18 questions as the PGA Tour begins its 2025 season

We’re only a few hours into 2025, but golf doesn’t take vacations. Or not much of one, anyway. Barely a month after the conclusion of the 2024 fall season, the PGA Tour’s 2025 slate kicks off in earnest — and in style in Hawaii — this week at Sentry. Here’s everything you need to know heading into the 2025 season, from Scottie to Tiger to everything in between.

1. Can Someone Stop Scottie Scheffler?

At the moment, Scottie Scheffler did a pretty good job of stopping Scottie Scheffler; a freak injury sustained over Christmas sent him to the hospital for surgery to remove shards of glass from his hand, an injury that will keep him off the field for at least a few tournaments. That news must come as a relief to the rest of the field, which had to watch Scheffler thunder his way to seven Tour wins last season, a second Masters win, an Olympic gold medal … and also welcome a new baby and make a efforts in prison, as if his years were not cinematic enough. Once he’s back on the course, no one comes close yet.

2. Will Rory McIlroy finally win another major?

We are now over 10 years since Rory McIlroy’s last major. He came as close as he’s ever been in a decade last year at Pinehurst when he led Bryson DeChambeau by two strokes with five holes remaining, only to surrender the lead and the US Open on the final hole. It will leave a mark, but luckily for McIlroy, he will have more chances as he still looks to be at the top of his game.

3. When will we see Tiger Woods play golf again?

Potentially, very soon we will see Woods playing a variation of golf in the tech-heavy TGL indoor golf league that begins next week. (More on that later.) As for a return to the course… who knows? Woods recently admitted that he is nowhere near tournament form after back surgery in September. He recently played with son Charlie at the PNC Championship, but he could use a cart at that event. Woods played just five events last year, withdrew from one and missed the cut in three of the four majors. His only complete tournament: The Masters, where he kept his cut-cut streak alive but finished dead last among players who made the cut. It may be a while before we see Woods in the mix again.

4. How will Xander Schauffele top his 2024?

If you want a look at how quickly your life and career can change in golf, look no further than Xander Schauffele. This time last year, he had an underperforming rep who came close in major after major but was unable to close the deal. Now? Now he has two majors and is just two wins away from a career slam. He has figured out how to close on Sundays, and that makes him the most serious threat to Scheffler. Schauffele-Scheffler, Scheffler-Schauffele … spare a thought for the announcers at the big ones this year.

5. Will Jordan Spieth return to form in 2025?

Speaking of players seeking a career grand slam… Jordan Spieth is far from his major-winning days, and he shut down his 2024 season in August for long-delayed surgery on his left wrist to treat nerve problems. Spieth hasn’t had a top-10 finish since last April, and he missed the cut at both the Players Championship and the Masters. He’s one of the game’s most popular players and loudest voices, and golf is better when he’s in the hunt on Sundays.

6. Who is the next breakout star on Tour?

Consider Ludvig Åberg, the Swedish flamethrower who nearly won two majors the first time he played in both. He finished solo 2nd at Augusta, and faded late at the US Open to finish T12. (He also missed the cut in the other two majors.) He was tied for seventh overall in hits, fourth in total drives. If he can clean up his putting, which ranks 67th on Tour, he will be a force for years to come.

7. Who will have a Schauffele-like bust-out season?

Collin Morikawa was close in every major last year – he finished in the top 4 in both the Masters and the PGA Championship, and no worse than T16 in any major – but couldn’t quite break through. He’s not exactly unknown, having already won two majors, but he has just one win since the 2021 Open Championship, and none in 2024. He’s tied for fifth overall in strokes gained, and he’s one of the most precise drivers on the Tour. . He is also one of the most accurate putters in the game, all of which is a recipe for continued success. Is 2025 the year?

8. Who will win their first major this season?

After a FedEx Cup-winning 2023 season, Viktor Hovland struggled early in 2024, missing the cut at three of the four majors. But a T2 finish at FedEx St. Jude was a promising return to form and if Hovland is able to recapture some of his Ryder Cup/FedEx Cup mojo from 2023, he is long overdue for the first major.

9. Who is a rookie to watch?

Luke Clanton technically isn’t even a Tour rookie yet, as he’s coming off his senior year at Florida State. But he has already played in eight Tour events, making the cut in seven of them and finishing in the top 10 in four. As the world no. 1 amateur, he placed T41 at the US Open, his first major, and has many more ahead of him in the coming years.

10. What is the status of the PGA Tour’s negotiations with LIV Golf?

The Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, LIV’s financial backer, have had a “framework agreement” in place for a year and a half now, with little to show for it. LIV is still continuing as a tour, adding new sponsors, new managers and new broadcast deals. The tour has grown wealthy with outside investment. At the moment, neither really “needs” the other, but golf fans would obviously love to see more crossover between the best of both tours. It’s unlikely to happen anywhere other than the majors in 2025, but beyond that? Money talks.

11. Will more Tour members jump to LIV?

It has become an annual tradition for LIV Golf and its supporters to suggest that “big PGA Tour names!” is on its way … and then most of them do not become reality. (Jon Rahm excepted, of course.) Another round followed this year, with most of the attention focused on Tony Finau, but he reiterated his support for the Tour. That’s not to say that there won’t be more defections, but they haven’t happened yet.

12. What is the history of TGL?

As a way to keep golf top-of-mind during the winter months — and not accidentally deliver tallies to broadcasters and revenue to players — the Tour is working with McIlroy, Woods and other partners to roll out TGL, an indoor golf league. The arena that houses the TGL facility is impressive with a massive screen for driving and a live green for putting. Six teams of four players compete from January to March on Tuesday evenings, starting next week. Much more information on this coming soon.

13. Where are the big ones this year?

It’s another East Coast year for the US-based majors:

Masters: Augusta National Golf Club (Augusta, GA), 10-13 April

PGA Championship: Quail Hollow Golf Club (Charlotte, NC), 15-18 May

US Open: Oakmont Country Club (Oakmont, PA), 12-15 June

Open Championship: Royal Portrush Golf Club (Portrush, Northern Ireland), 17-20 July

14. Where is the Ryder Cup this year?

The 2025 Ryder Cup will take place on the Bethpage Black Course at Bethpage State Park in New York from the 26th-28th. September. Keegan Bradley will captain the US team, while Luke Donald returns as captain of the European team after a thorough 16½ to 11½ dominance in Rome in 2023. Bethpage has hosted the 2002 US Open (winner: Tiger Woods), the 2009 US Open (winner: Lucas Glover) and 2019 PGA Championship (winner: Brooks Koepka).

15. Will the USA win back the Ryder Cup?

Home court advantage at Ryder is paramount and nearly unstoppable now, and the U.S. will lean into it at Bethpage. But will the crowd respond, given that tickets started at $750 each and went up from there? That will be one of the key questions heading into the Ryder Cup, always one of the match’s must-watch events.

16. Where are golf’s signature events?

As part of its plan to send more money to the game’s top players, the PGA Tour instituted “signature events,” events with limited fields and larger purses that carry more weight in the annual FedEx Cup race. Here are this year’s signature events:

• The Sentry, Kapalua Resort, 2-5 January

• AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Pebble Beach Golf Links, Jan. 30-Feb. 2

• Genesis Invitational, Riviera Country Club, 13-16. February

• Arnold Palmer Invitational, 6-9 March

• RBC Heritage, 5-8 p.m. April

• Truist Championship, Philadelphia Cricket Club, 8-11. May

• The Memorial, Muirfield Village, May 29-1. June

• Travel Championship, 19.-22. June

17. When is the FedEx Cup?

The 2024 PGA Tour regular season ends in August. The top 70 players in the Cup standings will qualify for the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind from the 7th-10th. August. The top 50 in the Cup standings advance to the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club from 14-17. August. And the top 30 will compete in the Tour Championship on the 21st-24th. August and play for a bonus of $25 million.

18. Can golf regain its luster and its fans?

Well, that’s the central question facing the game right now, isn’t it? After three years of millionaires squabbling over seven-figure paydays, golf fandom’s patience with the game has worn thin. There are moments this sport lives up to the lofty image it has of itself — the DeChambeau-McIlroy duel was one of the finest in years, and Scheffler is starting to hit a critical mass of fans — but all too often does golf work for the intake. with its own internal drama and nitpicking to remember why exactly it plays this game. Golf as a recreational activity is as popular as ever; golf as a sport to watch is in real trouble. For its own good, the game needs to find a way forward instead of running in the same old circles.