The year in PGA Tour WAGS (2018): Clutch caddying, romantic proposals, and one super fancy gala

2018 Ryder Cup - Gala Dinner — Richard Heathcote

Perhaps more than ever before, golfers and their significant others (AKA WAGs) were intertwined — and on display together — during this past year. Sure, there were the usual engagements, weddings, and babies, but there were also shared struggles, triumphs and viral moments that helped tell the story of the 2018 golf season. Let’s take a look back.

Of course, we start with Dustin Johnson and Paulina Gretzky. There still were no wedding bells (At least, we didn’t get an invite), but the couple celebrated an important milestone:

Five years?! It feels like just yesterday when we started ~~stalking~~ following these two lovebirds. And after all this time, they're still dancing on boats and doing backflips into the water to get over tough losses in majors:

Paulina also celebrated a birthday milestone of her own:

And she had a meme of her go viral after she was spotted lurking in the background while DJ did an interview with CBS’ Amanda Balionis:

Which prompted Paulina and Balionis to team up for this funny response:

But it wasn’t all fun and games this year as those who follow Paulina particularly closely got quite a scare when she deleted from her popular Instagram account all photos that included Dustin. Like this, which was a good one of them swimming that's now in Internet heaven:

PHOTOS: DJ & Paulina through the years

Sigh. . . There were rumors their relationship was going to disappear as well — you could even bet on whether Paulina was going to be in Paris for the Ryder Cup — but things got smoothed over. And DJ resumed to his role of fi·an·cé/Paulina’s personal photographer:

Phew. Speaking of the Ryder Cup, how about this year’s gala turned into the WAG event of the millennium since it was staged at the Palace of Versailles. Here's a look at Team USA's crew:

And here's Team Europe:

2018 Ryder Cup - European Team Portraits — Andrew Redington

Just a slight upgrade from the gala at the Mall of America in 2016. Although, to be fair to the MOA, it has more fast casual dining options than anywhere in the world. But yes, slightly less enticing selfie opportunities.

Anyway, besides that glamorous gala, there was a lot of same old, same old going on. Sergio Garcia and Angela Akins continued to sight-see:

Allison Stokke, Rickie Fowler's girlfriend, continued to train:

And Jena Sims, Brooks Koepka’s girlfriend, continued to act:

But Jena was seen most following her man's two major victories. First, Fox’s Joe Buck got her name right this time when her man won a second straight U.S. Open:

Which led to the two turning up the PDA to borderline NSFW while on vacay celebrating the win:

And then there was Jena’s interaction with another major champ following Brooks’ victory at the PGA Championship that drew even more attention:

And thus, another WAGs meme was born. While we're on the topic of Tiger, Woods flashed some serious PDA with a girlfriend for the first time in years when he gave Erica Herman a big kiss after winning the Tour Championship:

TOUR Championship - Final Round — Stan Badz

The celebratory smooches weren't always smooth, though. Aaron Wise’s somewhat awkward embrace with his girlfriend went viral after he won the AT&T Byron Nelson:

They’re young. They’ll get the hang of it.

But no one was as suave as Emiliano Grillo, who enlisted a plane to wish his wife happy birthday during the Wells Fargo:

Thanks for making the rest of us look bad, Emiliano.

RELATED: Meet the WAGs of the PGA Tour

On a much more somber note, Erin Walker revealed she had contracted Lyme disease like her husband, Jimmy. But Erin turned her news into a positive by speaking out about the illness:

And she continued to be a badass show jumper:

OK, we're back to fun stuff. We saw two of the game’s biggest stars get engaged. First, Rickie Fowler to Allison Stokke on a Hamptons beach (How romantic!):

And then Jon Rahm to Kelley Cahill. Unfortunately, Rahm didn’t have Justin Thomas to document the occasion like Rickie did, so here are a couple photos of the happy couple from that fancy Ryder Cup gala instead:

No word on if the wedding will be at the Palace of Versailles also. Talk about an expensive potential venue. . . Although, Rahm clearly spared no expense on the engagement ring, which he even played a role in designing. What a talented young lad. Golf.com’s Luke Kerr-Dineen got a good look at the gleaming ~~rock~~ boulder on Kelley's finger:

And how about some tour pro weddings in 2018? Smylie Kaufman became the first #SB2K member to take the plunge and he invited his Baker’s Bay boys to the big day:

Dustin Johnson’s brother and caddie, Austin, got married to Sam Maddox:

And Jordan Spieth tied the knot with high school sweetheart Annie Verret. The couple did a good job of keeping a tight lid on photos, but here’s a pre-wedding photo of guests:

And here’s a photo of Jordan and Annie (and Phil Mickelson) from the Ryder Cup:

42nd Ryder Cup - Day Three - Le Golf National — Gareth Fuller – PA Images

Sorry, there weren’t any trophy pics of Jordan and Annie this year because, well, planning a wedding and kicking out your roommates is a stressful time in a young man’s life.

By the way, that leaves Justin Thomas as the lone #SB2K member not engaged or married (No pressure, JT!). But he did help another couple get married during the Wells Fargo Championship:

It was during another tournament, the Wyndam Championship, when we thought a marriage might actually dissolve. C.T. Pan certainly didn’t give his wife much love for her caddying skills that week:

Ouch. But the duo finished runner-up, matching Pan’s best career finish. And more importantly, they didn’t let work come between them:

Wyndham Championship - Final Round — Jared C. Tilton

And there were several winning WAG caddies as well. Chris Paisley and his wife, Keri, won on the European Tour:

And Lee Westwood might enlist the help of girlfriend Helen Storey a lot more. After parting ways with longtime caddie Billy Foster, Westwood won his next start with Storey on the bag to break a five-year winless drought. Here's the lovely couple in their sweet matching UPS uniforms:

Nedbank Golf Challenge - Day Four — Warren Little

And speaking of a winless drought, Kate Rose’s co-owned horse (not pictured) entered some big races, but didn’t have the 2018 success of her husband, Justin, who claimed the FedEx Cup and reached No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking:

But Master Merion is still a Triple Crown-level name for a horse.

Finally, how about the year Andrew Johnston had? Beef didn't make the Ryder Cup and he didn't record a victory, but he won the love of Jodie Valencia — even with his trademark big beard:

And he followed the year's most bizarre display of PDA by popping the question successfully:

The photo booth images from that wedding are going to be a lot of fun.

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The year in PGA Tour WAGS (2018): Clutch caddying, romantic proposals, and one super fancy gala

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