With the New Year’s festivities over and the PGA Tour entering the second month of the 2026 season, resolve is being tested. Whatever goals and aspirations a professional golfer has, they have already been evaluated, especially by professional golfers who realized their goals and aspirations during the off-season. need To improve important areas of the game.
While some were definitely proud of what they accomplished in 2025 when reviewing their films, I’m sure others were disappointed with their eagerness to right the wrongs as the 2026 season begins.
With players like Rory McIlroy starting the PGA Tour season, that means the signature event field we see on TV is about to get even bigger. Take a look at year-end audits that show how some of the biggest names in gaming were doing at the end of 2025.
Some players experienced significant changes, such as Cameron Young on the greens and Xander Schauffele on the driver, but others (Scottie Schefter) were very consistent.
Stroke gain…
away from the tee shot
🔺 Rickie Fowler (+90 spot): Fowler, who lost a stroke off the tee for the first time in his career in 2024, fought back in a big way. The former Players Championship winner experienced his best driving season since 2018 and was able to set up the remaining matches and earn strokes all over the bag. The 37-year-old Fowler knows he’s inching closer to a 4-0 record, but if he keeps hitting the ball like this he could have a chance to win some golf tournaments.
🔺 JJ Spahn (+70): There was a lot of debate about his iron play, but Spawn’s driver was where he felt he made the most progress. The U.S. Open champion improved his performance per round by just about half a stroke with the big stick in his hand, allowing him to move into the upper echelons of professional golf. He gained both distance and accuracy, which earned him recognition. The world No. 6 hit a memorable green on the 71st hole at Oakmont and split the fairway on the final hole to put the championship on ice.
🔺 Hideki Matsuyama (-106): Matsuyama’s ups and downs have always been a little strange, and 2025 was much the same. He won The Sentry in record fashion during the first week of January, but didn’t register another Top 10 spot until October. The main culprit turned out to be a driver experiencing the worst off-the-tee season of his career. The good news is he found something late and has finished in the top 10 around the world three years in a row, including a win at the Hero World Challenge. Matsuyama’s strong play continued until the beginning of 2026.
🔻Sander Schauffele (-91): There were several factors in Schauffele’s decline: (1) he had a great season in 2024, (2) he got injured to start 2025, and (3) when he came back, he came back in Florida (meaning there’s a lot of water on the golf course) with a new driver and eventually got it. The two-time major champion’s driving splits had been in check for most of the year, but he began to swing more confidently toward the end of the season. The win in Japan is huge for 2026, and he needs to prove he can play as well as he did in 2024 than he did in 2025.
Other players to watch: Harris English (+37), Keegan Bradley (+35), Sahit Seagala (-107), Tom Kim (-68), Windham Clarke (-66), Tony Finau (-60)
approach
🔺 Justin Rose (+102): After having good and bad seasons in the irons over the past four years, 2026 has been a good year for Rose. The Englishman became the oldest player since Phil Mickelson to enter the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour at the St. Jude Championship, and he finished 72 holes in line with his peers at the Masters (for the second time in his career, mind you). At 45, Rose still believes there are golden summers in his future, and given his big spot in 2025, it’s worth taking his word for it – especially considering he started 2026 with another trophy in his hands.
🔺 Tommy Fleetwood (+86): It’s easy to focus on the putter, but Fleetwood’s approach play has risen to new heights in 2025. The Englishman has become the world’s No. 3 player this year behind Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, but that’s because his iron play has kept pace. He won his first PGA Tour victory at the Tour Championship and his first victory on the DP World Tour in India. Fleetwood has recorded two wins and seven top-four finishes in their last 17 Worldwide starts in 2025.
🔻 Tony Fiau (-133): Almost everything went wrong for Finau in 2025, but his iron play was the most alarming. After a season in which he was only behind Scheffler, Finau became a mid-level player with a scoring club. Given how the rest of the game plays out, the big-hitting right-hander will have to find his groove in this area, especially between 100 and 150 yards, where he’s been weak compared to other players.
🔻 Im Sung Jae (-80): His 2025 season is hard to fathom. It was both impressive and frustrating. Despite finishing second-to-last on the PGA Tour in strokes gained approach, he still managed to qualify for the Tour Championship. To put this into perspective, Im lost nearly 174 strokes all year to Scheffler, who led the way in this category.
Other players to watch: Patrick Cantlay (+87), Jordan Spieth (+80), Ben Coles (+65), Collin Morikawa (+39), Sepp Straka (+33), Sam Barnes (-54), Cameron Young (-42)
around the green
🔺 Keegan Bradley (+92): The U.S. Ryder Cup captain will be a completely different person chipping and pitching in 2025. Bradley had strong short game performances at major tournaments such as the PGA Championship, where he finished T8 and won the Travelers Championship. Always a reliable ball striker, Bradley’s development has made him one of the best players from tee to green this season. Thanks to his form, the 39-year-old still has a chance to compete in future Ryder Cups.
🔺 Jordan Spieth (+77): He was often criticized for accepting sponsor invitations multiple times to participate in signature events, but no one cared more about it than Spieth. The three-time major champion intends to play in these tournaments in 2026, and if his current trajectory holds, he’ll have a good chance of doing so. In his first season after left wrist surgery, Spieth made gains across the bag. The problem is that he hasn’t achieved spectacular results in any particular field. He was slightly above average in all areas, but his presence in them was extraordinary.
🔻 Collin Morikawa (-103): Morikawa has insisted throughout the year that he needs to improve his iron play, and I don’t think anyone would disagree with that. He finished third overall in the league, but fourth in the six seasons he played full-time on the PGA Tour. That may be debatable, but it’s his short game that isn’t. Morikawa proved unable to keep up with the big names on days when he wasn’t hitting the ball well. Those rounds are what hold him back, and it’s his short game that propels him forward that day.
🔻Maverick McNeely (-110): At first glance, it’s surprising to see McNeely’s name on this list, but when you examine his profile from 2025, it makes sense. McNeely, 30, had his best driving year and best iron year (by a wide margin) this past season, making him a more reliable ball striker. His putting has been solid compared to his standards, and if he can find gains in his chipping and putting, he could be back in the winner’s circle in this matchup in 2026.
Other players to watch: Patton Kizzia (+82), Minwoo Lee (+55), Sungjae Im (+23), Xander Schauffele (-55), Akshay Bhatia (-43), Rory McIlroy (-29)
putting
🔺 Justin Thomas (+146): He made the biggest improvement this season, going from 11th in the bottom putters in 2024 to being in the top 30 in wands. Thomas credits a conversation with Schauffele about his practice habits with leading to his win at RBC Heritage, where he made one hole from long range in a playoff against Andrew Novak.
🔺 Cameron Young (+138): Statistically, Thomas benefited the most, but if the eye test meant anything, Young’s name would have been at the top of the list. The former Rookie of the Year had a stellar debut, winning his first career title at the Wyndham Championship en route to being selected to the U.S. Ryder Cup team. All signs point to him competing for a major championship in 2026 and possibly winning if his putter stays on course.
🔺 Scotty Scheffler (+55): That was the only category where he improved this season, but guess what? He did just that. Schaeffler took a claw putting grip from inside about 15 feet and created one of the best putters in the world. The world No. 1 took it a little easier heading into the 2025 season after an offseason injury, but once he hit his stride, his name was on the full tournament leaderboard. The way he rolled the rock at Royal Portrush was terrifying…terrifyingly good and terrifying to the rest of the world.
🔺 Rory McIlroy (+50): After years of seemingly missing big putts, McIlroy made nearly every one in 2025. The 72nd hole at Augusta National turned out to be an outlier. (Hey, he still won!) McIlroy made putts on the final holes of regulation at The Players, the Irish Open and the DP World Tour Championship to reach playoffs and win several of them. Always a strong putter, and perhaps unfairly criticized, McIlroy’s 2025 proved to be the best putting season of his career due to some short mistakes and a strong run at the major championships.
Other players to watch: Jake Knapp (+101), Garrick Hidgo (+77), Tommy Fleetwood (+72), Jordan Spieth (+36), Adam Scott (-95), Taylor Pendrith (-92), Collin Morikawa (-83), Viktor Hovland (-72)
