An exhilarating 2025 season in store on the PGA Tour

Scottie Scheffler plays a shot on the 13th hole during the final round of the Hero World Challenge 2024 at Albany Golf Course on Dec. 8, 2024 in Nassau, Bahamas. [AFP/YONHAP] While it would be misleading to call the second half of the 2024 season a head-to-head race between thoroughbreds named Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele — after all, elite names such as Hideki Matsuyama and Keegan Bradley posted memorable victories in that stretch — it sure had the feel of an elongated duel in the sun between the behemoths. Related ArticleMatsuyama shines brightest for Asian golfKorean stars' Shriners Children's Open success over as PGA scraps tournamentTom Kim teams up with Jeeno Thitikul for 2nd place at Grant Thornton From the PGA Championship in May to the Tour Championship in August — and for good measure we’ll add a glorious Olympics competition — these two giants were in the same field nine times. Schauffele won two of them, both majors (PGA and Open Championship), while Scheffler won four times, including the Olympic gold. Of course, it was Scheffler’s scorching start to the season (four wins in 10 tournaments) that separated him from Schauffele in Player of the Year honors. No debate there. But as we shine the crystal ball for 2025, here’s a thought: The gut says it will be Schauffele who’ll turn the tables and have the monster season, perhaps five or six wins. There was just an uncanny finish to his ’24 season — first, T9, T2, T5, T4 over his last five tournaments — and here’s a guess that the 31-year-old will pick right up where he left off. All of which isn’t to say that the good stuff in 2025 will begin and end with Schauffele, because that’s far from the truth. There’s such an incredibly deep pool of talent, much of young, that the PGA Tour has brilliant storylines at every turn. Xander Schauffele is seen on the 10th tee during the Pro-Am prior to the Zozo Championship 2024 at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club on Oct. 23, 2024 in Inzai, Chiba, Japan. [GETTY IMAGES] So, what are we in store for in ’25? Let’s throw out a few names in no particular order, but all of which should resonate: Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, Sam Burns, Ludvig Aberg, Max Homa and Tony Finau. Combined, they played in 203 PGA Tour tournaments in 2025. Combined, they scored zero wins. That’s right, not one of them visited the winner’s circle and that’s unthinkable. It’s also going to change in 2025 — maybe not for all of them but were you to look for some of these names to rebound, circle Thomas, Morikawa and Aberg. Combined, Thomas, Morikawa and Aberg had six runner-up finishes and two thirds, so clearly they were fiercely competitive on a number of occasions. Another player who went winless in 2024 but is just waiting to break through in a big way is Sahith Theegala. Just 27 years old, he does own a victory from the ’23 season, but he was even better in ’24 (nine top 10s and he only missed four cuts in 26 starts). While most eyes were on Scheffler and Schauffele, the easy-to-like Theegala soared to No. 12 in the Official World Golf Ranking (as at Dec 9, 2024). A fearless player with power and guile, Theegala is a lovely story, a child born in California to Muralidhar and Karuna, natives of India who came to the United States. in the late 1980s. Proud of his ethnicity, Theegala blossomed as a junior golfer, then at Pepperdine University, and the transition to the PGA Tour has gone seamlessly. It is difficult to resist three feel-good subplots to the ’24 season that have all the potential to keep things going. Having languished outside the Top 50 in the OWGR for most of the season, Adam Scott turned 44 in July and didn’t seem to be a candidate to turn things around in dramatic fashion. But he finished second in the Genesis Scottish Open in July, then T-10 the next week at the Open Championship and he rolled into the end of 2024 with a second, a third and a fifth. Wild and exhilarating, Scott’s finish was no fluke; he’s lost nothing when it comes to ball-striking, he is putting better than ever, and while he’ll turn 45 next summer, don’t focus on that. Instead, buy stock in his continued resurgence. Not a lot of spotlight shines on a trio of names inside to top 30 of the OWGR, but An Byeong-hun (22nd), Im Sung-jae (23rd) and Tom Kim (27th) have been unheralded stories of consistency and there’s no reason to think they won’t continue that in 2025. Tom Kim plays his second shot on the 14th hole during the final round of the Hero World Challenge 2024 at Albany Golf Course on Dec. 8, 2024 in Nassau, Bahamas. [GETTY IMAGES] Im and An finished ninth and 12th, respectively, in the final FedExCup standings and it’s particularly worth noting how solid Im has been. His average FEC ranking the last six years is 13.83 and for comparison, consider that Jordan Spieth’s average finish is 46.33 over that same stretch. Given that Kim is just 22 and Im just 26, perhaps more storylines will include their fixtures in that community of elite global players. Then again, when it comes to unheralded consistency, it’s likely Hideki Matsuyama is first in line. Rarely do golf writers offer the worthy praise that his career is deserving of. The first player from Japan to win the Masters, Matsuyama is now up to 10 PGA Tour wins after a 2024 season that saw him capture stellar tournaments early (the Genesis Invitational at famed Riviera) and late (the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Matsuyama, who’ll be 33 in February, has recorded multiple wins in three of his 11 seasons and might be the quietest major champion in our midst. He added a very special performance to his wins in 2024, that being a bronze medal in Paris, and there’s no reason to think he’s not going to be a force in ’25. International team member Hideki Matsuyama hits onto the eighth green during a fourth-round foursomes match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. [AP/YONHAP] To study the way the PGA Tour landscape is changing is to point to playing status granted to the winner of PGA Tour University. The best collegiate player from 2023 — Aberg — has already vaulted inside the Top 10 in the OWGR. So why not keep your eyes on the top PGA Tour University in 2024, a youngster named Michael Thorbjornsen. All Thorbjornsen did in 2024 with limited starts (11) was record three top 10s and $1.28 million. Further proof that these kids arrive with no fear and deep expectations that they have what it takes to win. Scheffler was that way in 2020 when he arrived as a rookie with big dreams. He didn’t win any of his first 60 starts and no one was pointing at him to be the No. 1 player in the world. Then again, he’s won 13 of his last 59 starts so everyone is pointing at him to maintain that dominance. Just don’t be surprised is Schauffele has something to say about that. Bring on the 2025 season; it promises to be a great one. BY JIM MCCABE [[email protected]]