The 2025 PGA Tour season was dominated by the two biggest names of the sport. Scottie Scheffler has continued to expand the field as the best player in the world, winning five times, including two major championships (a bonus victory at Ryder Cup FedEx Cup Fall Tune-Up). Rory McIlroy has won three times, including the Player Championship and the Masters. The latter then completed McIlroy’s long-awaited journey into career grand slams. This is the decisive moment for the 2025 season.
However, there were other players who rose to this opportunity in an impressive way as the brightest stars of the game continued to rule. In particular, there are eight people who finished 2025 in a very different position than when they first started 2025 in the world of golf.
This list does not include the number one and second in the world, as it is difficult for them to exceed expectations if they are two top favorites in every tournament, as played by Schaeffler and McIlroy. It also doesn’t include first-time winners, Tommy Fleetwood and Cameron Young. As they played cathartic as they did this season and as much as their victory, their overwhelming long run in finishes brought more victories to them in the end to meet the expectations of the sky, rather than clearing some sort of important bar with these victories.
Keegan Bradley
Not choosing yourself for the US Ryder Cup team would be a controversial decision, as Bradley didn’t expect to play very well this season. In fact, I was hoping that Bradley would compete with his game under the pressure of being captain. Instead, he has had one of the best seasons of his career, so he is hoping Bradley to reach his peak after winning a signature event victory at the Travelers Championship. He didn’t do much since then, but his top 10 finish in the Tour Championship seemed enough to convince himself that he should be part of a 12-man team playing in the US at Beth Page Black. He ultimately chose not to play for why I did it It’s a great motivational trick, but considering everything he had to worry about as a US captain, he won’t diminish what incredible season he put together.
JJ Spaun
No one has improved his status in the golf world as much as Spawn this year. He went from 119th to 7th in the world, transforming from a player who was dangerously close to losing a PGA Tour card to a major champion, a rider cup rock and a constant presence on the leaderboard. His performance with a player who is a bit short in the playoffs with McIlroy raised eyebrows. I most expected that was the highest point of Spaun’s season. A few months later, he put it on top in an epic way, fought brutal situations, getting off to a horrifying start at Oakmont on Sunday to win his first major title at the US Open. Spaun added a runner-up finish in the playoffs at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, earning three big money finishes this year.
Russell Henry
Did you really expect Henry to finish a season ranked fourth in the world? He continued to find new peaks in his mid-30s, and this year he featured the only victory of the season at the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational. Henry pocketed more than $14 million this season, securing his first ever Ryder Cup spot, finishing fourth in points for the US team.
Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantrey among PGA Tour players who fell short of expectations during the 2025 season
Patrick McDonald
Ben Griffin
Two wins, 10 top 10 (including two in the majors), shy of $10 million for Griffin in 2025, and the first career in the Ryder Cup is a list of achievements, ranging from solid pros to consistent presence on the PGA Tour leaderboard. Griffin really turned it on after missing the Masters, winning against Andrew Novak in the Zurich Classic, and captured his first solo victory in the Charles Schwab Challenge a month later. He appeared to be running out of gas in July and missed cuts in both events he played, but he bouncing off with a T12 or higher at a strong close to secure a pick for the Ryder Cup captain.
Justin Rose
No one expected the 45-year-old British to take part in the playoffs with McIlroy at the Masters, but he nearly prevented this year’s story of golf from happening. He eventually returned to St. Jude’s winner circle by winning Spawn in the playoffs, adding three more top 10 for the season. Rose, who joined the 2025 campaign, was one of the few potential questions for the European Ryder Cup team, as he was expected to run it alongside most of the teams in Rome, but Rose had to prove he still had that level to him. He rose to the opportunity to win an automatic qualifying spot, confirming that there was no drama about his inclusion.
Harris English
One of the most consistent players on the tour this season, English has continued to roll that form since 2021, earning his first victory with the Torrey Pines at the beginning of the year. He placed second for Schaeffler in both the PGA Championship and Open, adding five other top 15 finishes in the signatures and playoff events. Consistency in performance in the biggest tournaments has led him to the world rankings from 73rd to 10th, locking him into the automatic qualifying spot for the US Ryder Cup team. Like Georgia Bulldog star Henry, English finds some of his best forms in his mid-30s.
Chris Gottap
Aside from those dialed into college and amateur golf, Gottap wasn’t on the radar of most golf fans coming in 2025. And thanks to two epic weeks of overcoming the pond, he became a last name in the world of golf. Gottap’s victory at the Scotland Open was sensational. A week later, at the Royal Portrush, he finished third in the open behind Schaeffler and English. He never replicated these performances within the state, but added two top 10s in the Tour Championship, including the T10, and took part in all the big events from the Tour Card Bubble in 2026.
Brian Campbell
Forgetting the name of the event or field he competed in, Campbell won twice in the season – as the shortest hitter on the PGA Tour – is an astonishing achievement. He didn’t do anything else this year – John Deere and his victory at the Mexico Open were his only top 25 – but they finished in the top 50 of the FedEx Cup, and were enough to secure his spot in all the big events on the 2026 calendar. Campbell gives hope to all the short batters. If you can dial in the rest of the game in the right week, you can win. He certainly has ceilings as he struggled to catch up with signature events, majors and playoff fields, but moving to the top 60 of the world at his distance is truly fantastic.
