What follows is an overview of golf in 2025, based on memorable shots – not necessarily the best – hit with every club in the bag. They all told a story.
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JJ Spaun was tied for the lead in the final round of the US Open when he reached the 314-yard 17th hole at Oakmont. He used his driver for a low fade which hit the front of the green and rolled like a putt to about 18 feet behind the pin. That made for a two-putt birdie and a one-stroke lead going into the final hole. And his best was yet to come.
3-wood
Scottie Scheffler hit a 3-wood on the 304-yard 14th hole at Quail Hollow and thought it might be a little short because the wind would be blowing from right to left against his fade. It was almost perfect, with him settling for Eagle in the third round, putting him atop the leaderboard for good at the PGA Championship as he captured his third major.
3-iron
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 off his game with a 3-iron to 30 inches on the par-5 12th for Eagle. Koivun ended up playing in the final group, finishing tied for fourth place before returning to college.
4-iron
Trailing by four shots entering the final round of The Players Championship, Rory McIlroy hit the 4-iron from 225 yards to 10 feet on the par-5 second hole for a birdie-eagle start that put him back in the game. He won the play-off against JJ Spaun on Monday. But that 4-iron is what McIlroy called his best swing of the week. “That was pretty much perfect,” he said.
5-iron
Russell Henley prefers a draw. The tough par-3 14th at Bay Hill required a cut, especially when Henley was three shots behind Collin Morikawa and out of holes in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He hit a cut with his iron 5 to 10 feet for birdie to begin an unlikely comeback. The victory led to one of Henley’s best seasons, as he rose to No. 4 in the world and found himself in his first Ryder Cup team.
6-iron
Justin Rose had been winless for more than two years and was three shots behind when he hit 6 iron over 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 the age of 45, he again reached the top 10 in the world and qualified for the Ryder Cup.
7-iron
Viktor Hovland missed three consecutive cuts, had little confidence in what he was doing and doubted whether he would play in the Valspar Championship. Two shots behind in the final rough, on Innisbrook’s toughest hole, Hovland delivered with a 7-iron over the water and a bunker to six feet for birdie that led to a late comeback to win. Never count him out.
Note: McIlroy’s biggest 7-iron hit was on the par-5 15th at the Masters, when he hooked it around a pine tree to 6 feet. It may have been the shot of the year, but he missed the Eagle Putt.
8-iron
Scheffler erased a four-shot deficit in five holes in the final round of the BMW Championship, and it was a tight battle 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 a birdie and a two-shot lead that lifted him to his fifth win in his last 10 starts.
9-iron
Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley heard the ‘USA’ chants on the 18th fairway of the Travelers Championship, and then hit a 9-iron to 6 feet for birdiewhich gave him a New England victory when Tommy Fleetwood made bogey. It was Bradley’s second victory in ten months, and it intensified the debate over the next two months over whether he should choose himself as captain. Ultimately, he decided not to choose Bethpage Black.
Pitching wedge
While Koivun was top of the class among college players, high school senior Mason Howell was equally impressive. He won the U.S. Amateur Championship, completing a foursomes match on the 17th hole at Cypress Point then he holed out with a pitching wedge from 147 yards in a 2-on-1 win. Howell won 2-0-1 in another American Walker Cup victory.
Hole wedge
McIlroy lost the lead twice on the back nine at Augusta National and found himself in a playoff against Rose with nothing more than a Masters green jacket and Grand Slam career on the line. He hit the 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 ultimately win the Masters.
Sand wedge
Scores have been dropping in the golf world, and Hideki Matsuyama has taken that to a new level at The Sentry. He hollowed out with a sand wedge for Eagle on Kapalua’s par-4 third hole and was on its way. The Japanese star set a PGA Tour record by finishing at 35 under and winning by three.
Lobe wedge
The wildest finish to a major this year should have ended on the first playoff hole. Grace Kim placed her approach to the par-5 18th at the Evian Championship in a creek. Kim pulled a lob wedge and chipped across the creek into the cup for birdie that extended overtime. Kim, who had made an eagle in regulation to force the playoff with Jeeno Thitikul, made another eagle on the second playoff hole to win her first major. Thitikul was the LPGA’s best, but ended her year without a major.
Goldfinch
Spaun had a one-stroke lead going into the 18th hole at Oakmont, which is not a sure thing at a US Open. He hit the rain-soaked fairway. He hit the green, but he was 20 yards away and needed two putts to avoid a play-off with MacIntyre. Spaun made the longest final putt by a US Open champion with a shot that is now part of championship history. MacIntyre couldn’t help but applaud.
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