with birdies on the final two holes. This was his first professional tournament win since his 2009 sex scandal.
