There were 46 PGA Tour tournaments.
And 33 LPGA tournaments.
And 35 DP World Tour tournaments.
And 14 LIV Golf tournaments.
And 28 PGA Tour Champions tournaments.
And countless other pro events. And amateur events. And team events. And on and on. Point is, there was a lot of golf this year. So much so, that you may have forgotten a thing or two.
Or 15.
Let’s refresh your memory then. Below is a list of 15 things you (probably) forgot happened in the world of golf in 2025. The stories are listed in order of occurrence, and our descriptions include the headline used on this website and a few paragraphs from the stories written.
What happened: The Genesis Invitational was relocated from Riviera in Los Angeles to Torrey Pines in San Diego due to fires in L.A.
From our story: The Genesis Invitational, which is hosted by Tiger Woods and the Tiger Woods Foundation, has been played at Riviera Country Club, one of the best courses in the world, for the past 26 years, and many of the years before that, dating back to the late 1920s. But Riviera is located in the Pacific Palisades, one of the locales hit hardest by one of the worst fires in the history of California. (Story here.)
What happened: On the CBS broadcast of the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open, analyst Dottie Pepper criticized slow play.
From our story: “You know, Frank, I think we’re starting to need a new word to talk about this pace of play issue, and it’s respect,” she said to CBS colleague Frank Nobilo. “For your fellow competitors, for the fans, for broadcasts, for all of it. It’s just got to get better.” (Story here.)
What happened: During TGL play, Tiger Woods did not get his yardage right and was about 80 yards short of his target.
From our story: So what did happen Tuesday? If you’re in search of brevity, Woods hit his ball 117 yards when he had 199 to go during play in the simulator-based TGL league. But that’s woefully selling it, well, short. The one-month-old league saw maybe its biggest stunner. In the moment, folks sprung up. Did the 15-time major winner just …? He did. Folks laughed. Did the 82-time PGA Tour winner just … ? LOL, he did. Folks wondered. Why? Well, that depends. (Story here.)
What happened: Rory McIlroy used an Uber to bring him a driver at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
From our story: If you follow golf news closely, you may already know the back story: A couple of weeks ago, on the eve of the fourth round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, McIlroy, who was then seven off the lead, had had a change of heart about the clubs in his bag. After playing the first three rounds at Bay Hill with TaylorMade’s latest driver and fairway woods, from the Qi35 line, he decided to switch back to his old woods, his Qi10s, for Sunday’s final round. Trouble was, his old gamers were in Jupiter, more than 150 miles down the Turnpike. (Story here.)
What happened: A fan heckled Rory McIlroy at the Players Championship, then McIlroy took the fan’s phone.
From our story: It is not unheard of for pro golfers to hear unpleasantries from fans. Usually, they let it go (you never would have seen Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus or Tom Watson confront a spectator). But not always (Greg Norman had his moments). And on this occasion, McIlroy chose to engage. He strode toward Potter and his teammate, extended his arm across the rope line and said to Potter’s teammate, “Can I see your phone?” Translation: I’m taking your phone. McIlroy snatched the device from Potter’s teammate’s hand, then spun around and walked away. In a video of the moment that was captured by a fan, shared by several outlets, including Barstool Sports, and now has more than 1.7 million views on X, Potter and his teammate look stunned by what had transpired. Soon after the incident, they were escorted off the property. (The phone was returned.) (Story here.)
What happened: Adam Hadwin destroyed a sprinkler during the Valspar Championship.
From our story: As evidence, we present the Friday morning case of Adam Hadwin, who destroyed a sprinkler head in the process of making double bogey on the 10th hole. In a video shared with GOLF.com, Hadwin was playing his third shot into the green of the par-4 10th, from the rough right of the fairway. How he got in that position may explain why he plunged his wedge into the earth in the first place. (Story here.)
What happened: During the Masters, Bryson DeChambeau practiced on a backyard green.
From our story: Shortly thereafter, Pearman realized it was indeed DeChambeau, and before long, Bryson was out in the backyard hitting shots. ESPN reports that Bryson practiced his wedges, then took some putts with Pearman’s novelty putter. (Story here.)
If this was Phil Mickelson’s final U.S. Open, here’s what goodbye looked like
What happened: Ryan Fox, at the Canadian Open, won his second PGA Tour tournament of the season.
From our story: “It was tough,” Fox said after his win. “I hit some great shots down the stretch in regulation. Probably got a little lucky on that putt on 18 in regulation, snuck in the left door. To be honest, Sam and I had a bit of a pillow fight there for three holes. It was some pretty average golf from both of us, some average putting. But that shot I hit on 18 with the 3-wood was probably the best shot I ever hit. It would have been nice to make it, but hey, I’ll take it.” (Story here.)
What happened: Phil Mickelson missed the cut in what may be his final U.S. Open.
From our story: For every thumbs-up with Mickelson, there’s also a thumb to the eye, though. We play golf for its casino-like tease — you’ve won a bet before, so you should win again, and Mickelson always seems to hit on 20. But dance with the devil long enough and you go straight to golf hell. With Mickelson, you need look no further than the U.S. Open for examples. (Story here.)
What happened: Brian Campbell, at the John Deere Classic, won his second PGA Tour tournament of the season.
From our story: Brian Campbell is the shortest hitter on the PGA Tour — he ranks 171st out of 171 players and has the slowest ball speed. He entered the week with just one top-30 finish this season — his win at the Mexico Open. It has been a decade since his Tour debut — and he’s spent most of that decade on the Korn Ferry Tour. He’s battled injury, doubt, more injury, more doubt. His results over the past month have been MC-WD-MC. Nobody saw this wincoming because not even Campbell saw it coming. (Story here.)
What happened: Haotong Li played in the final pairing at the Open Championship.
From our story: If you watched Haotong Li play the first two rounds of the Masters in 2019, with Jon Rahm and Tiger Woods, you actually might have thought he could someday win the Masters. He hit toweringly high shots with every club that stopped on command, and he was longer than his playing partners with the driver. Tiger did that thing that Tiger does, when he’s impressed: He watched. (Story here.)
What happened: Juli Inkster, 65, tried to become the oldest player in LPGA history to make a cut.
From our story: “It wasn’t very inspiring,” Inkster said after her round, a San Francisco Giants cap pulled low over her brow. That’s the thing about great ones: They demand perfection of themselves, and despite having outplayed dozens of players half her age, Inkster still was less than pleased with her driving and “sloppy” play on the par-5s. (Story here.)
What happened: During the Sanford International, John Daly made a 19 on a hole.
From our story: But when it comes to John Daly, moderation has never really been his thing. And so you could look at the 19 he recorded on Friday at the Sanford International and consider it an embarrassment — or you could consider it a nod to history, the latest chapter in one of golf’s most recognizable over-doers. (Story here.)
What happened: The PGA Tour canceled the season-opening Sentry event.
From our story:This is a story of drought, of course conditions and of Hawaiian politics. But it has also become a story about the PGA Tour’s future, about its vision and its strategy and its relationships with markets and sponsors. (Story here.)
What happened: Ben Griffin, at the World Wide Technology Championship, won his third PGA Tour tournament of the season.
From our story: Griffin notched his third PGA Tour win in 2025 Sunday, shooting a lights-out 63 at El Cardonal at Diamante, just a day after joking, “I learned that Scottie wouldn’t be in the field in Cabo, so I felt I had a chance.” (Story here.)
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