They already have one lead over the other rookies. They’re in the Masters.
Both earned their spots in the Augusta National growing field with wins last week. Neergaard-Petersen had a great par save on the 18th hole to win the Australian Open, which earned him a spot in this year’s Masters.
“As soon as I saw that tournament, it was the first event where I thought, ‘If I ever become a professional golfer, that’s the event I want to play.’ So it’s a dream come true and I can’t wait for April,” said Neergaard-Petersen, who played his college golf at Oklahoma State.
Reitan, who won the Soudal Open and finished second in Europe twice this year, held on for a wire-to-wire victory in the Nedbank Golf Challenge. That moved him to No. 33 in the world and assured him he will be among the top 50 to receive Masters invitations by the end of the year.
This year there are only two weeks of official events left: the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa and the Mauritius Open.
According to an official World Golf Ranking expert who goes by the name ‘Nosferatu’ on X, ten other players not yet in the Masters are confident of remaining in the top 50. That includes two Americans who weren’t even on a main tour to start the year.
Michael Brennan was on the PGA Tour of Americas, earned a Korn Ferry Tour card and then received a sponsor exemption for the Bank of Utah Championship in Black Desert and won. Johnny Keefer was the Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year and has two wins in his seven top 10s.
Including the places yet to be awarded to the winners of the South African Open and Latin American Amateur early next year, the field comes to 86 players who are exempt and expected to play.
Rory McIlroy’s latest honor
Team Europe won the Ryder Cup on American soil for the first time in 13 years and came second in the Association of Golf Writers voting for the prestigious Golfer of the Year award.
That’s how special it was a year for Rory McIlroy.
That is the 2025 AGW Golfer of the Year @McIlroyRory.
Who else in a year that saw Masters triumph, the Career Grand Slam, Ryder Cup glory, a 7th Harry Vardon Trophy, victories at Pebble & Sawgrass, and the beautiful scenes that greeted victory at the Irish Open? Congratulations Rori! pic.twitter.com/NwNJ2LwjVq
— Association of Golf Writers (AGW) (@AGWgolfwriters) December 8, 2025
He was the British media’s overwhelming choice for the award, which McIlroy won for the sixth time. He won the Masters and became the first European to capture the Grand Slam in his career, won a seventh Harry Vardon Trophy as Europe’s top player, won the Irish Open in front of a home crowd and recorded victories at The Players Championship and Pebble Beach.
There was also that small matter of tackling the verbal abuse at Bethpage Black and going 3-1-1 in a European victory.
The Ryder Cup team finished second, followed by FedEx Cup champion Tommy Fleetwood.
Ryan Gerard’s last chance
Ryan Gerard was ranked No. 49 in the world when he missed the cut at Sea Island in the final PGA Tour event of the season. That was crucial because the top 50 in the world will receive an invitation to the Masters at the end of the year. Gerard fell to number 53.
Now he’s taking another chance.
Gerard will be in the field next week for the Mauritius Open, which takes place between the European tour and the Sunshine Tour. It is the last tournament of the year that yields ranking points. Gerard is in the field as the winner of a European tour event with a purse of at least $2 million. He won the Barracuda Championship opposite The Open, co-sanctioned by the European tour.
It is a long flight to Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean about 1,100 kilometers from Madagascar. But traveling is nothing new for Gerard. In the past four months he has played in Ireland, England, Japan and Abu Dhabi. The final destination is Augusta National.
Q-School is waiting for you
The last chance for a full PGA Tour card starts this week at Q-School, where five cards are offered for 176 players. For the first time, a play-off will take place to determine the final place.
The PGA Tour says the big difference this year is that the top five players will have greater certainty about the schedule and “fair playing opportunities,” a result of only the top 100 in the FedExCup – against 125 players – retaining full status.
On the other hand, it’s not like the six players (non-playoffs) who made it to Q-School last year were robbed. In 2025 they played an average of 26 tournaments, three of which were in 29 events.
Takumi Kanaya was the only player to finish in the top 100 in the FedExCup (No. 99).
The 2028 Open Championship will be held from August 3 to 6, a few weeks after its usual mid-July venue, to avoid conflict with the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Ironman on PGA tour
Eric Cole started the season with seven tournaments in a row. After missing the Masters, he played the next ten tournaments in a row.
When the season ended, Cole led the PGA Tour by playing in 32 tournaments. The four tournaments he missed for which he was eligible were the Mexico Open, Rocket Classic, Scottish Open and the Bank of Utah Championship.
But he only had four top 10s, and despite playing in all eight of the signature events, Cole finished No. 76 in the FedExCup.
Seven players played in 31 tournaments. Sam Stevens was the only player from that group to finish in the top 50 of the FedEx Cup.
Divots
Martin Couvra, who won the Turkish Airlines Open and has six top 10s, is the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year on the European tour. He is the second French player to win the award. The other was Olivier Edmond in 1998. …Will Zalatoris opened with a 75 in the Nedbank Golf Challenge last week, his first tournament since back surgery in May. He was 10 under the rest of the way and finished in 15th place. … Kristoffer Reitan winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge gives Norway two players in the top 50 of the world rankings for the first time. The other is Viktor Hovland. … Colt Knost has been elevated to analyst for CBS Sports, joining the network’s “supertower” along with host Jim Nantz, lead analyst Trevor Immelman and fellow analyst Frank Nobilo.
Statistic of the week
Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Tommy Fleetwood were the only players to start and finish the year in the top 10 in the world.
Last word
“No, nothing.” — Hideki Matsuyama when asked if he enjoyed anything other than winning golf tournaments.
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