{"id":366663,"date":"2025-12-23T12:39:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T12:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/366663\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T12:39:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T12:39:13","slug":"reviewing-our-predictions-for-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/366663\/","title":{"rendered":"Reviewing our Predictions for 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the start of the year, the Fried Egg Golf staff compiled predictions for the year<\/a>, some silly, some serious. With 2026 fast approaching, we thought it might be fun to look back at those predictions and see how we did.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Charlie Woods will get a PGA Tour sponsor exemption. \u2013Brendan Porath<\/p>\n

Charlie did not receive a sponsor exemption this year, but he did win his first AJGA event and finished T-9 at the Junior PGA Championship. Who knows, after Kai Trump\u2019s LPGA sponsor exemption<\/a>, maybe Charlie will get the nod in 2026.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Nelly Korda will win two majors and (more importantly) earn enough points to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame. \u2013Meg Adkins<\/p>\n

Nelly made the cut in all five majors this year and finished T-2 at the U.S. Women\u2019s Open, but that was her lone championship in contention. After a seven-win, Player of the Year season in 2024, Korda failed to win in 2025 but did notch nine top-10 finishes in 19 starts. <\/p>\n

Prediction: The 2025 Tour Championship will be the final edition of that farcical tournament in its current format. \u2013Joseph LaMagna<\/p>\n

I wonder how many readers we have inside the moat at HQ, because in May \u2013 yes, midway through the season \u2013 the Tour announced it was scrapping the controversial starting strokes for a winner-take-all format. You know, like every other tournament on the schedule. Sure, Joseph was technically wrong, but kudos to him for sensing the end was (thankfully) near for starting strokes.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Brooks Koepka will be left off the U.S. Ryder Cup team. \u2013Will Knights<\/p>\n

Nailed it. Brooks missed the cut in three of the four majors and finished in the bottom half of LIV\u2019s season-long standings thanks to just two top 10s. <\/p>\n

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Prediction: By Saturday morning, the PGA of America will have to issue one of its strongly worded reminders and releases about fan behavior policies and expectations for the Ryder Cup. \u2013Brendan Porath<\/p>\n

Friday was rather tame at Bethpage, all things considered, so a statement didn\u2019t need to be sent out by Saturday morning. That changed in the afternoon after a first tee emcee participated in a \u201cF*** you, Rory!\u201d chant<\/a> at 6 a.m. It was an embarrassing week for the PGA of America, and the fan behavior fallout lasted several days after the competition. <\/p>\n

Prediction: We will get a millennial, Vikings-inspired victory dance<\/a> from a Ryder Cup pairing (okay, that may be more of a wish). \u2013Abby Liebenthal<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t an overly choreographed celebration, but Team Europe was dancing on Team USA\u2019s grave<\/a> after yet another Ryder Cup win, this time on foreign soil.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Bryson DeChambeau will have an illegitimate excuse (equipment not optimized) for why he misses the cut at a major. \u2013Matt Rouches<\/p>\n

My esteemed colleague Will Knights addressed this one in his midseason review<\/a>: <\/p>\n

Another passing grade, but technically an incomplete for Matt. Bryson missed a cut at the U.S. Open, but it wasn\u2019t because of an illegitimate excuse. However, after a T-2 at the PGA Championship, Bryson did make one of the most head-scratching comments of the year. \u201cWhat I really think needs to happen, being pretty transparent here, is just get a golf ball that flies a little straighter,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cEverybody talks about how straight the golf ball flies. Well, upwards of 190 [mph ball speed] like Rory and myself, it\u2019s actually quite difficult to control the golf ball.\u201d Yeah man, that\u2019s like, the whole game. I do love the idea of Bryson showing up to the 2027 Open Championship at St. Andrews with a self-correcting golf ball. We would have fully entered a simulation at that point.<\/p>\n

\"67ec74e284f6fd8607ec57ec_Bryson-DeChambeau-DSC_9056wp\"Bryson DeChambeau at the Masters (Fried Egg Golf)<\/p>\n

Prediction: A major manufacturer will release a set of irons for another PGA Tour player with bulge-and-roll faces like Bryson DeChambeau debuted in 2024. \u2013Will Knights<\/p>\n

Will drilled this one<\/a> from Steph Curry range thanks to Jason Day. <\/p>\n

Prediction: Luke Clanton will finish in the top 10 of a major championship. \u2013Joseph LaMagna<\/p>\n

Luke Clanton didn\u2019t finish in the top 10 of a major championship, but in Joseph\u2019s defense, he didn\u2019t make a major start in 2025. He did, however, make the cut in 11 of 18 PGA Tour starts and logged two top-25 showings.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Rory McIlroy will make another withdrawal from his personal ATM at Quail Hollow with a win at the PGA Championship. \u2013Adam Woodard<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll take the L here as Rory finished T-47 at the PGA this year. I wonder how different that result might have been if he hadn\u2019t completed the career Grand Slam a month earlier at the Masters. <\/p>\n

Prediction: The new LPGA commissioner\u2019s first act of business will be demoting the Evian Championship from its major status. \u2013Meg Adkins<\/p>\n

Craig Kessler has been hard at work<\/a> in his early tenure as LPGA commissioner, but unfortunately this prediction hasn\u2019t come true (yet).<\/p>\n

Prediction: In his first year on the Champions Tour, Soren Kjeldsen will clean up, winning at least two tournaments and securing the season-long Schwab Cup title. \u2013PJ Clark<\/p>\n

Not quite. Soren played well with two runner-up finishes but didn\u2019t earn a win and finished 22nd in the Schwab Cup standings. <\/p>\n

Prediction: Brian Schneider and Blake Conant\u2014with their work at Old Barnwell continuing to garner praise, and with their separate renovations at Silver Spring Country Club and Shorehaven Golf Club, respectively, wrapping up in the near future\u2014will earn another major solo design commission in 2025. \u2013Garrett Morrison<\/p>\n

Schneider and Conant will start construction<\/a> on Old Barnwell\u2019s second 18-hole course, the Gilroy, this fall. Schneider also has a solo new build commission near Old Barnwell at New Holland Golf Club. Well done, Garrett.<\/p>\n

\"barnwell.hangout.newsletter\"Old Barnwell (Fried Egg Golf)<\/p>\n

Prediction: Before we even get to the first round of the U.S. Open, we will get multiple articles from the assembled media citing unnamed Oakmont members who are upset about the slowed-down green speeds. \u2013Brendan Porath<\/p>\n

Members didn\u2019t get the opportunity to complain about green speeds due to the poor weather that week at Oakmont. They were upset about some broken lockers<\/a>, though. <\/p>\n

Prediction: There will be internal OB at Oakmont to discourage players from hitting into adjacent fairways. \u2013Cameron Hurdus<\/p>\n

Internal OB was not put into play at Oakmont, but a few players did take some alternate lines on a few holes, as the Shotgun Start guys noted in a recent Year in Review episode<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Charley Hull will finally win a major championship at Royal Porthcawl despite struggling to light her cigs in gale-force winds. \u2013Meg Adkins<\/p>\n

Meg was damn close on this one. Charley finished T-2 at the AIG Women\u2019s Open, but she also quit smoking cigarettes<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Prediction: Nick Dunlap suffers a sophomore slump. \u2013Matt Rouches<\/p>\n

Sophomore slump is putting it lightly. Dunlap had two top-10 finishes this season, but also missed the cut in half of his starts. This was a real \u201cwelcome to the PGA Tour\u201d year for the 21-year-old talent. <\/p>\n

Prediction: Rory McIlroy will keep his first tee shot in bounds at the Open at Royal Portrush. \u2013Brendan Porath<\/p>\n

Safe! Rory pulled a 2-iron for the first tee shot and kept it in play, just not in the fairway<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Prediction: The two 18-hole OCM designs at publicity-shy Fall Line in Georgia will be the most buzzed-about new courses of 2025. \u2013Garrett Morrison<\/p>\n

Fall Line finally consented to a little publicity this year, which generated some buzz. But the most hyped projects were actually a pair of redesigns of public courses: Poppy Ridge in Livermore, California, and Great Dunes on Jekyll Island.<\/p>\n

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Prediction: Early tests of a rollback ball prototype will show that professional golfers don\u2019t experience a significant decrease in distance. \u2013Will Knights<\/p>\n

Will was smart here because you can\u2019t really quantify a significant decrease. Players did notice a decrease in distance and how the ball moves through the air during tests earlier this year, and they were predictably unhappy<\/a> with the results.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Richard Green finally comes through with a Champions Tour win, making the most of the senior circuit\u2019s trip to Morocco in February. \u2013PJ Clark<\/p>\n

PJ was halfway there as Green won the Rogers Charity Classic, but he only managed a T-9 in Morocco. <\/p>\n

Prediction: Richard Bland successfully defends one of his two major championships, drawing comparisons to prime Brooks Koepka. \u2013PJ Clark<\/p>\n

This was a real bummer for PJ because not only did Bland not successfully defend one of his two major championships, he only attempted to defend one of the two. He finished T-14 at the Senior PGA but did not tee it up at the U.S. Senior Open. Instead, he finished T-18 at LIV Golf Dallas.<\/p>\n

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