The 2025 PGA TOUR season delivered everything we love about professional golf: dominant performances, breakthrough victories, and major championship drama that kept us glued to our screens from January through November. But beyond the headlines and trophy presentations, there's a story that often gets overlooked in season recaps — the story of what happens on the greens.
As someone who's spent nearly three decades in this game, I can tell you that putting separates the good from the great. And in 2025, we saw that truth play out in spectacular fashion across 46 official events.
The Year of Scheffler (Again)
Let's start with the obvious: Scottie Scheffler had another ridiculous season. Six wins. Two major championships. Nearly $28 million in earnings. The guy topped the money list for the fourth consecutive year, which is the kind of sustained excellence we haven't seen since Tiger's prime.
But here's what caught my attention: Scheffler didn't just win with his ball-striking (though that was elite as always). He gained strokes putting when it mattered most. His victories at the PGA Championship and The Open Championship weren't just about bombing it past everyone off the tee. They were about making the putts that close out majors.
Tommy Fleetwood's FedEx Cup victory was the season's perfect bookend. After years of being labeled "the best player without a PGA TOUR win," Fleetwood finally broke through at the Tour Championship, claiming his first victory and the $18 million bonus that comes with the Cup. Sometimes the golf gods have a sense of timing.
Major Moments That Mattered
The major championships in 2025 gave us storylines that will be discussed for years to come. Rory McIlroy finally, FINALLY, won the Masters. After a decade of near-misses and mounting pressure, he completed the career Grand Slam at Augusta National.
Scheffler's dominance continued with wins at the PGA Championship and The Open, cementing his status as the game's best player. But the surprise of the majors came at Oakmont, where J.J. Spaun captured the U.S. Open. Spaun went from journeyman to major champion in one week, proving once again that the U.S. Open is golf's great equalizer.
Breakthrough Performances
Speaking of breakthroughs, Ben Griffin's season deserves serious recognition. Three wins, including victories at the Charles Schwab Challenge and the World Wide Technology Championship, plus a team win at the Zurich Classic with Andrew Novak. Griffin went from relative unknown to household name, banking over $11 million in the process.
Brian Campbell also emerged as a player to watch, winning twice, including the Mexico Open. These are the stories that make the TOUR compelling. Not just the superstars doing superstar things, but players seizing their moments and changing their careers overnight.
The Putting Performance That Defined 2025
Now let's talk about what really interests me: the putting. Because while everyone focuses on driving distance and approach shots, championships are won and lost on the greens.
Sam Burns led the TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting at +0.983 per round. Think about that for a second. Burns gained nearly a full stroke on the field average every single round, just with his putter. Over four rounds, that's almost four strokes. In professional golf, where margins are razor-thin, that's the difference between winning and missing the cut.
Harry Hall was the efficiency king, leading in Putts Per Round (27.37) and Putting Average (1.677). Hall's ability to consistently two-putt from anywhere and convert the makeable birdie chances made him one of the most reliable players on TOUR. His 98.58% conversion rate from inside five feet was essentially automatic.
Taylor Montgomery brought a different skill set to the table, leading the TOUR with a 46.30% one-putt percentage. Nearly half of Montgomery's putts were one-putts. That's not just good putting. That's aggressive, confident putting that puts pressure on opponents.
Denny McCarthy continued his reputation as one of the game's best putters, ranking fourth in Strokes Gained: Putting. McCarthy's feel on the greens has always been elite, and 2025 was no exception.
What's fascinating about these putting leaders is how different their games are. Burns has a smooth, rhythmic stroke. Hall is all about consistency and routine. Montgomery is aggressive and fearless. McCarthy relies on touch and feel. There's no single "right way" to putt at the highest level, which is something I always emphasize with my students.
The Bigger Picture
The 2025 season also brought significant changes to the TOUR structure. Only the top 100 in the FedEx Cup standings after the Fall Series earned their full 2026 TOUR status (down from 125), and the next 25 earned conditional status. This tightening of membership requirements raised the stakes for every tournament, every round, every putt.
The elimination of starting strokes at the Tour Championship was controversial but ultimately fair. Everyone started at even par, and Fleetwood earned his victory the old-fashioned way: by playing better golf than everyone else that week.
Looking at the season through the lens of putting performance reveals something important about modern professional golf. The gap in ball-striking ability at the highest level continues to narrow. Equipment is better, coaching is more sophisticated, and players are more athletic than ever. But putting? Putting is still the great separator.
The players who putted well in 2025 won tournaments and made millions. The players who struggled on the greens went home early and questioned their careers. It's always been this way, and it always will be.
As we head into 2026, the lesson from 2025 is clear: drive for show, putt for dough isn't just a cliché. It's the truth. And the players who figured that out had the season of their lives.
