The 54 best sports photos of 2018

Rory McIlroy finds himself in a predicament amongst Augusta National's iconic foliage during the third round of the Masters.

Read more: The 55 best photos from the 2018 Masters

Boxer Paddy Barnes makes his way to the ring.

The Philadelphia Eagles walk out on to the field prior to their NFC Championship game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Tiger Woods makes his return to the Masters, bringing with him huge crowds of fans.

Woods celebrates his first win since 2013, golf fans around the world rejoice.

Read more: Tiger Woods completes first win since 2013 as celebrating crowd mobs the course in surreal scene

Dramatic angles show how daunting the snowboard slopestyle is.

But winning the slopestyle can be rewarding, as it was for Red Gerard.

Read more: 17-year-old Red Gerard wins the US's first gold medal of the Winter Olympics

A sea of Iceland fans take part in the "SKOL" chant as their team takes on Nigeria in the group stage.

Read more: Iceland's goalkeeper directed a Coca-Cola commercial for the World Cup and made brilliant use of the country's 'SKOL' rallying cry

Luis Advincula of Peru belts his country's national anthem ahead of a match against Denmark.

Gennady Golovkin connects while fighting Canelo Alvarez for another epic 12 rounds.

Enrique Hernandez of the Los Angeles Dodgers fields the ball in Game Two of the NLCS.

Barrett Martineau of Canada rides ferociously down the track on his sled.

Read more: Skeleton sliders have a habit of sporting some intense helmets — here are the best ones from Pyeongchang 2018

Chicharito rejoices after Mexico's win at the World Cup over South Korea put them atop their group.

Read more: The best photo from every match of the 2018 World Cup

Serena Williams slams the ball over the net during the Women's Singles Semi-Finals match at the 2018 US Open.

Days later, Serena Williams yields the stage to Naomi Osaka after the Japanese wunderkind's controversial Women's Singles finals win at the 2018 US Open.

Read more: 20-year-old US Open champion Naomi Osaka said she felt like she 'had to apologize' after beating Serena Williams in the final

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes takes the field with a little help from his teammates.

Jack Nicklaus celebrates his grandson Gary, who hit the first hole-in-one of his life while caddying for his grandfather at the Masters Par 3 contest.

Read more: Jack Nicklaus' 15-year-old grandson hit a hole-in-one in the Masters Par 3 contest as his grandfather watched

Cristiano Ronaldo slides towards the crowd after completing his hat trick to steal a draw against Spain.

Read more: Cristiano Ronaldo nets hat trick with brilliant free kick in closing minutes to steal a draw against Spain

Lydia Lassila of Australia floats upside down, as freestyle skiers do.

Read more: The 61 best photos of the Winter Olympics

Jordan Spieth and caddie Michael Greller walk in step to the 15th green at the Masters.

Read more: Jordan Spieth's caddie convinced him to change clubs just before one of the most impressive shots of the Masters

Harry Kane celebrates after bringing England back from the brink.

Read more: Harry Kane saves England from disaster with stoppage-time header to beat Tunisia

The North Korean cheer squad was one of the great spectacles of the Olympics.

Read more: All eyes are on the fierce and creepy chants of the North Korean cheer squad at the Winter Olympics (and they'll go to prison if they do anything wrong)

The 15km biathlon came down to an incredible photo finish.

Read more: The exhausting 15km biathlon came down to a split-second and a photo finish, resulting in some great images

While some other finishes were a bit less focused on speed.

Read more: Several cross-country skiers waited at the finish line to congratulate the guy who came in last

Teammates douse Brock Holt with Gatorade after hitting for the cycle in Game 3 of the ALDS against their arch rival New York Yankees.

And when Boston went on to win the World Series, catcher Christian Vazquez jumped into the arms of Red Sox ace Chris Sale in celebration.

Read more: Red Sox' World Series hero is a 35-year-old journeyman who played for 8 teams in 12 seasons and was acquired for a minor leaguer

Novak Djokovic kisses his trophy after defeating Juan Martin del Potro to win the tournament.

Paul Pogba basks in the glory of winning the World Cup.

Read more: Brutal chart shows how much more efficient France was than Croatia in the World Cup Final

Hockey players from the Czech Republic and the United States watch as the puck sails over the net and into the glass at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.

Uruguay's Edinson Cavani celebrates scoring the goal that knocked Portugal out of the World Cup.

Read more: These 3 stats show how truly awful Cristiano Ronaldo was during Portugal's convincing 2-1 loss to Uruguay

Legendary U.S. snowboarder Shaun White takes a bow after a near-perfect performance in the Men's Halfpipe Final brought him his third gold medal.

The Netherlands' Max Verstappen leaves a trail of sparks in his wake during qualifying for the Formula One Grand Prix of China.

Norwegian ski jumper Johann Andre Forfang soars over the iconic Olympic rings in PyeongChang.

Eagles backup quarterback Nick Foles hoists the Lombardi Trophy in the air after defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.

Tom Brady could only look on as the game slipped away.

LeBron James and Dwayne Wade shake hands after their final NBA matchup ever.

Read more: LeBron James sends Knicks fans into a frenzy after mysterious comment about playing Dwyane Wade at 'the Garden'

New York Giants rookie Saquon Barkley hurdles his defender.

Read more: Saquon Barkley showed off his electric potential with a 68-yard touchdown run in the first game of his career

Simone Biles defies gravity, as per usual.

LeBron James looks to contain Kevin Durant during their 2018 NBA Finals matchup.

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff celebrates a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs by shooting a layup through the uprights.

The New York Giants emerge from a cloud of smoke to take the field.

Duke freshman phenom Zion Williamson soars through the air for the massive dunk.

Read more: Duke's Zion Williamson nearly hit his head on the rim in yet another gravity-defying dunk

Brooklyn Nets center Jarrett Allen accomplishes an extremely rare feat: blocking a LeBron James dunk.

Read more: Nets center Jarrett Allen pulled off a huge block on LeBron James that had only ever happened 8 times before

Alex Ovechkin kisses the Stanley Cup after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in Game Five of the Stanley Cup Final.

Stefon Diggs completes the Minnesota Miracle.

Read more: The Vikings pulled off a miracle win over the Saints with a last-second 61-yard touchdown pass

LeBron James expresses his anguish after a 51 point performance was not enough to win Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.

Read more: LeBron James and the Cavs hit the Warriors with their best shot and had a chance to flip the Finals on its head — and still lost in gut-wrenching fashion

Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey sidesteps Seattle Seahawks' Tedric Thompson.

Boston Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving glides past rookie DeAndre Ayton.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Kenny Golladay hauls in a pass against the Buffalo Bills.

German big wave surfer Sebastian Steudtner drops a wave during a surf session at Praia do Norte in Portugal.

Fans in Washington packed the stands to support the Cpaitals during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The highs and lows of college basketball were on full display at March Madness.

Read more: Michigan stays alive with a freshman's dramatic buzzer-beater

Texas Longhorns wide receiver Collin Johnson goes horizontal for the score.

Atlanta United celebrates after winning the MLS Cup in their second year as a franchise.

More sports year-end coverage:

The 15 most disappointing sports teams of 2018

The 40 most incredible plays in sports of 2018