Bold golf predictions for 2025: A Canadian wins a major championship

Another year has gone by in professional golf and, on the men’s side at least, nothing has really changed in terms of how fractured the stages are for the game’s best.   

One thing is for certain though — change is afoot.

At the time of this writing in late December, the following senior-leadership gigs were yet to be filled in professional golf: the CEO of the PGA Tour, the CEO of LIV Golf, the CEO of the PGA of America, and the commissioner of the LPGA. The DP World Tour and the Royal & Ancient have also not yet filled their chief executive roles, either.

Despite all that, the action continues inside the ropes.

Here are five bold predictions for 2025, along with my picks for the men’s major championships.

The European team will upset the U.S. at the Ryder Cup

The European side will come into the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York as the defending champions, but likely the overwhelming underdog considering the monumental task of trying to win a Ryder Cup on the road. The American side haven’t won a road Ryder Cup since 1993, but Europe managed to do it in 2012 — thanks only to the Miracle at Medinah, when they won eight matches and tied one on the final day.

Europe will once again be led by Luke Donald, who looks to go back-to-back as a winning captain after leading the squad to victory in Italy. He’ll likely be able to trot out many of the same players, too, like Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm.

The American side is top heavy, with Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele the top-2 players in men’s golf in 2024. But Europe has a unique rallying cry for 2025 — they’re playing for passion and pride, whereas they can say the Americans (who the PGA of America announced would be receiving $500,000 for their participation — $300,000 for charity and a $200,000 stipend) are playing for money.

A Canadian male will win a major

This prediction is, unfortunately, getting to be a bit bolder as time goes on.

I made the same prediction last year as Canadian golf was coming off a monumental high (with Nick Taylor’s RBC Canadian Open triumph). This past season, however, wasn’t a highlight reel for the Canadians on the biggest events in golf.

There was only one Canadian top-10 at a major this year on the men’s side, with Corey Conners recording a T9 at the U.S. Open (and locking up his spot in the Olympics in the process). Only Adam Hadwin recorded more than one top-10 at majors and signature events combined this year (he was T4 at the Genesis Invitational and third at the Memorial).

There are plenty of reasons to believe it will happen this year, however — namely, experience.

It’s time.

Brooke Henderson will return to the top 5 in the world

The Canadian fell to No. 25 in the Rolex Rankings to end 2024, and with her victory at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in 2023 now nearly two years in the rear-view mirror it’s likely she’ll drop further down by the time we get into the meat of the LPGA Tour season.

In order to get back into the top 5 she’ll need to be consistently great. She was that to start 2024 (her first four results were 3-T16-T9-T3) but her only two missed cuts came at major championships — tough on the world-ranking points scale.

After having a small surgical procedure on her eye in the fall, and with her 10th anniversary as a professional happening in mid-December, a healthy and motivated Henderson (she didn’t win in 2024, the first time she didn’t lift a trophy since the COVID-shortened 2020 season) could break back out for a big year in 2025. 

Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Links GC will win the first TGL Championship

Why not? Woods, who turns 49 at the end of December, has long admitted he’s had a hard time walking 18 holes, but his swing looks as solid as ever. In this new digital-first format (and no walking required!) he, along with Tom Kim — who thrives in team atmospheres — Max Homa and Kevin Kisner, could make for a formidable foursome. And how good would it be for TGL to have Woods himself, one of the co-founders, take the title in year No. 1?

Jay Monahan will not last until the end of the year as the commissioner of the PGA Tour

With all of the changes set to come with the leadership across golf’s governing bodies, it seems like the last domino to fall will be Monahan, who has been the commissioner of the PGA Tour since 2017. There have certainly been some wins by Monahan over his tenure — and personally I’ve enjoyed any conversations I’ve ever had with the hockey-crazed Bostonian — but it’s likely his legacy will be wrapped in all that’s happened over the last three years with the emergence of LIV. It seems futile to even guess what could happen with LIV/PGA Tour through 2025 (both circuits have their schedules confirmed. So, check back for the 2026 predictions instead) but with the launch of PGA Tour Enterprises in partnership with Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of sports-team owners, it’s likely someone, somewhere is going to want a new person in charge. 

Masters: Xander Schauffele. Finally broke through for a major win in 2024 and it was so nice he did it twice. He has four top-10s at Augusta National over the last six years including two in a row.

PGA Championship: Rory McIlroy. It’s Quail Hollow, a place McIlroy absolutely loves. He’s won the annual PGA Tour stop at the Charlotte club four times in his career. He has three straight top-15 finishes at the PGA Championship and eight top-10s at majors in the last three years. And he won the DP World Championship to close out the DP World Tour season.

U.S. Open: Taylor Pendrith. Finally, the Canadian breakthrough at a men’s major. The last time Oakmont hosted the U.S. Open, it was Dustin Johnson taking the title in 2016 and Pendrith’s game is awfully familiar to peak Johnson. Pendrith hits it a mile, has a tremendous short game, and is in the best mental state he’s ever been.  

The Open: Scottie Scheffler. It’s likely Scheffler will be in contention for every tournament he tees it up in, once again, in 2025. I don’t think he goes the whole year without winning a major, so let’s cross the Claret Jug off the list at Royal Portrush as he marches to the potential career Grand Slam.

PGA Tour Player of the Year

Scottie Scheffler: One major but a bucket of other titles will once again give Scheffler the Tour’s top honour (for the fourth straight year).

LPGA Tour Player of the Year

Jeeno Thitikul: The winner of the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship was a statistical maestro in 2024, having led the Tour in several categories including Birdie-or-Better and Greens in Regulation. She won twice in 2024 and is only now entering her prime.