With the golf world nonetheless buzzing about Rory McIlroy’s historic victory on the Masters almost three weeks in the past, it is onerous to imagine the PGA Tour has reached the midway level of its 2025 FedEx Cup season.
The tour hits the second half at this week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson, which tees off Thursday at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas.
Whereas accidents slowed down Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, one of the best two golfers on the planet, there have been loads of surprises and first-time winners within the first half — together with two ultimately week’s Zurich Basic of New Orleans.
The excellent news is there are nonetheless three main championships to play within the ultimate 17 tournaments, adopted by what figures to be a memorable Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale, New York, on Sept. 26-28.
Here is a glance again on the first half of the 2025 season:
Midseason Participant of the Yr
How may or not it’s anybody aside from Rory? Together with changing into the sixth golfer within the Masters period to finish the profession Grand Slam by capturing a inexperienced jacket at Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership, he additionally collected wins towards stacked fields on the AT&T Pebble Seashore Professional-Am on Feb. 2 and the Gamers on April 13.
McIlroy leads the tour in scoring common (69.2) and is almost a half-stroke higher than anybody else in strokes gained: whole (2.319). With 2,463 factors, McIlroy has an almost 800-point benefit within the FedEx Cup standings.
The five-time main champion would possibly simply be getting began, given his success at Quail Hole Membership in Charlotte, North Carolina, which can host the PGA Championship on Could 15-18. He has gained the Wells Fargo Championship on the identical course 4 occasions and set course information with 61 and 62. He’ll even be heading dwelling to Northern Eire for the Open Championship at Royal Portrush on July 17-20.
“Going again to Portrush goes to be unbelievable,” stated Shane Lowry, who gained the 2019 Open Championship there. “Rory going again because the Masters champion now could be going to take a bit of bit of warmth off me once more, so I am fairly pleased with that. It should be an excellent event.”
Others thought-about: Justin Thomas, Scheffler, Russell Henley, Ludvig Åberg
Midseason Rookie of the Yr
Karl Vilips, who moved to the U.S. at age 11, gained the Puerto Rico Open by three strokes on March 9 in his fourth PGA Tour begin. The previous Stanford star set the 72-hole scoring file at 26-under 262 at Grand Reserve Golf Membership in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. He opened with a 6-under 66 and closed with an 8-under 64.
“Dream come true for me and my dad,” Vilips stated. “Going at it for a very long time. That is what we dreamed of after I was a child. It is fairly surreal.
Due to a bulging disc in his again, Vilips received a late begin this season however did not want lengthy to carry a trophy. After three straight missed cuts and a tie for 54th within the RBC Heritage, Vilips teamed with Michael Thorbjornsen to tie for fourth in final week’s Zurich Basic of New Orleans.
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Vilips, 23, grew to become the primary ambassador of Tiger Woods’ Solar Day Purple attire line in February. The 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Rookie of the Yr idolized Woods as a younger golfer in Australia.
“He is who received me into this sport, who motivated me to be who I’m right now,” Vilips stated. “The mentality he dropped at every little thing that he does.”
Others thought-about: Aldrich Potgieter, Rasmus Højgaard, Isaiah Salinda, Danny Walker
Midseason Comeback Participant of the Yr
Bud Cauley returned to the PGA Tour in February 2024 after he was sidelined for greater than three years due to accidents suffered in a severe automobile wreck. Cauley suffered six damaged ribs, a collapsed proper lung and fractured left leg within the single-car crash by which he was a passenger on the 2018 Memorial Match in Dublin, Ohio.
Cauley returned to the tour for 2 years following the wreck however battled by way of ache in his ribs brought on by a plate that had been positioned in his chest. Further surgical procedures and infections quickly adopted, sidelining him for 3 seasons.
Cauley returned to the tour in 2024 and missed seven cuts in 17 begins. The brilliant spot got here in a tie for fifth on the Sanderson Farms Championship final fall.
This 12 months, Cauley has regained his type with 4 top-25s and three top-10s in 9 begins. He tied for sixth on the Gamers, after Justin Thomas, his former Alabama teammate and good good friend, admitted he would do some “actually, actually bizarre issues for Bud to win right now.” That end helped Cauley maintain his PGA Tour card.
Cauley, who’s thirty seventh within the FedEx Cup standings with 553 factors, additionally tied for fourth on the Valspar Championship and for fifth on the Valero Texas Open.
“Once I’m on the market, I am not excited about something that is occurred in my previous, simply making an attempt to play in addition to I can,” Cauley stated on the Valspar Championship. “Yeah, after I’m on the market it is like nothing ever occurred.”
Others thought-about: Michael Kim, Daniel Berger, Viktor Hovland
Midseason breakout participant of the 12 months
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Benjamin Griffin, Andrew Novak win Zurich Basic for first PGA wins
Benjamin Griffin and Andrew Novak get their first profession PGA Tour wins on the Zurich Basic of New Orleans.
Andrew Novak has skilled a gradual however irritating climb by way of the PGA Tour. He completed 156th within the FedEx Cup standings in 2021-22, relegating him again to the Korn Ferry Tour Championship to reclaim his card. He was a hundred and fifth within the FedEx Cup standings the subsequent 12 months and 86th in 2024.
This season, the 30-year-old is enjoying one of the best golf of his profession. He was solo third on the Farmers Insurance coverage Open in January and tied for thirteenth in two signature occasions, the AT&T Pebble Seashore Professional-Am and Genesis Invitational.
After not doing a lot throughout the Florida swing, Novak tied for third on the Valero Texas Open and misplaced in a playoff to Justin Thomas on the RBC Heritage. Then final week, Novak and Ben Griffin collected their first PGA Tour victories within the Zurich Basic of New Orleans group occasion. It was Novak’s a hundredth begin on tour.
Novak is sixth within the FedEx Cup standings with 1,380 factors and he is ninth within the U.S. Ryder Cup group standings with 5,587.6 factors.
“I feel I’ve accomplished a reasonably good job not getting overly pissed off with the shut shaves,” Novak stated. “I have been making an attempt to take as many positives from every as I can as a result of the concept is I can put myself in that place as many occasions as I can. I need to get higher every time I am in that place. I need to be extra snug. I need to have issues that I can look again on and enhance on.
“Yeah, it is irritating, however it’s additionally good going right into a event understanding you are enjoying nicely.”
Others thought-about: Michael Kim, Ben Griffin, Joe Highsmith, Jacob Bridgeman, Brian Campbell, Ryan Gerard
Most shocking stat
Zero. That is the variety of victories in eight begins on tour for Scheffler, who gained 9 occasions all over the world in 2024.
It isn’t that Scheffler has performed poorly since returning to motion in early February after recovering from a proper hand damage he suffered whereas cooking on Christmas Day. He completed within the high 25 in every of his begins and tied for third on the Genesis Invitational and for second on the Texas Youngsters’s Houston Open. He was solo fourth on the Masters in his try to win inexperienced jackets in back-to-back years.
However even Scheffler admits his recreation has been just a bit bit off and he hasn’t made the putts that helped him win so typically in 2024. He is nonetheless second on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: whole (1.911) and tee to inexperienced (1.627) and fourth on strategy (.942). That is not terrible by any stretch of the creativeness.
Finest victory
The Masters, the primary main championship of the season, supplied golf followers with every little thing they may probably need: Rory McIlroy vs. Bryson DeChambeau within the ultimate spherical. Excessive drama on the second 9 at Augusta Nationwide in Sunday’s ultimate spherical, due to McIlroy’s near-collapse and Justin Rose’s gorgeous comeback effort.
Rose, who carded a 6-under 66 within the ultimate spherical, sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the 72nd gap to place much more strain on McIlroy, who had squandered a four-stroke lead. McIlroy missed a 5-footer for par on No. 18 to power a playoff with Rose.
On the primary playoff gap, Rose hit his strategy shot to fifteen toes of the outlet on the No. 18 inexperienced. McIlroy hit his second to 4 toes. Rose missed his birdie putt, after which McIlroy sank his to seize his first inexperienced jacket in his eleventh strive.
“That is my seventeenth time right here, and I began to surprise if it might ever be my time,” McIlroy stated. “I feel the final 10 years coming right here with the burden of the Grand Slam on my shoulders and making an attempt to realize that, yeah, I am form of questioning what we’re all going to speak about going into subsequent 12 months’s Masters.”
It was Rory McIlroy’s time to shine. #themasters pic.twitter.com/0FFotJPqNd
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 14, 2025
Finest spherical
Jake Knapp carded the fifteenth sub-60 spherical in PGA Tour historical past with a bogey-free 59 with 12 birdies and 6 pars within the opening spherical of the Cognizant Basic in The Palm Seashores.
Jake Knapp faucets in for a 59 in Spherical 1 of the Cognizant Basic.
It is the fifteenth sub-60 spherical in PGA Tour historical past‼️ pic.twitter.com/AFbp0tXFed
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 27, 2025
Finest shot
After carding a double-bogey on the 14th gap within the ultimate spherical of the Masters, McIlroy hit the “shot of a lifetime” en path to a birdie on the fifteenth.
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‘Shot of a lifetime!’ Rory hits majestic fairway shot
The group simply loves this shot from Rory McIlroy at Gap 15, finally resulting in a birdie for the Northern Irishman.
Finest putt
It was an extended street again to the highest of the leaderboard for two-time main championship winner Justin Thomas, who lastly ended an almost three-year drought with no victory with a 20-foot birdie to win a playoff on the RBC Heritage on April 20.
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Justin Thomas wins RBC Heritage with lengthy putt in a playoff
Justin Thomas is fired up after sinking the lengthy putt in a playoff for the RBC Heritage win.
Finest drive
Rookie Aldrich Potgieter leads the tour with a 324.1-yard common off the tee, together with this 374-yarder on the Mexico Open.
374-yard drive.252-yard strategy.
Aldrich Potgieter makes gentle work of the 642-yard par 5 @MexicoOpenGolf 🚀 pic.twitter.com/8m1UBE8Ob9
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 22, 2025
Worst drive
On the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Potgieter, a 20-year-old from South Africa, confirmed he is able to topping one like the remainder of us.
Nothing reminds us extra that golf is difficult then when a professional duffs it. 😂
Aldrich Potgieter straight tops a drive into the water at Bayhill. Like legit may have whiffed. Off a tee, so no variables.
ONE OF US! ONE OF US!!!pic.twitter.com/QCQEFf69vG
— Rick Golfs (@Top100Rick) March 6, 2025
Finest perspective
Joel Dahmen had the correct of mindset after ending with three straight bogeys and lacking a 2-footer on the seventeenth gap to lose to Garrick Higgo by one within the Corales Puntacana Championship in Puerto Rico on April 20.
If anybody is questioning what it seems like to provide away a golf event, it sucks. I am studying from it and could have one other probability. The quantity of assist and nicely needs I’ve acquired has been wonderful. I need to thank everybody for that. Onward and upward!
— Joel Dahmen (@Joel_Dahmen) April 23, 2025
Finest punt
Patton Kizzire wasn’t glad after lacking a 5-footer for par within the first spherical of the Valspar Championship.
A putter punt from Patton Kizzire 🏈🏌️♂️
He went on to WD from the Valspar as a consequence of a again damage 😲 pic.twitter.com/WaO7qTiQb5
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) March 20, 2025
Finest save
Chandler Phillips almost waded into alligator-infested waters to hit probably the greatest saves of the season in New Orleans.
