The past twelve months have had a little bit of everything: a Grand Slam career, Ryder Cup chaos and much more. With 2026 on the horizon, our writers look back at the most memorable moments from 2025 and explain why they mattered.
No. 15 — The zero-torque putter motion
No. 14 — Happy Gilmore 2 is taking the golf world by storm
No. 13 — Joaquin Niemann’s big 2025 (and crucial 2026)
No. 12 —
No. 11 —
No. 10 —
No. 9 —
No. 8 —
Biggest Golf Moments of 2025 No. 7: Breakout season at Fleetwood marked by losses
Would Tommy Fleetwood be on our “Greatest Golf Moments of 2025” list… if he hadn’t won?
The argument is at least compelling, if character is to be your compass. While victory shows what you’re made of, defeat tests it, and perhaps no one has been more steadfast in the face of misery this year than Fleetwood.
Four moments come to mind:
– Sunday June 22, 2025, final round of Travelers Championship: Fleetwood, after leading by three shots at the start of the day and a stroke on the 71st hole, is tied for second place. Although he has had success around the world, his winless streak on the PGA Tour extends to 159 starts.
And yet this is what he said next:
He was upset. But he would think.
“I haven’t been in this situation for a while,” Fleetwood said. “I think when it calms down – I’m upset now, I’m angry – when it calms down, look at the things I’ve done right, look at the things I can learn from.
“I said yesterday that I haven’t been in this position all year, so it’s been a while. I felt like I did a lot of good things, but there were things that I can definitely do better, and I have to do better. So I did a lot of things well enough this week to win. I didn’t, it hurts. When things calm down, the dumbest and worst thing you can do is let a week like this hinder what you do in the future. Obviously I played great, I I put myself in a great position, I led the tournament for 71 holes. I want to make sure I can put myself back in this position as soon as possible and try to correct what I did this time.
“But like I said, right now I’d like to, you know, just go sulk somewhere and maybe I will, but there’s just no point in making it negative for the future. Just take the positives and move on.”
– Sunday, August 10, 2025, FedEx St. Jude Championship final round: Fleetwood, after leading by a shot at the start of the day, are in joint third place. Another non-win.
And yet, this is what he said next, after a reporter noted that his optimism is something fans continue to admire:
Fleetwood said he would find something positive again.
“Well, as long as they stay with me and stay on my side, we can all look at the positives,” Fleetwood said. “Yes, I’m lucky with the support I get, and I’ve enjoyed it – I haven’t had much of a fight this year, and then Travelers were clearly in charge and I felt like it was a great atmosphere and I enjoyed playing in that atmosphere and today I’m getting the crowd on my side again and I love their support. I’m so grateful for it. A little bit on this journey together here.
“You just have to persevere – all these experiences and these close calls, like I said, there’s no point in creating them or allowing them to have a negative effect on what happens next. What would be the point?
“It was a great week. I did a lot of good things and as disappointed as I am, I have to try to find the strength to make it a positive experience and hopefully go again next time, put myself in that position again and then we’ll just go again.”
– Tuesday, August 19, 2025, press conference for the Tour Championship: Fleetwood talks to reporters. He knows the near miss question is coming.
And yet he answers it this way:
“I’m working really hard to make sure I make it all a positive thing,” Fleetwood said. “Of course I’m not going to tell you lies and say, oh Memphis, I thought I was doing everything great, or Travelers, I didn’t do anything wrong. Of course I did things wrong along the way and that didn’t happen to me.
“But you just learn from those experiences, and I think the prevailing emotions are very positive. I’d rather have you question me about not finishing tournaments than not question me about anything at all. So obviously I’ve shown a lot of good things and put myself in great positions.”
“I’ve said every time I want to put myself out there again. I want to give myself another chance. At some point I’ll finish it. I’ll do it right and I’ll do it right more than once. But being there is actually the hardest part in a way.”
Tour Confidential: Is Tommy Fleetwood ready for a big 2026?
By means of:
GOLF Editors
“I think there are so many – I don’t feel like I have to list all the good things about it. I just have to be aware of it, know that I’m doing the right things, and know that there are still things I can get better.
“You use them both in a good way. I would use the disappointments as motivation, and I would use the good things as a confidence boost.
“Again, the best-case scenario at East Lake with a chance to win, whether I do well or not, whether it happens or not, whether someone plays better or not, I’ll talk about that at the time, but I would like to get there and give myself that opportunity again.”
– Sunday August 24, 2025, final round of Tour Championship: Fleetwood wins. Finally.
And yet it sounds the same.
Appreciative. Ready for more.
“Yes, I think people have different ways of inspiring,” Fleetwood said, “and I think my – no matter how big or small my inspirational story may be, it was just a story of perseverance and continuing to try to put myself in those positions. I think the easiest thing to do when it’s not going your way is to sulk a little bit or let it affect you for a while and then come back to it. Use excuses if you want, but I said every time it didn’t happen for me or where I would let one go or if someone hit me, I just want to get back there. I just want to give myself another chance.
“I felt like I did that, and I felt like people – at the time you just did it, but I think people have appreciated that side of it. I think people have found it, I think, very positive that I’ve constantly tried to just get back on the horse, just go again, just go again.”
“Like I said, it’s almost easy to say now that I’m really happy that it happened now, but if it hadn’t happened today, I would have said the same things. I would have said, I just want another chance; I’m just going to go back to work and I’m just going to go again. I’ve had the opportunity to prove that if you just keep going, it can happen.”
“I guess that’s my story.”
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