Big moments call for big shots, and there were plenty of them in 2025 when Scottie Scheffler dominated, Rory McIlroy got the major that mattered to him and new major champions arrived when they least expected it.
What follows is a review of golf in 2025 based on memorable shots — not necessarily the greatest ones — struck with every club in the bag. They all told a story.
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Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts after winning in a playoff against Justin Rose after the final round at the Masters golf tournament, April 13, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
FILE - Grace Kim, of Australia, plays on the 18th hole on her way to win the Evian Championship women's golf tournament, in Evian, eastern France, Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, file)
FILE PHOTO -Justin Rose, of England, hits on the 14th hole during the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, file)
FILE - J.J. Spaun celebrates making a birdie putt on the 18th hole during the final round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Sunday, June 15, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, file)
J.J. Spaun was tied for the lead in the final round of the U.S. Open when he reached the 314-yard 17th hole at Oakmont. He used his driver for a low fade that hit the front of the green and rolled like a putt to about 18 feet behind the pin. That set up a two-putt birdie and a one-shot lead going to the final hole. And his best was yet to come.
Scottie Scheffler hit 3-wood on the 304-yard 14th hole at Quail Hollow and thought it might come up a little short with the wind gusting right-to-left against his fade. It was nearly perfect, settling 3 feet away for eagle in the third round that put him atop the leaderboard for good at the PGA Championship as he captured his third major.
Auburn junior Jackson Koivun went from leading the Americans to a Walker Cup victory at Cypress Point to competing against all but two members of the Ryder Cup team in the Procore Championship. In the second round at Silverado, he showed his game with a 3-iron to 30 inches on the par-5 12th for eagle. Koivun wound up playing in the final group and tied for fourth before heading back to college.
Four shots behind going into the final round of The Players Championship, Rory McIlroy hit 4-iron from 225 yards into 10 feet on the par-5 second hole for a birdie-eagle start that got him back into the game. He wound up winning a playoff over J.J. Spaun on Monday. But that 4-iron is what McIlroy called his best swing of the week. “That was pretty much perfect,” he said.
Russell Henley prefers a draw. The tough par-3 14th at Bay Hill required a cut, especially with Henley trailing Collin Morikawa by three shots and running out of holes in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He hit a cut with his 5-iron to 10 feet for birdie to start an unlikely comeback. The victory led to one of Henley’s best seasons, rising to No. 4 in the world and landing a spot on his first Ryder Cup team.
Winless in more than two years, Justin Rose was three shots behind when he hit 6-iron over the water to 15 feet on the par-3 14th, the toughest hole on the back nine of the TPC Southwind. That was the start of four straight birdies, and Rose won a playoff in the FedEx St. Jude Championship. At age 45, he again cracked the top 10 in the world and qualified for the Ryder Cup.
Viktor Hovland missed three straight cuts, had little confidence in what he was doing and debated whether to play the Valspar Championship. Two shots behind in the final rough, on the hardest hole at Innisbrook, Hovland delivered with a 7-iron over the water and a bunker to 6 feet for a birdie that sparked a late comeback to win. Never count him out.
Note: The greatest 7-iron hit was from McIlroy on the par-5 15th at the Masters, when he hooked it around a pine tree to 6 feet. It might have been the shot of the year but he missed the eagle putt.
Scheffler made up a four-shot deficit in five holes in the final round of the BMW Championship, and it was a tight duel going to the back nine. He was in a fairway bunker, with Robert MacIntyre in prime position in the fairway. Scheffler hit 8-iron to 6 feet for birdie and a two-shot lead that sent him to his fifth win in his last 10 starts.
Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley heard the “USA” chants down the 18th fairway at the Travelers Championship, and then hit a 9-iron to 6 feet for a birdie, giving him a New England win when Tommy Fleetwood made bogey. It was Bradley’s second win in 10 months, and it sharpened debate the next two months whether he should pick himself as a playing captain. Ultimately, he decided not to pick himself for Bethpage Black.
While Koivun was first in class among college players, high school senior Mason Howell was equally impressive. He won the U.S. Amateur Championship, and he closed out a foursomes match on the 17th hole at Cypress Point when he holed out with a pitching wedge from 147 yards in a 2-and-1 victory. Howell went 2-0-1 in another U.S. victory at the Walker Cup.
McIlroy twice lost the lead on the back nine of Augusta National and found himself in a playoff against Rose with nothing more than a Masters green jacket and the career Grand Slam on the line. He hit gap wedge to 3 feet on the 18th on the first extra hole, and after Rose missed from 15 feet, McIlroy rolled in the short birdie putt to finally win the Masters.
Scores have been coming down in golf, and Hideki Matsuyama took that to a new level at The Sentry. He holed out with a sand wedge for eagle on the par-4 third hole at Kapalua and was on his way. The Japanese star set a PGA Tour record to par by finishing at 35 under to win by three.
The wildest finish to a major this year should have ended on the first playoff hole. Grace Kim put her approach to the par-5 18th at the Evian Championship into a creek. Kim pulled a lob wedge and chipped across the creek and into the cup for a birdie that extended overtime. Kim, who had made eagle in regulation to force the playoff with Jeeno Thitikul, made eagle again on the second playoff hole to win her first major. Thitikul was the LPGA's best but ended her year without a major.
Spaun had a one-shot lead going to the 18th hole at Oakmont, no sure thing in a U.S. Open. He hit the rain-soaked fairway. He hit the green, but he was 65 feet away and needed two putts to avoid a playoff with MacIntyre. Spaun made the longest final putt by a U.S. Open champion with a shot now part of championship lore. MacIntyre couldn’t help but applaud.
On The Fringe analyzes the biggest topics in golf during the season. AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts after winning in a playoff against Justin Rose after the final round at the Masters golf tournament, April 13, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
FILE - Grace Kim, of Australia, plays on the 18th hole on her way to win the Evian Championship women's golf tournament, in Evian, eastern France, Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, file)
FILE PHOTO -Justin Rose, of England, hits on the 14th hole during the final round of the St. Jude Championship golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, file)
FILE - J.J. Spaun celebrates making a birdie putt on the 18th hole during the final round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Sunday, June 15, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, file)
