The golf world still resonates with Rory McIlroy’s historic triumph at the Masters, a milestone that seems recent even though the 2025 FedEx Cup season has already reached its midpoint.
The circuit reactivates this week with the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, which starts on Thursday at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas.
Even though injuries slowed Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, the two most prominent golfers in the world, the first half of the season has given us surprises and unprecedented winners, including two at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last week.
There are still three major championships to be played in the last 17 tournaments, followed by a promising Ryder Cup at the Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale, New York, from September 26 to 28.
Analysis of the First Half of the 2025 Season
Player of the Season (Midway)
Who else could it be? Rory McIlroy not only became the sixth golfer in the Masters era to complete the Grand Slam by conquering the green jacket at Augusta National Golf Club, but also added victories against elite fields at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Players.
McIlroy leads the circuit in scoring average (69.2) and is almost half a stroke ahead of his competitors in total strokes gained (2.319). With 2,463 points, McIlroy has a lead of almost 800 points in the FedEx Cup standings.
The five-time major champion could be at his best, considering his success at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, host of the PGA Championship from May 15 to 18. He has won the Wells Fargo Championship on the same course four times and set course records with 61 and 62 strokes. He will also compete in the Open Championship at Royal Portrush from July 17 to 20, in his native Ireland.
Going back to Portrush is going to be incredible. Rory, returning as Masters champion, will take a bit of pressure off me, so I’m very happy with that. It’s going to be a great tournament.
Shane Lowry
Other candidates considered: Justin Thomas, Scheffler, Russell Henley, Ludvig Åberg.
Rookie of the Season (Midway)
Karl Vilips, who moved to the United States at age 11, won the Puerto Rico Open by three strokes on March 9 in his fourth PGA Tour appearance. The former Stanford star set a 72-hole scoring record with 26 under par (262 strokes) at the Grand Reserve Golf Club in Río Grande, Puerto Rico. He started with 6 under par (66) and closed with 8 under par (64).
A dream come true for me and my father. We’ve been at this for a long time. This is what we dreamed of when I was a child. It’s quite surreal.
Karl Vilips
Due to a herniated disc, Vilips had a late start to the season, but he didn’t need much time to lift a trophy. After three consecutive missed cuts and a tie for 54th at the RBC Heritage, Vilips teamed up with Michael Thorbjornsen to tie for fourth at last week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Vilips, 23, became the first ambassador for Tiger Woods’ Sun Day Red clothing line in February. The 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Rookie of the Year idolized Woods when he was a young golfer in Australia.
He was the one who introduced me to this sport, who motivated me to be who I am today. The mindset he brought to everything he does.
Karl Vilips
Other candidates considered: Aldrich Potgieter, Rasmus Højgaard, Isaiah Salinda, Danny Walker.
Mid-Season Comeback Player of the Year
Bud Cauley returned to the PGA Tour in February 2024 after being out of action for more than three years due to injuries sustained in a serious car accident. Cauley suffered six broken ribs, a collapsed right lung, and a fractured left leg in the single-vehicle accident in which he was a passenger at the 2018 Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio.
Cauley returned to the circuit for two years after the accident, but struggled with rib pain caused by a plate that had been placed in his chest. Additional surgeries and infections followed, sidelining him for three seasons.
Cauley returned to the circuit in 2024 and missed seven cuts in 17 starts. The bright spot was a tie for fifth at the Sanderson Farms Championship last fall.
This year, Cauley has regained his form with four top-25s and three top-10s in nine appearances. He tied for sixth at the Players, after Justin Thomas, his former Alabama teammate and good friend, admitted he would do some “really, really weird things to get Bud to win today.” That result helped Cauley keep his PGA Tour card.
Cauley, who is ranked 37th in the FedEx Cup standings with 553 points, also tied for fourth place at the Valspar Championship and fifth at the Valero Texas Open.
When I’m out there, I don’t think about anything that’s happened in my past, I just try to play the best I can. Yes, when I’m out there it’s as if nothing ever happened.
Bud Cauley
Other candidates considered: Michael Kim, Daniel Berger, Viktor Hovland.
Breakthrough Player of the Season (Midway)
Andrew Novak has experienced a steady but frustrating rise on the PGA Tour. He finished 156th in the FedEx Cup standings in 2021-22, which relegated him to the Korn Ferry Tour Championship to reclaim his card. He was 105th in the FedEx Cup standings the following year and 86th in 2024.
This season, the 30-year-old player is playing the best golf of his career. He was solo third at the Farmers Insurance Open in January and tied for 13th at two signature events, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.
After not doing much during the Florida swing, Novak tied for third at the Valero Texas Open and lost in a playoff to Justin Thomas at the RBC Heritage. Then, last week, Novak and Ben Griffin earned their first PGA Tour victories at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event. It was Novak’s 100th career start on the circuit.
Novak is sixth in the FedEx Cup standings with 1,380 points and ninth in the U.S. Ryder Cup team standings with 5,587.6 points.
I think I’ve done a good job of not getting too frustrated with the close results. I’ve been trying to take as many positives from each one as I can because the idea is that I can put myself in that position as many times as possible. I want to improve every time I’m in that position. I want to feel more comfortable. I want to have things I can reflect on and improve.
Andrew Novak
Other candidates considered: Michael Kim, Ben Griffin, Joe Highsmith, Jacob Bridgeman, Brian Campbell, Ryan Gerard.
Most Surprising Statistic
Zero. That’s the number of wins in eight circuit appearances for Scheffler, who won nine times worldwide in 2024.
It’s not that Scheffler has played poorly since returning to action in early February after recovering from a right hand injury he sustained while cooking on Christmas Day. He finished in the top 25 in each of his starts and tied for third at the Genesis Invitational and second at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. He was solo fourth at the Masters in his bid to win green jackets in consecutive years.
But even Scheffler admits his game has been a little off and he hasn’t made the putts that helped him win so often in 2024. He’s still second on the PGA Tour in total strokes gained (1.911) and tee-to-green (1.627) and fourth in approach (.942). That’s not terrible by any means.
Best Victory
The Masters, the first major championship of the season, offered golf fans everything they could want: Rory McIlroy against Bryson DeChambeau in the final round. Great drama on the back nine at Augusta National in Sunday’s final round, thanks to McIlroy’s near collapse and Justin Rose’s surprising comeback.
Rose, who signed a six-under-par card (66) in the final round, holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to put even more pressure on McIlroy, who had squandered a four-stroke lead. McIlroy missed a 5-foot par putt on the 18th hole to force a playoff with Rose.
On the first playoff hole, Rose sent his approach shot to 15 feet from the hole on the 18th hole green. McIlroy sent his to 4 feet. Rose missed his birdie putt, and then McIlroy holed his to capture his first green jacket in his eleventh attempt.
This is my seventeenth time here, and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time. I think the last 10 years coming here with the burden of the Grand Slam on my shoulders and trying to achieve it, yeah, I wonder what we’re all going to be talking about going into next year’s Masters.
Rory McIlroy
Best Round
Jake Knapp shot a 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history with a bogey-free 59 featuring 12 birdies and six pars in the opening round of the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches.
Best Shot
After registering a double bogey on the 14th hole in the final round of the Masters, McIlroy executed the “shot of his life” en route to a birdie on the 15th.
Best Putt
A long road back to the top of the leaderboard for two-time major champion Justin Thomas, who finally ended a nearly three-year winless drought with a 20-foot birdie to win a playoff at the RBC Heritage on April 20.
Best Drive
Rookie Aldrich Potgieter leads the circuit with an average of 324.1 yards off the tee, including this 374-yard drive at the Mexico Open.
Worst Drive
At the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Potgieter, a 20-year-old from South Africa, showed that he is capable of missing a shot like the rest of us.
Better Attitude
Joel Dahmen had the right mindset after finishing with three consecutive bogeys and missing a 2-foot putt on the 17th hole to lose to Garrick Higgo by one at the Corales Puntacana Championship in Puerto Rico on April 20.
Best Kick
Patton Kizzire was not happy after missing a 5-foot par putt in the first round of the Valspar Championship.
Best Save
Chandler Phillips nearly waded into alligator-infested waters to make one of the best saves of the season in New Orleans.
