Join us every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they discuss the hottest topics in sports, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week we discuss Rory McIlroy’s momentous 2025 and look ahead to the LPGA season finale.
Rory McIlroy lost the DP World Tour Championship in a play-off to Matt Fitzpatrick but still won the season’s Race to Dubai title for the seventh time, capping a season in which he won three times on the PGA Tour – highlighted by his Masters title to complete a career Grand Slam – and helped Europe win a Ryder Cup on the road. Was this McIlroy’s best year ever?
James Colgan, news and features editor (@jamescolgan26): This was definitely the best season of Rory’s career, but not for the reasons you might think. Yes, the Grand Slam was fun, and yes, winning the Ryder Cup on the road (something McIlroy himself called one of the most difficult feats in golf) doesn’t hurt. But for my money, the whole of these achievements is even better than the sum of their parts. This was the year McIlroy cemented himself as the greatest player of his generation, and even if he wins more or more, this year will always be more important to his continued greatness than the years before or after.
Josh Sens, senior writer (@Josh_Sens): Certainly. It wasn’t just what he won, but how he won. The wild ride to winning the Masters, ending a decade-long major drought in a tournament that had caused more heartache than any other. And then that display at the Ryder Cup, which backed up his prediction amid all that crowd ugliness. Those moments will sear more into the collective memory than any other seasonal performance.
Josh Schrock, news editor (@Schrock_And_Awe): There is no question. As my colleagues noted, it’s not just what he did, but how he did it and where he did it. He won at Pebble, TPC Sawgrass and Augusta National, overcoming personal ghosts and avoiding a soul-crushing collapse. He overcame post-performance depression after winning the Masters, had an inspiring week at his Open, won the Irish Open in thrilling fashion and then led Europe to an away victory in the Ryder Cup. As James noted, he is the best player of his generation and may have cemented himself as the greatest European golfer of all time.
McIlroy’s seven Race to Dubai titles are just one short of Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight, which McIlroy is likely to equal or break. Does McIlroy get enough credit for the global success he has had?
Colgan: I feel like Rory’s criminally underrated overseas resume is almost a hot item among golf fans these days. But I guess this goes back to what I said above: all those other accolades seemed a bit… empty in light of the major championship drought. Now that the drought is over, we can see the full extent of these achievements.
Schrock: I think Colgan did a good job. Rory has been a consistent global performer for over a decade, but the big slump, countless heartbreaks and lack of a green jacket caused most to miss the big picture.
Speaking of McIlroy, teams have been announced for the Golf Channel showdown where he will headline with Scottie Scheffler on December 17. McIlroy’s team will consist of Shane Lowry, Haotong Li and Luke Donald, while Scheffler will have Sam Burns, Luke Clanton and Keegan Bradley in an event with all kinds of different formats and games baked into it. Do you think the unique twist will be enough to make it draw better than other made-for-TV matchups?
Colgan: I mean, I think it’s kind of funny that we’re filling the slow golf season with… more golf. If there is evidence that real people actually want to see these events, I certainly haven’t seen it. But for those of us who write about the sport, these made-for-TV tricks are better than a black hole of nothing on the golf calendar, so… I guess that’s okay?
Sens: Well said, James. It’s hard to get overly excited about an event like this. But complaining about it from this place seems a bit contradictory.
Schrock: Co-sign the above. New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp emphasized the importance of scarcity in improving the professional golf product. This is the opposite. I’m all for taking swings, but I’m having a hard time seeing this breakthrough.
The LPGA season concludes next week with the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida, and it will be Nelly Korda’s last chance to earn a victory. Korda won seven times last year – how is she a week away from a potentially winless season?
Colgan: Yes, it’s shocking – and it’s also disappointing if you’re the LPGA – but I think the easiest explanation lies with the flatstick. Korda ranks 98th on Tour in 2025 in number of putts per final round and 101st in three-putt average. Interestingly enough, that’s not that far off from where Korda finished in those categories in her seven wins in 2024. But when you account for variance — and regression in some of the otherworldly parts of her game last season — it’s not hard to finish with a seven-win difference.
Sens: Golf is a beautifully fickle game where the narrowest of margins can separate success from failure, nowhere more so than at the elite level. When the irons are just a hair away, when the putts that used to fall start to graze the cup, those small misses produce disproportionately fewer results. If anything, this year underlines once again how insanely amazing her 2024 was.
Schrock: The answer lies in a little bit of everything. Putting has held her back when she has been in battle. She has been dealing with a neck injury that may be hurting more than she initially let on. She also mentioned that she was dealing with a swing issue where she was dealing with a fired look at the top. It’s also hard to win. Her stats aren’t much worse than last year, but she just hasn’t been in the mix much and when she was in the mix at Erin Hills, the putter betrayed her.
What was the more interesting subplot of this week’s Annika: WNBA star Caitlin Clark attracting monstrous pro-am galleries or catching the attention of Kai Trump, granddaughter of President Donald Trump, who received a sponsor exemption and shot 83-75 to miss the cut?
Colgan: There were an awful lot of people rushing to defend the president’s granddaughter against accusations that she … might not have earned an invitation on the merits of her golf. (No hate on Kai, whose TikTok megastars made her eligible for a sponsor exemption, but I didn’t know this was up for debate!) If the LPGA can turn even 10 percent of those people into regular viewers, it will have been worth it!
Sens: While it’s fun to watch Clark transition from the field to the court, it’s always extremely interesting to see a very good player try to compete at the next level. It’s a direct reminder of the gap between the best and the rest. I guess you could say that the way people’s political allegiances colored their views on Kai’s exoneration was also interesting. But mostly it was just depressing.
Schrock: The most interesting subplot was what the LPGA can do to try to hold on to the extra eyeballs that Clark and Trump brought with them. It’s great that Clark loves golf and can introduce her fans to golf. Broadcasting the pro-am is a victory! Giving Trump a sponsorship invite is an opportunistic shift in social media impressions, but without a big plan to capitalize on this kind of move, it ultimately means very little. The LPGA should be applauded for trying things to increase viewership, interest, etc., but Caitlin Clark and Kai Trump are not the antidote to what ails the tour.
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