Naughty or nice..?

Covering professional golf offers an endless amount of entertainment opportunities. While we leave the constant criticism and candor to other golf media outlets, the holidays do provide a special moment to have a little fun, if it even comes at our own expense. Figuratively and literally!

For our annual silent night narrative, here is our version of Santa's nice and naughty list. The nice list, well, that's easy, our six outright winners deserve one more quick recap. An ode to that Sunday evening moment when our book accounts reflected the reward of predicting a winner that week. Then there's the naughty list. Those who broke our hearts during the final round. Many times, even on the final hole, or extra holes! We picked 11 runners-up in 2025.

Since Santa Claus loves symmetry, I'll limit the coal contenders to six. An even match for our outright list. Enjoy the trip down memory lane on this festive holiday. Make sure you relax and recoup. Even though we won't see the windswept beaches of Wai'alae for three weeks, the TGL starts on Sunday. Our Season 2 preview is already published at Golf Digest. Week one of the simulator league features two matches. Our first breakdown gets dropped on Sunday, December 28th. A rematch of the Season 1 finals: the Atlanta Drive Golf Club versus the New York Golf Club. The second match is on Friday, January 2 (Boston Common Golf versus Los Angeles Golf Club). Looks like the offseason is just about over. 2026 is right around the corner, but before we get there, enjoy our final look at the wins and what-ifs from last year.

Santa's List

1. What better way to start the season than having our first outright shoot 32 under par. Collin Morikawa (+1200) went 66-65-62-67 at Kapalua. Too bad he lost to Hideki Matsuyama by THREE strokes!! Morikawa's 72-hole total would have beaten every other winning score on the PGA TOUR, including Scottie Scheffler's 31-under par record score at the CJ Cup in May. Looking back, Morikawa's miss might have been a little foreshadowing of what was surely a theme for our outrights in 2025.
2. We all love the kid, Ludvig Åberg (+2500). The sweet swinging swede had a hot start at The Sentry (T5), and it carried through into the Farmers' Insurance Open. Little did we know the LA fires would take us back to Torrey Pines for the Genesis Invitational. That second trip and a Sunday 66 sealed the deal and captured our first win of the year.
3. We had a real chance to sneak by Scottie Scheffler in September. Ben Griffin (+2800) needed a routine two-putt on the seventy-second hole to force a playoff at the Procore Championship. Griffin got off to a great start on Sunday, birdieing holes one, two, and three. By the back nine, Scottie caught him, and it all came down to the last green. With three wins on his resume this year, I'm sure Ben doesn't look back and wonder what if, but we sure do.
4. The most popular win in 2025 was, without a doubt, Rory at The Masters. Yet most would mention Tommy Fleetwood's (+1000) victory at the Tour Championship as a close second. We were on the positive side of a Fleetwood fall in June at the Travelers. East Lake would end differently, and Fleetwood notched his first PGA TOUR win by three strokes over Russell Henley and Patrick Cantlay. What better way to close the FedEx Cup season!
5. The number one-ranked putter on the PGA TOUR had a six-foot putt on the first playoff hole to win the RBC Canadian Open, and he missed it miserably. Little did we know, Sam Burns (+3000) would break our hearts again one week later at Oakmont. The weather delay at the US Open might be a stretch, but Burns had the short birdie putt and a win in Canada in his clutches. Too bad Ryan Fox didn’t get that memo.
6. Lottie Woad (+1800) had one heck of a spring and summer. Third place at the Augusta Women's Amateur, low amateur at the US Open, wins the LET KPMG Women's Irish Open as an amateur, and heads to France for the Evian Championship. Third place in the LPGA's fourth major, she turns professional and wins her very first start in Scotland. Picking winners is great, but predicting first-time champions is the most rewarding, next to picking major championships.
7. Can it get any worse... it surely can. Minami Katsu (+5000) literally kept me up all night. Katsu was leading the Buick LPGA Shanghai by four strokes with five holes to play at 2:00 am ET. Minami made seven birdies on Sunday, closing with a clean card and 65. Sure enough, Jeeno Thitikul carded three birdies and an eagle over her final five holes to catch Katsu. On the second playoff hole, Jeeno hit her tee shot in the water on a par 4 and saved par! Thitikul finally birdied the fifth playoff hole to win at 3:38 am ET. Four up with five to go, and this isn't the worst finish of the year (sigh).
8. The funny thing is, writing the win recaps is harder than looking back at the losses. Unfortunately, those get imprinted into our brains. Hideki Matsuyama's (+1200) win at the Hero World Challenge was just three weeks ago. Tough to forget the dart he threw in the first playoff hole against Alex Noren. Those two competed in the same group on Sunday. Each shot 64, and their combined ringer score was 59! Quite the heroic effort. In the end, Matsuyama capped off our year with one final win and, for him, bookend victories in 2025.
9. Before the Evian Championship, Grace Kim had one finish inside the top 24 of 11 starts on tour in 2025. Meanwhile, Jeeno Thitikul (+1100) won the Mizuho in May and recorded nine top 12 results in 12 starts! We all know Kim eagled the final hole to force a playoff. On that first hole of sudden death, she hit her approach in the greenside pond. Grace then proceeded to chip in for a birdie from an impossible position. I should have stopped watching at that point, but I'm a glutton for punishment. Back up 18 the two went, and Kim eagled the par 5 one more time, taking home her first major championship. On her last six holes of the tournament, including two playoff holes, Grace was seven under par.
10. The Texas Children's Houston Open was a fun finish. Min Woo Lee (+3500), staring down the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Alejandro Tosti, decided to launch his drive on the par 5 sixteenth hole into the middle of a lake. Lee saved bogey and eventually won by a stroke over Gary Woodland and Scheffler. Further proof that nothing is easy, Min Woo needed to get up and down on 17 and 18 to hold on. We all remember the final putt where Lee used aimpoint from two feet, but those final 30 minutes on Sunday were a lot more serious.
11. The worst beat of the year was an all-time ridiculous loss. Max Greyserman (+4000), Chris Kirk (+8000), and Aldrich Potgieter were in a playoff at the Rocket Classic. Greyserman and Kirk both fired 67 on Sunday to catch the superlong-hitting South African. Chris had a nine-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to win. Just a few sudden death tests later, Max was in the driver's seat from less than 10' for the win. Neither could convert, and Aldrich eventually took down two pre-tournament RTL outright predictions. Still shaking my head over that one.
12. The fans were chanting "USA, USA" at TPC River Highlands when Ryder Cup Captain Keegan Bradley (+3500) birdied the eighteenth hole to beat Tommy Fleetwood at the Travelers. What might be the only fond memory Captain America has of 2025, Fleetwood eventually found his winning form at the Tour Championship. On property, the natural amphitheater around the 18th green was electric. One of the best closing moments I witnessed on-site this season, it’s too bad the Ryder Cup didn't turn out the same way for Captain Keegan.​

Believe it or not, we just wrapped our fourth season of wagering coverage. The addition of the TGL has been great, and I believe new leadership with the LPGA is going to open a few doors for increased betting coverage on the women's tour. The quick December offseason has been busy, and I cannot wait to make a couple of key announcements in the coming year. As for now, enjoy the time with family and friends. Wrap the year on a high note and get some rest. TGL starts before the calendar turns, and we'll be back at Wai'alae Country Club before you know it...

Sony Open starts in...

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Happy holidays and thank you for reading

Read The Line​.​

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