What made the PGA Tour\u2019s 2025 such a milestone year?<\/p>\n
Rory McIlroy becoming the sixth player to win the Career Grand Slam<\/a>? Nope.<\/p>\n Scottie Scheffler piling up two more major championships and utterly dominating (with utterly being pretty much the only way you can dominate)? Not even close.<\/p>\n Happy Gilmore returning in a movie sequel<\/a> despite popular demand? No, but you\u2019re getting warmer. (Not really.)<\/p>\n We will mark 2025 as the year Tiger Woods achieved a career first. He earned the Bob Uecker Memorial Trophy for going 0-for-2025. That\u2019s right, Tiger did not play a single round of PGA Tour golf due to a torn Achilles tendon. His 2025 highlight list is shorter than Ben An\u2019s name.<\/p>\n However, Tiger wasn\u2019t completely idle. He suffered what he termed \u201cone of the most embarrassing moments of my career\u201d in TGL, the new simulator golf league, when he misheard the yardage for a 199-yard approach shot as \u201c99 yards\u201d and came up 100 yards short, causing teammates Tom Kim and Kevin Kisner to double over in laughter. <\/p>\n Six weeks later, Tiger announced his rehab was ahead of schedule and he intended to play the Masters. Wha-aat? Nah, just kidding, Tiger tweeted. This April Fool\u2019s Day prank fell flat, just like most of them except for NASA staging those men-walking-on-the-moon shows. Those were hilarious. <\/p>\n Here are some more Major Awards from this historic year in golf.<\/p>\n If you didn\u2019t score a souvenir Masters flag at Augusta National last April, you\u2019re out of luck. On his way out, new Masters champion Rory McIlroy learned there were 1,100 flags left over so he bought them all. \u201cI\u2019ve waited 17 years to sign that flag in the middle,\u201d McIlroy said. \u201cI\u2019ll never get sick of signing them.\u201d<\/p>\n (Second shot: Guess whose Christmas shopping is already done?)<\/p>\n Bronze Medal winner: Canadian golfer Adam Hadwin slammed a club into the ground near the 10th green during the Valspar Championship, hit a sprinkler and set off an Old Faithful-sized geyser of water. <\/p>\n Received this via DM: Adam Hadwin learning the consequences of his actions on Friday at the Valspar Championship. pic.twitter.com\/ZiitjOdao3<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Alex Gelman (@agsnetworks) March 22, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Silver medal: Patton Kizzire, also at the Valspar, missed a five-foot putt on the opening round\u2019s 15th hole. Frustrated at missing six straight missed cuts, Kizzire punted his putter impressively high into the air, then holed out using his sand wedge and later withdrew with a back injury. <\/p>\n Gold medal: Former U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, understandably frustrated by missing the U.S. Open cut at Oakmont, kicked in a locker door in the classic old clubhouse. The club announced a month later that Clark was banned from the grounds<\/a> until he pays for damages and makes a significant contribution to a local charity. <\/p>\n (Second shot: Golf really has turned into a game for big hitters.)<\/p>\n Lightning does strike twice, at least in movies. Scottie Scheffler, famously arrested by Louisville police for veering around stopped traffic en route to the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla, salvaged a silly scene in Happy Gilmore 2 when\u2014spoiler alert!\u2014he got arrested again. <\/p>\n (Second shot: This guy wears more orange than Rickie Fowler.)<\/p>\n Rory McIlroy in the Butler Cabin after winning the Masters 11 years after his previous major championship and finally achieving the elusive Career Grand Slam: \u201cWhat are we going to talk about next year?\u201d<\/p>\n (Second shot: \u201cRory, how do you feel about the Cracker Barrel redesign?\u201d)<\/p>\n The winner is ravioli, weaponized at Christmas last year by Scottie Scheffler when he decided to make ravioli from scratch. The dough had to be rolled and cut but Scheffler was at a rental house and didn\u2019t have the proper utensils so he MacGyvered a method using a wine glass. While his hand was on top of the glass, it broke and the stem sliced his hand. He had surgery the next day and missed the season\u2019s first month. \u201cSince that happened, I\u2019ve heard nothing but horror stories about wine glasses,\u201d Scheffler said.<\/p>\n (Second shot: It could\u2019ve been worse. The rental house also had a tomahawk, steamroller and a train robber.) <\/p>\n Masters champ Scottie Scheffler created the menu for the annual Champions Dinner at Augusta National. The appetizers included cheeseerburger sliders served \u201cScottie style,\u201d firecracker shrimp and \u201cPapa Scheff\u2019s meatball and ravioli bites.\u201d <\/p>\n (Second shot: Attention, Masters champs. For your protection, all wine glasses will be removed before the ravioli bites are served.)<\/p>\n When Australia\u2019s Karl Vilips shot a closing 64 to win the Puerto Rico Open for his first PGA Tour victory, the Associated Press managed to work a Tiger Woods reference into the news story\u2019s second sentence. How? \u201cThe new \u2018Sun Day Red\u2019 brand of Tiger Woods adorned the apparel of a PGA Tour winners, and it was Vilips, a Stanford alum\u2026\u201d\u00a0 In the next paragraph, oh by the way, the victory gets Vilips into The Players Championship and PGA Championship and a two-year Tour exemption. <\/p>\n (Second shot: \u201cWell, Kenny, I think the key to his victory was not wearing Munsingwear or Robert Bruce. Those lighter colors and gaudier patterns can cost you shots on a bright sunny day.\u201d)<\/p>\n Are we really doing this? Fine, it is Scottie Scheffler even though he failed to win in 14 of his 19 starts and finished outside the top 10 three times.<\/p>\n (Second shot: Also, he didn\u2019t win two of the four majors, OR The Players Championship. C\u2019mon, y\u2019all.)<\/p>\n Let\u2019s see, you win at Pebble Beach, The Players and the Masters\u2014that\u2019s one major, two-thirds of a major and a victory at a classic venue. Rory McIlroy had the most satisfying year of his career and yet, he had to settle for being No. 2. Tough league.<\/p>\n (Second shot: To save time, just put him into the Hall of Fame now.)<\/p>\n It has become customary for the winning team at the Zurich Classic to perform karaoke at the Sunday night volunteer party after the tournament\u2019s conclusion. Well, it beats jumping in a lake as celebrations go. Last year, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry teamed up to do Don\u2019t Stop Believin and this year, it was Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak. They chose Queen\u2019s We Are the Champions and then gave an encore performance for Kool & The Gang\u2019s Get Down On It. Novak admitted he can\u2019t sing at all. Griffin wasn\u2019t bad, actually. \u201cI give myself an A-minus,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n (Second shot: A-minus? You were supposed to be singing A-flat, kid.)<\/p>\n While Scottie Scheffler chatted with reporters after his round at the Memorial Tournament, a television monitor nearby began showing a taped recording of him being interviewed elsewhere. Scheffler noticed the weirdness of the moment and smiled. \u201cI can transport,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n (Second shot: \u201cScotty, this is Scottie\u2014beam me up!\u201d)<\/p>\n It was shocking when 21-year-old Nick Dunlap opened the Masters with an 18-over-par 90 that featured a triple bogey and four doubles. The next day, after pounding some used golf balls into the woods behind his rental house, Dunlap was 4-under through 15 holes but into trouble on the closing holes and settled for 1-under 71.\u00a0 By shooting 19 strokes better, he tied for most improved second round in a major in the last 50 years. \u201cI love this game,\u201d he said. \u201cRight now, it doesn\u2019t love me back.\u201d<\/p>\n (Second shot: Tina Turner wants to know what\u2019s love got to do with it?)<\/p>\n Ben Griffin was struggling in golf\u2019s minor leagues during COVID so he quit the game and landed gainful employment as a mortgage loan officer. He quickly changed his mind and returned to golf. Fast-forward to this year and Griffin went from loan officer to two-time PGA Tour winner with victories at the Zurich Classic and Charles Schwab Challenge. Heading into the Tour Championship, Griffin had more than $9 million in earnings this year.<\/p>\n (Second shot: You know you\u2019ve made it when you need your own tax accountant.)<\/p>\n Tommy Fleetwood strengthened his grip on this annual award with his long hair that isn\u2019t quite a mullet but is good enough to earn him the Fairway Jesus nickname. Also increased his net value with the $10 million Tour Championship first prize that ended his Nearly Man drought.<\/p>\n (Second shot: Serious new contender next year is rookie Neal Shipley. In case of a tie, playoff will be held at SuperCuts.)<\/p>\n Collin Morikawa, questioned about why he didn\u2019t talk to reporters after he was beaten by Russell Henley at Bay Hill: \u201cI don\u2019t owe anyone anything.\u201d<\/p>\n (Second shot: Uh, about your most recent mortgage payment \u2026)<\/p>\n Former PGA Tour player Rocco Mediate reacted negatively to Morikawa\u2019s comments, saying on SiriusXM Radio, \u201cThat is the dumbest, most selfish garbage you could ever say. Mister (Arnold) Palmer would\u2019ve hunted him down.\u201d Golf Channel sage Brandel Chamblee called Morikawa\u2019s move \u201ca dangerous precedent\u201d and an affront to sponsors, fans and media and fellow analyst Paul McGinley was also critical.<\/p>\n Morikawa later called out Chamblee, McGinley and Media and doubled down on his original comments, saying he didn\u2019t regret anything he said. \u201cIt might have been a little bit harsh to say that I don\u2019t owe anyone, but I don\u2019t owe anyone. I respect the fans, I\u2019m grateful.\u201d He also called out the other media because he signed autographs for 15 minutes after the round but no one pointed that out. <\/p>\n (Second shot: Once you accidentally step into you-know-what, don\u2019t jump in with your other foot, too.)<\/p>\n Hunter Mahan last played a PGA Tour event in 2021 but he was back in action in Happy Gilmore 2. The former Ryder Cupper now coaches high school golf but took six weeks off to be Adam Sandler\u2019s stand-in. So yes, when you see Happy take his famous walk-up swing in the movie, that\u2019s actually Mahan. <\/p>\n (Second shot: Brandel Chamblee was too short to play Sandler\u2019s stunt double, unfortunately.)<\/p>\n It was supposedly a landmark event when Cameron Young won the Wyndham Championship. According to the PGA Tour, Young became the 1,000th player to win on the Tour, dating to Willie Park Sr. in the 1860 Open Championship. The modern PGA Tour was founded 108 years later in 1968. <\/p>\n (Second shot: Using the same accounting system, we\u2019re hereby naming Old Tom Morris the PGA Tour\u2019s 1860 Rookie of the Year and Allan Robertson as the Payne Stewart Award winner.)<\/p>\n When J.J. Spaun holed a dramatic 65-foot birdie putt on the final green to win the U.S. Open at Oakmont, even Robert MacIntyre applauded. MacIntyre, who finished second, watched the putt on a monitor in the scoring area. That\u2019s the definition of sportsmanship. Later, MacIntyre admitted, \u201cI\u2019m just really pissed off right now. I want to go and smash up my golf clubs, to be honest with you.\u201d<\/p>\n (Second shot: Raise your hand if you never wanted to break some of your golf clubs after a round. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?)<\/p>\n Danny Willett at the Masters Champions Dinner reacting to the super-spicy Texas-style chili host Scottie Scheffler put on the menu: \u201cI ate it, but I did look over at Scottie and ask if he was trying to kill us.\u201d<\/p>\n (Second shot: Shut up, Danny, and keep rolling that ravioli dough with the wine glass like Scottie showed you.)<\/p>\n Nobody beats the patrons at the Masters Tournament. They even applauded U.S. Amateur champ Jose Luis Ballester after he finished taking relief (of the bathroom kind) in Rae\u2019s Creek<\/a> during the first round.<\/p>\n (Second shot: He did what? Gee whiz, kid.)<\/p>\n This one belongs to Viktor Hovland, whose approach on the U.S. Open\u2019s 72nd green stopped near J.J. Spaun\u2019s ball, giving Spaun a preview of the speed and line and a big reason he sank that amazing 65-footer for the win. It was the longest putt made at Oakmont during the Open and the longest Spaun made in 2025. \u201cI\u2019ve got to give him (Hovland) a nice bottle of wine or something,\u201d Spaun said on The Dan Patrick Show.<\/p>\n (Second shot: Bottle of wine, yes. Wine glasses, no. Those things are lethal.)<\/p>\n