Let me be clear in saying that I understand everything that happened this season.
Rory McIlroy won the Career Grand Slam and did so by procuring a final leg that for him happened to be The Masters. His win at Augusta was filled with drama and heartache and chaos and tension… we never thought we would be able to top it in any kind of golf capacity.
This kind of bore itself out in Charlotte when Scottie Scheffler won the PGA Championship. Scottie is a world-class player and already one of the greatest to ever do it, but he doesn’t make us feel the things that Roy has over his time. It felt like we were right in that nothing would ever be Rory at Augusta.
Then there was J.J. Spaun. An everyman who lost to McIlroy in a playoff at Sawgrass, which came before the chaos involving Rory’s green jacket, conquered Oakmont in a way that nobody else could. He quite literally was the only player under par for the U.S. Open and was so because of an all-time putt to walk it off on 18. Suddenly, our thoughts from April were under duress only two months in.
Over in Ireland things were made dull from a competition standpoint as Scottie Scheffler proved to us all just how wide the gap is between him and the field. Scheffler secured his fourth major overall and the third leg of his own Career Grand Slam… giving him an opportunity to close the door next year at the National Championship.
These are just the majors from this season and there were obviously amazing moments from within them all. Justin Thomas won again. Ludvig Aberg was in the winner’s circle. Sepp Straka staked his claim. Russell Henley, Viktor Hovland, Min Woo Lee (!!!) and Ben Griffin all lifted silverware. None of this even mentions that Ryder Cup Captain Keegan Bradley bolstered his case to play on the team with a win at the Travelers.
All the while as these things processed one thing remained constant. Tommy Fleetwood, never a winner on the PGA Tour, kept that unfortunate streak going. Fleetwood began this season and many before it as a consensus top player in the world, but without a victory on the best Tour that golf has to offer… there was an obvious thing missing in the trophy cabinet. You know, the whole purpose of the cabinet itself.
It certainly wasn’t for lack of trying on Fleetwood’s end. Things appeared to be coming into form for him at the Travlers which Bradley won, but the final holes broke against him and Keegan offered us a hopeful preview of American-over-European dominance. Tommy again flew close to the sun in Memphis, but it was not to be and it was hard to believe that this was ever going to happen for him.
Fast forward to the Tour’s most recent event, its literal Tour Championship at East Lake. After an all-time season where stories galore were passed around like hot dogs at the turn, Tommy Fleetwood won the damn thing. A winner on the DP World Tour but never the PGA Tour… Tommy made his first career PGA Tour win the biggest one that it possibly could be. What incredible theater.
Golf can be funny and give seasons that don’t necessarily feel big or incredible realtive to ones of the past, but that was certainly not the case in 2025. This year didn’t just have a little bit of everything, it had scoops of every single flavor inside of the cabinet.
Thank you, 2025. You ruled. Now take us out with a proper Ryder Cup and we will really remember you forever.
