Reviewing our 2025 Predictions

At the start of the year, the Fried Egg Golf staff compiled predictions for the year, some silly, some serious. With 2026 fast approaching, we thought it might be fun to look back at those predictions and see how we did.

Prediction: Charlie Woods will get a PGA Tour sponsor exemption. –Brendan Porath

Charlie did not receive a sponsor exemption this year, but he did win his first AJGA event and finished T-9 at the Junior PGA Championship. Who knows, after Kai Trump’s LPGA sponsor exemption, maybe Charlie will get the nod in 2026.

Prediction: Nelly Korda will win two majors and (more importantly) earn enough points to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame. –Meg Adkins

Nelly made the cut in all five majors this year and finished T-2 at the U.S. Women’s Open, but that was her lone championship in contention. After a seven-win, Player of the Year season in 2024, Korda failed to win in 2025 but did notch nine top-10 finishes in 19 starts.

Prediction: The 2025 Tour Championship will be the final edition of that farcical tournament in its current format. –Joseph LaMagna

I wonder how many readers we have inside the moat at HQ, because in May – yes, midway through the season – the Tour announced it was scrapping the controversial starting strokes for a winner-take-all format. You know, like every other tournament on the schedule. Sure, Joseph was technically wrong, but kudos to him for sensing the end was (thankfully) near for starting strokes.

Prediction: Brooks Koepka will be left off the U.S. Ryder Cup team. –Will Knights

Nailed it. Brooks missed the cut in three of the four majors and finished in the bottom half of LIV’s season-long standings thanks to just two top 10s.

{{inline-article}}

Prediction: By Saturday morning, the PGA of America will have to issue one of its strongly worded reminders and releases about fan behavior policies and expectations for the Ryder Cup. –Brendan Porath

Friday was rather tame at Bethpage, all things considered, so a statement didn’t need to be sent out by Saturday morning. That changed in the afternoon after a first tee emcee participated in a “F*** you, Rory!” chant at 6 a.m. It was an embarrassing week for the PGA of America, and the fan behavior fallout lasted several days after the competition.

Prediction: We will get a millennial, Vikings-inspired victory dance from a Ryder Cup pairing (okay, that may be more of a wish). –Abby Liebenthal

It wasn’t an overly choreographed celebration, but Team Europe was dancing on Team USA’s grave after yet another Ryder Cup win, this time on foreign soil.

Prediction: Bryson DeChambeau will have an illegitimate excuse (equipment not optimized) for why he misses the cut at a major. –Matt Rouches

My esteemed colleague Will Knights addressed this one in his midseason review:

Another passing grade, but technically an incomplete for Matt. Bryson missed a cut at the U.S. Open, but it wasn’t because of an illegitimate excuse. However, after a T-2 at the PGA Championship, Bryson did make one of the most head-scratching comments of the year. “What I really think needs to happen, being pretty transparent here, is just get a golf ball that flies a little straighter,” he said. “Everybody talks about how straight the golf ball flies. Well, upwards of 190 [mph ball speed] like Rory and myself, it’s actually quite difficult to control the golf ball.” Yeah man, that’s like, the whole game. I do love the idea of Bryson showing up to the 2027 Open Championship at St. Andrews with a self-correcting golf ball. We would have fully entered a simulation at that point.

Prediction: A major manufacturer will release a set of irons for another PGA Tour player with bulge-and-roll faces like Bryson DeChambeau debuted in 2024. –Will Knights

Will drilled this one from Steph Curry range thanks to Jason Day.

Prediction: Luke Clanton will finish in the top 10 of a major championship. –Joseph LaMagna

Luke Clanton didn’t finish in the top 10 of a major championship, but in Joseph’s defense, he didn’t make a major start in 2025. He did, however, make the cut in 11 of 18 PGA Tour starts and logged two top-25 showings.

Prediction: Rory McIlroy will make another withdrawal from his personal ATM at Quail Hollow with a win at the PGA Championship. –Adam Woodard

I’ll take the L here as Rory finished T-47 at the PGA this year. I wonder how different that result might have been if he hadn’t completed the career Grand Slam a month earlier at the Masters.

Prediction: The new LPGA commissioner’s first act of business will be demoting the Evian Championship from its major status. –Meg Adkins

Craig Kessler has been hard at work in his early tenure as LPGA commissioner, but unfortunately this prediction hasn’t come true (yet).

Prediction: In his first year on the Champions Tour, Soren Kjeldsen will clean up, winning at least two tournaments and securing the season-long Schwab Cup title. –PJ Clark

Not quite. Soren played well with two runner-up finishes but didn’t earn a win and finished 22nd in the Schwab Cup standings.

Prediction: Brian Schneider and Blake Conant—with their work at Old Barnwell continuing to garner praise, and with their separate renovations at Silver Spring Country Club and Shorehaven Golf Club, respectively, wrapping up in the near future—will earn another major solo design commission in 2025. –Garrett Morrison

Schneider and Conant will start construction on Old Barnwell’s second 18-hole course, the Gilroy, this fall. Schneider also has a solo new build commission near Old Barnwell at New Holland Golf Club. Well done, Garrett.

Prediction: Before we even get to the first round of the U.S. Open, we will get multiple articles from the assembled media citing unnamed Oakmont members who are upset about the slowed-down green speeds. –Brendan Porath

Members didn’t get the opportunity to complain about green speeds due to the poor weather that week at Oakmont. They were upset about some broken lockers, though.

Prediction: There will be internal OB at Oakmont to discourage players from hitting into adjacent fairways. –Cameron Hurdus

Internal OB was not put into play at Oakmont, but a few players did take some alternate lines on a few holes, as the Shotgun Start guys noted in a recent Year in Review episode.

Prediction: Charley Hull will finally win a major championship at Royal Porthcawl despite struggling to light her cigs in gale-force winds. –Meg Adkins

Meg was damn close on this one. Charley finished T-2 at the AIG Women’s Open, but she also quit smoking cigarettes.

Prediction: Nick Dunlap suffers a sophomore slump. –Matt Rouches

Sophomore slump is putting it lightly. Dunlap had two top-10 finishes this season, but also missed the cut in half of his starts. This was a real “welcome to the PGA Tour” year for the 21-year-old talent.

Prediction: Rory McIlroy will keep his first tee shot in bounds at the Open at Royal Portrush. –Brendan Porath

Safe! Rory pulled a 2-iron for the first tee shot and kept it in play, just not in the fairway.

Prediction: The two 18-hole OCM designs at publicity-shy Fall Line in Georgia will be the most buzzed-about new courses of 2025. –Garrett Morrison

Fall Line finally consented to a little publicity this year, which generated some buzz. But the most hyped projects were actually a pair of redesigns of public courses: Poppy Ridge in Livermore, California, and Great Dunes on Jekyll Island.

{{inline-course}}

Prediction: Early tests of a rollback ball prototype will show that professional golfers don’t experience a significant decrease in distance. –Will Knights

Will was smart here because you can’t really quantify a significant decrease. Players did notice a decrease in distance and how the ball moves through the air during tests earlier this year, and they were predictably unhappy with the results.

Prediction: Richard Green finally comes through with a Champions Tour win, making the most of the senior circuit’s trip to Morocco in February. –PJ Clark

PJ was halfway there as Green won the Rogers Charity Classic, but he only managed a T-9 in Morocco.

Prediction: Richard Bland successfully defends one of his two major championships, drawing comparisons to prime Brooks Koepka. –PJ Clark

This was a real bummer for PJ because not only did Bland not successfully defend one of his two major championships, he only attempted to defend one of the two. He finished T-14 at the Senior PGA but did not tee it up at the U.S. Senior Open. Instead, he finished T-18 at LIV Golf Dallas.