Women\u2019s Player of the Year<\/p>\n
Jeeno Thitikul<\/p>\n
Three wins, boatloads of cash, and a trophy case full of season-ending awards make it crystal clear that Jeeno Thitikul is the player of the year. We all know that doesn’t tell the whole story of Jeeno’s year. She had her elusive first major on a platter at Evian before Grace Kim’s historic, ridiculous finish (more on that later). Jeeno will ring in the new year with the major monkey still on her back. Despite the close call at Evian, the discourse rolls on largely due to a troubling trend of playing very much unlike the No. 1 player in the world at the year’s biggest events. Jeeno had just four finishes of T-24 or worse in 2025. Three of those were in majors, including her only missed cut of the year at the U.S. Women’s Open. If Thitikul can play her best golf next year at the most important tournaments on the calendar, it would do wonders for the LPGA\u2019s parity problem. -Meg Adkins<\/p>\n
Worst Take of the Year<\/p>\n
Phil Mickelson<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a hot take
Does Scottie win in 2025 before the Ryder Cup?
I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) March 16, 2025<\/a> <\/p>\n Scottie Scheffler would, indeed, win before the Ryder Cup \u2013 six times, in fact, including two majors, the Memorial, and a playoff event. -Will Knights<\/p>\n Most Outstanding Achievement Nobody Talked About<\/p>\n Sungjae Im<\/p>\n Completing the career Grand Slam? A nice piece of history. Winning two majors in a single season? Happened literally last year. Even SOMEONE was bound to be the 1,000th unique winner on the PGA Tour. Only one man, though, did the impossible improbable. Sungjae Im made it to East Lake, complete with a 27th-place finish in the season-long FedEx Cup standings, all while placing 179th in Strokes Gained: Approach. If you were wondering, 180 players qualified for the Strokes Gained standings. How did Im make the Tour Championship while being the second-worst iron player on Tour? He evened out around the green (second in Strokes Gained) and played 28 times. Don’t let your own poor approach play get you down in 2026! -PJ Clark<\/p>\n Men\u2019s Breakout Player of the Year<\/p>\n J.J. Spaun<\/p>\n J.J. Spaun has been a solid pro golfer for nearly a decade now, but 2025 is the year he established himself as a top-notch player. His valiant effort at the Players Championship, where he finished runner-up to Rory McIlroy in a Monday playoff, foreshadowed the success that was on the way. Despite starting U.S. Open Sunday 5 over through six holes, Spaun rebounded and closed with one of the most memorable finishes<\/a> in recent U.S. Open history, grabbing his first major championship. The win locked up a spot for Spaun on his first Ryder Cup team, where he\u2019d post a 2-1 record. Perhaps he could\u2019ve played another match. -Joseph LaMagna <\/p>\n Women\u2019s Breakout Player of the Year<\/p>\n Miyu Yamashita<\/p>\n A year ago, Japan\u2019s Miyu Yamashita was sitting atop the leaderboard at the final stage of LPGA Q-Series. She’s now a major champion, earned Rookie of the Year honors, and is the fourth-ranked player in the world. Oh, and she gave her ROY acceptance speech in English. Overachieve much, Miyu? -Meg Adkins<\/p>\n Shots of the Year<\/p>\n Rory McIlroy<\/p>\n Given the gravity of the moment, I don\u2019t think this one is debatable. Rory McIlroy\u2019s approach<\/a> shot into 15 on Sunday at Augusta National is one of the greatest shots in Masters history. It is the Shot of the Year. -Joseph LaMagna<\/p>\n Grace Kim<\/p>\n Grace Kim hit the shot of her life three times in 45 minutes en route to her first major title at the Evian Championship. When she thinks back on the day, this chip<\/a> in the playoff is the shot that stands out<\/a>. -Adam Woodard<\/p>\n F*** This Place Award<\/p>\n Shane Lowry<\/p>\n After saying, \u201cF*** this place,\u201d<\/a> at three of four majors in 2025, Shane Lowry will be looking for the grand slam in 2026. -Austin Sapin<\/p>\n Job Creator of the Year<\/p>\n Collin Morikawa<\/p>\n While the jobs didn\u2019t always last long, caddie positions were readily available on Collin Morikawa\u2019s bag. He helped many people find work this year. -Will Knights<\/p>\n Most Exciting New Public Course<\/p>\n Poppy Ridge Golf Course (Livermore, CA)<\/p>\n Jay Blasi\u2019s reconfiguration of this Northern California Golf Association-owned property has given California another standout public golf course. Get to Poppy Ridge<\/a> if you\u2019re anywhere within driving distance. -Garrett Morrison<\/p>\n Most Exciting Public-Course Renovation Project<\/p>\n Buffalo Dunes Golf Course (Garden City, KS)<\/p>\n After several years of community-driven work, this sandhills muni now has 18 renovated greens in play. Huge kudos to superintendent Clay Payne and consulting architects Todd Clark and Zach Varty for pulling off an ambitious yet economical project. -Garrett Morrison<\/p>\n I Threw Up on Myself Award<\/p>\n PGA of America<\/p>\n From the unceremonious unveiling<\/a> of PGA Frisco at the KPMG Women\u2019s PGA, in which the finishing stretch had to be re-routed due to infrastructural constraints on a golf course that was built from scratch, to nonsensical embarrassing statements about the equipment rollback at the PGA Championship, to Keegan Bradley being put in a no-win situation as Ryder Cup captain, to awful crowd control at Bethpage in which the first tee emcee participated in a \u201cF*** You, Rory!\u201d chant<\/a>, to PGA of America President Don Rea showing more awareness<\/a> of Eminem lyrics than the profanities being shouted at European players on the grounds, it was a year to forget for the PGA of America. I feel like I missed a few things. -Joseph LaMagna <\/p>\n Reply Guy of the Year<\/p>\n Andy Johnson<\/p>\n In the midst of a surge of Chicago Bears interviews, our own founder, Andy Johnson, let loose<\/a> on the Twitter machine. -Will Knights<\/p>\n A.J. Hawk of the Year<\/p>\n Kevin Van Valkenburg<\/p>\n After being brought in for Part IV of the Shotgun Start\u2019s Year in Review<\/a>, our very own Kevin Van Valkenburg was left on the sidelines, unable to get to the tournament he was brought on to discuss. -Will Knights<\/p>\n Tournament Venue of the Year<\/p>\n Cypress Point Club (Pebble Beach, CA)<\/p>\n An obvious choice. This past September\u2019s Walker Cup offered golf fans a rare glimpse of Alister MacKenzie\u2019s masterpiece<\/a> on the Pacific Ocean. And it didn\u2019t hurt that the weather was, for the most part, decent (never a guarantee on the Monterey Peninsula). -Garrett Morrison<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Most Improved Tournament Venue<\/p>\n The Lake Course at the Olympic Club (San Francisco, CA)<\/p>\n I\u2019ll be honest: the stern, continually reverse-cambering Lake Course<\/a>, host of the 2025 U.S. Amateur, is never going to be among my favorites, but boy did Gil Hanse\u2019s recent renovation improve it. There\u2019s more room to play now, and the bunkers no longer pose an injury risk to older members. -Garrett Morrison<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Worst Nickname of the Year<\/p>\n Tom Sim<\/p>\n Sometimes you don\u2019t have to say anything, Matt Barrie. -Will Knights<\/p>\n Feud of the Year<\/p>\n The Chip Monk vs. The Short Game Chef<\/p>\n Who knew two of Instagram\u2019s most famous short game gurus \u2013 Joe Mayo and Parker McLachlin \u2013 would be shading each other like professional wrestlers cutting Monday Night Raw promos? McLachlin would probably insist this is a one-sided feud, but Mayo would disagree, having fired off a couple \u201cHeard you been talking shit!\u201d missives on Instagram late at night. Doesn\u2019t matter whether you\u2019re steep or shallow, this is good content. -Kevin Van Valkenburg<\/p>\n Rules Moment of the Year<\/p>\n Shane Lowry, Open Championship<\/p>\n Shane Lowry\u2019s strange two-stroke penalty<\/a> on a practice swing at Royal Portrush. Lowry didn\u2019t see the ball move, but a television camera happened to capture what appeared to be a tiny infraction. Lowry was told about the penalty in the middle of his round, which suddenly put him on the cut line. He was able to make a birdie coming in to secure weekend tee times, but it raised some unanswerable ethical questions: How can you know a ball moved if it isn\u2019t visible to the naked eye? What happens if a player\u2019s ball moves, he doesn\u2019t see it, but he\u2019s not on camera? How can you get a two-stroke penalty for playing your ball from the wrong spot if you didn\u2019t see it move? No one had any good answers. -Kevin Van Valkenburg<\/p>\n Setup Blunder of the Year<\/p>\n Ryder Cup<\/p>\n
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