Roundtable: 2025 Men's Major Season Takeaways

We’ve seen the last of Brooks Koepka’s major victories, and maybe even his final time being in contention. Once the dominant force in the biggest tournaments of the year, Brooks has largely no-showed in each of the last 10 majors. He made an appearance on the Oakmont leaderboard because of a hot putter but whimpered home. It appears as though his injuries have caught up to him and made it difficult for him to get his body ready for primetime. His results on LIV have even dropped off substantially, not that we ever really put stock in his performance in normal events. Still, for a guy who was once a fixture at majors for the better part of a decade, it’s a bummer to see him fall into irrelevancy. - Will Knights

This men’s majors year featured three of the very best championship venues in the world, the single best major championship Sunday this century, the first grand slam winner in 25 years, and the next great legend of the game dominating on two very different playing fields. It was pretty good. - Brendan Porath

{{inline-article}}

For most, golf is an exercise in disappointment. The game beats you more often than you win. Watching Rory McIlroy exorcise his own personal demons on Sunday at the Masters and seeing the years of major disappointments wash away in his celebration will forever be a moment etched into my memory. The entire day amongst the patrons and their energy, the roars and the shot on 15 was an unforgettable experience to witness and a tournament that will go down as one of the greatest ever. - Andy Johnson

Watching 53-year-old Justin Leonard make the cut this past weekend at Royal Portrush brought back all of the nostalgia of watching The Open in the early morning hours growing up. I’ll age myself here and admit I was eleven in 1997 when he won at Royal Troon. A cousin the same age as me went over that summer and watched his 65 on Sunday. He came home raving about  Leonard and had an Open golf towel I was seriously jealous of. Lengthy careers that allow past champions to find one last bit of magic in the majors is one of my favorite things about pro golf. The Open has given us plenty of those moments. Leonard’s last week let me reminisce on some of my earliest golf memories and was an unexpected highlight of this year’s men’s majors. - Meg Adkins

Major championship golf and week-in, week-out tournament golf are entirely different sports. The pressure, the golf course setups, everything. Regular tour stops provide information about who is in form, but we find out who the best golfers in the world are at major championships. Justin Thomas has a win and three other top-two finishes on the PGA Tour this year. He also has just one top-30 finish in his last 14 major appearances, including zero this year. The comfort and familiarity of regular PGA stops can mask the weaknesses in one’s game. - Joseph LaMagna

I'll zero in on the one memory I'll take with me from this season of men's majors. And that memory will be of Rory McIlroy holing his final two-footer on the 18th green at Augusta National, tossing his putter to the side, collapsing into something resembling the child's pose in yoga, and shaking with sobs. It was a remarkable, cathartic moment. Nothing else that has happened this year in professional golf has come close. - Garrett Morrison

After quite a long run, Patrick Cantlay might’ve finally lost the title of “Best Player Without a Major” in 2025 - but not in the way he would’ve wanted. Cantlay finished in a tie for 36th at Augusta before missing the next three major cuts, marking the worst major season of his career. A T3 finish at the 2024 U.S. Open could’ve been a sign of positive things to come, but he didn’t see the weekend at his national championship this year for the first time in ten starts. A legendary amateur, Cantlay has had a very successful PGA Tour career - he won the ultimate prize, the FedEx Cup, in 2021 - but hasn’t won a single tournament of any kind in almost three years. Add on a disappointing major record for a player of his stature, and you have a guy who’s currently out of the top 20 in OWGR for the first time since the 2019 Masters. Keegan Bradley better hope we see “Playoff P” in the coming weeks, or he may have to leave the Atlanta Drive stalwart at home for the Ryder Cup this fall. - PJ Clark

When golf fans think of 2025 majors, Rory’s career grand slam and Scottie’s double will obviously be front of mind, but let’s not forget what J.J. Spaun did on Sunday at Oakmont. Playing in his second U.S. Open and trailing by one entering the final round, J.J. bogeyed five of his first six holes and made the turn in 40 before he clutched up to play the back nine 3 under. His birdie-birdie finish, cemented by a 64-foot bomb to win the championship and finish as the lone player under par, was one of those finishes I won’t forget anytime soon. - Adam Woodard