Which golfers most impressed and who disappointed in 2025?

With another year behind us and the prospect of an exciting season ahead, it’s that time again. 

The film industry has the Oscars, the music industry has the Grammys, and here at Golfshake we have Derek’s End-of-Term Report.

So how did the world’s leading golfers fare in 2025?

Scottie Scheffler

The world number one claimed two majors, the US PGA and The Open, and won six times in 2025. He is dominating men’s golf in a way we have not seen since Tiger Woods was in his prime. He needs just one more major to complete the career grand slam. The frightening thing for his rivals is that Scheffler is good enough to win tournaments with his C-game.

Verdict: A+

Rory McIlroy

What a year. It started with him winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Players Championship. He then headed to Augusta, where he has suffered much heartbreak, and finally ended his 11-year major drought in sensational fashion, beating Justin Rose in a play-off and completing the career grand slam. He also won the Irish Open, led Europe to a glorious victory in the Ryder Cup and claimed the Race to Dubai for a seventh time. 

Verdict: A*

Xander Schauffele

The 2024 PGA and Open champion missed part of the season through injury, When he returned he looked like a shadow of the player who had produced such brilliant play the previous year. He struggled to find fairways from the tee, his putting touch deserted him and he looked utterly lost. 

Verdict: C-

Tommy Fleetwood

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

There were those who wondered if the Englishman would ever win on American soil. He lost out to Keegan Bradley at the Travelers, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, and then came up short once again at the FedEx St Jude. But he finally silenced the doubters by winning the Tour Championship and taking the FedEx Cup in the process. He was a talisman for Europe in the Ryder Cup and he also won in India. This was a breakthrough year Fleetwood will never forget.

Verdict: A+

Collin Morikawa

He started the year in brilliant fashion but then Russell Henley beat him at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and from that point on Morikawa looked lost. He normally has a wonderful temperament but he became tetchy and bad-tempered. To be frank, he did not deserve his place in the US Ryder Cup team and needs to get his act together in a hurry if he is to avoid sliding down the rankings.

Verdict: D

Marco Penge

Penge is the redemption man of 2025. Having narrowly kept his DP World Tour card in 2024, he was then suspended for betting irregularities at the start of 2025. It could have finished him. Instead, he returned and played like a man possessed. He was the only three-time winner on the DP World Tour, finished second in the Race to Dubai and gained a PGA Tour card. He has the world at his feet.

Verdict: B+

Shane Lowry

The Irishman flattered to deceive throughout 2025. He ran McIlroy close at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and played plenty of solid golf throughout the year. He also played a key role in Europe’s Ryder Cup success. But he would be the first to admit that he consistently came up short and will be looking to do better in 2026.

Verdict: C

Rickie Fowler

Once seen as the golden boy of American golf, Fowler seems to have lost his way. He remains a crowd favourite and sponsors also still love him. He played in several Signature Events in 2025 as a result of sponsors’ largesse but did nothing to justify such generosity. Has been consistently linked with a move to LIV.

Verdict: C-

Jordan Spieth

Everybody loves Spieth - with the possible exception of his caddie, Michael Greller, who has to listen to his incessant chirping. But his game looks to be in terminal decline. The former world number one is another who benefitted from sponsors inviting him to play in most of the Signature Events and, like Fowler, he did nothing to justify his place in those events. He has tumbled down the world rankings.

Verdict: D

JJ Spaun

Without a shadow of a doubt, Spaun was the surprise package of 2025. When he took Rory McIlroy to a play-off at the Players Championship, most of us believed it was a one-off. Not a bit of it. Nobody who saw it will ever forget his play in winning the US Open. The monstrous putt that he holed to win his first major was sensational. And his stellar play continued throughout the year. But will somebody please tell him that it is OK to smile?

Verdict: A

Matthew Fitzpatrick

The Englishman wrote the comeback story of 2025. He began the year with his game in utter disarray and was plummeting down the world rankings. But then something happened. He finished tied fourth at both the Scottish Open and The Open, finished in the top six at the British Masters, European Masters and BMW PGA and then won the DP World Tour Championship, defeating Rory McIlroy in the process. He is back!

Verdict: B+

Robert MacIntyre

The Scot just seems to keep getting better and better. After winning twice in 2024, he came within a whisker of winning the US Open, losing out only after JJ Spaun holed that remarkable putt on the 72nd green. MacIntyre showed a great deal of class by applauding Spaun’s shot. He was a star at the Ryder Cup and then came home and won the Dunhill Links Championship.

Verdict: B+

Bryson DeChambeau

It has to be said that DeChambeau moves the needle like no other golfer - and divides opinion like no other golfer. He was second at the US PGA, tied fifth at The Masters, missed the cut at the US Open and tied 10th at The Open. It is not a bad record but DeChambeau will be disappointed. In truth, this was a year he will want to forget.

Verdict: C

Keegan Bradley 

Sadly, Bradley will forever be remembered for the 2025 Ryder Cup. Having decided to be a non-playing captain, he made a series of poor decisions that cost his team any chance of victory in New York. He then told the world that he didn’t know if he would ever get over the disappointment. Unbelievably, he is in the frame to captain America in Ireland in 2027. Bradley needs to put the Ryder Cup behind him in a hurry and start to focus on his own game.

Verdict: D

Charley Hull

Yes, Hull won an LPGA Tour title. Yes, she is comfortably within the top 10 in the world rankings. And yes, she made a run at the Women’s Open. But there is always a sense with the English golfer that she really could do better, that she does not live up to her massive potential. Perhaps I am being a trifle unfair on her but I do believe she is an under-achiever.

Verdict: B-

Nelly Korda

Korda won seven times in 2024, including five tournaments in a row, and finished the year as undisputed world number one. But 2025 turned out to be a very different season. She finished it without a single victory, failed to look like winning a major and has been usurped at the top of the rankings. 

Verdict: C-

Jeeno Thitikul

Thitikul has been a breath of fresh air on the LPGA Tour. In a year when only one other golfer managed to win twice, Thitikul picked up three victories, including the Tour Championship and its $4m first prize. She replaced Nelly Korda at the top of the world rankings and plays the game the right way, with a smile on her face. Don’t be surprised to see her win a couple of majors in 2026.

Verdict: A

Lottie Woad

Woad is a superstar in the making and could turn out to be the best woman golfer England has produced since Laura Davies was in her prime. She won the Irish Open as an amateur, nearly won the Evian and then joined the paid ranks and won the Scottish Open in her first appearance as a professional. She is already in the top 10 in the world rankings and is surely destined for the very top of the game.

Verdict: A+