The 2025 golf season begins this week with the PGA Tour’s The Sentry at Kapalua. As a result, a new year brings optimism to every player, giving them motivation to achieve their new goals. Whether it is trying to win a regular season PGA Tour event, or even a major championship, every golfer focuses on being the one to raise the trophy after the final round.
With all of that in mind, there is no better time then right now to make some bold predictions for the 2025 PGA Tour season.
Someone will win their first major
In each of the last five years, at least one player has joined the major championship victory club. Last year, Xander Schauffele won his first major at the PGA Championship, highlighted by a birdie on the 72nd hole.
There are a handful of stars that could get it done in 2025. Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland, and Tommy Fleetwood have the stardom to win. If you want to go younger, Ludvig Aberg, Sahith Theegala, Tom Kim, and Akshay Bhatia are also prime options.
Rory McIlroy will not win a major in 2025
Since winning the 2014 Open Championship, Rory McIlroy has 18 top 10s, 11 top five, four runner-up finishes, and no wins in major championships. Those struggles will ultimately continue for the 35-year-old as his major victory drought reaches 11 years.
Also read: The Showdown 2024: Highlights from the PGA vs. LIV match, including Rory McIlroy making clutch putts
Scottie Scheffler ties PGA Tour regular season wins record
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler showed that he can win golf tournaments in any fashion in 2024. He can come from behind. He can cruise. Scheffler can also win in a playoff. As a result, Scheffler will top his seven-win total from last year and win nine times in 2025. Nine PGA Tour wins would tie Vijay Singh in 2004 and Tiger Woods in 2000.
Related: The 10 biggest Winners and losers from the Tour Championship, including Scottie Scheffler
Jordan Spieth completes the career Grand Slam
This is the year Jordan Spieth becomes the sixth player in men’s professional golf history to complete a career grand slam. He needs to win the PGA Championship in May, which takes place at Quail Hollow in North Carolina. It is unique because Quail Hollow is a yearly stop on the PGA Tour.
Spieth went through wrist surgery this offseason to put him in position. He would join Woods, Gene Sarazen, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, and Gary Player to win all four majors.
Also read: Where Jordan Spieth stands on the list of Masters champions
Xander Schauffele gets one leg closer to the career Grand Slam
Xander Schauffele went from being the best player in golf without a major to being halfway to the career Grand Slam. That came in a span of two months at the PGA Championship and the Open Championship. As a result, he needs either the Masters or the U.S. Open to get that third leg. In his other major starts last year, he finished eighth at the Masters and seventh at the U.S. Open.
Related: 10 winners and losers from the 4 major championships in 2024, including Xander Schauffele
Tiger Woods makes the cut at all four majors
Over the last few years, 15-time major champion Tiger Woods has aimed to play in all four majors. He did that in 2024. However, he only made the cut at the Masters. Although Woods said he was “rusty” during the PNC Championship while playing with his son, Charlie, he has four months to prepare for the Masters.
If Woods has the mentality to put together two solid rounds on Thursday and Friday of a major, then he can get through the weekend. That will all depend on the recovery that is needed from the many surgeries he has gone through.
Related: Who has the most major wins of all time and where does Tiger Woods stand?
Ludvig Aberg finishes top 10 in all four majors
The sky’s the limit for Ludvig Aberg after his full season on the PGA Tour. He had three runner-up finishes across eight top 10s last season. That came with some inexperience, seeing PGA Tour courses for the first time. Now in his second year, he has the opportunity to take that next step.
All three of his runner-up finishes came at high-leverage events in a major (the Masters), a Signature Event (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am), and a playoff event (BMW Championship).
Also read: The Skins Game Returns In 2025: 10 Players We Want To See In Unique Format, Including Ludvig Aberg
Luke Clanton wins a PGA Tour event in 2025
Last summer, while the golf’s best was preparing for the Open and the FedEx Cup playoffs, Luke Clanton was showing off. Clanton, who is a junior at Florida State this year, has the opportunity to become a professional if he reaches 20 points in the PGA Tour University Accelerated Rankings. He currently has 17 points and needs three more to earn a PGA Tour membership.
Last year, Clanton became the first amateur since 1958 with back-to-back top 10 finishes with a runner-up at the John Deere Classic. He finished T10 at the Travelers Championship, the final 2024 Signature Event, before his runner-up a week prior.
Keegan Bradley will play and captain Team USA at the Ryder Cup
One of the big Presidents Cup’s topics was that Keegan Bradley played his way to being a captain’s pick. That came as he was named captain for the Ryder Cup during the summer. Now, he will be the one making the selection to represent Team USA in September for the Ryder Cup.
Finishing inside the top six of the Team USA rankings will give him the automatic nod to compete, in addition to his role as a captain. Bradley would become the first golfer since Jack Nicklaus in 1963 to be a playing captain in a Ryder Cup.
Also read: Presidents Cup 2024: 10 winners and losers as Team USA wins for the 10th straight time
Will Zalatoris completes comeback with victory
Since having back surgery in April 2023, Will Zalatoris continues to work his way to playing at a competitive level. It was an up-and-down 2024 season. He had back-to-back top-five finishes at the Genesis Invitational and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Then he would not be in contention for a couple of weeks.
It’s tough to win in the game of golf and when players do win, especially after a drought, the emotion comes out. That happens for Zalatoris in 2025.
Also read: Who has the most PGA Tour wins of all-time?