2025 Golf Year in Review: Quiet Farewells and Loud Celebrations

A look back at 2025’s emotional turning points, personal stories and unforgettable moments on and off the course.

2025 was a year full of stories. Great careers came to an end, new paths were taken. Between farewells and fresh starts, crisis and clarity, emotion and spectacle, golf had it all. Sometimes, a single putt is enough to define an entire year. Here’s the year in review.

Bernhard Langer’s Quiet Farewell at Augusta

Few images in golf speak louder than words. When Bernhard Langer stood on the 18th green at Augusta in April, the crowd rose to honor the two-time Masters champion as he took his final putt. After 41 starts, it was time to say goodbye. The putt didn’t make the cut, but that hardly mattered. What resonated was the decades Langer spent on this course, earning global respect. True to form, Langer remained composed—grateful, clear-minded, and hopeful to return as a non-playing champion. A quiet exit for a legend who never sought the spotlight but was impossible to overlook.

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Golf’s Global Stage: From Wildfires to Viral Moments

While Augusta was steeped in nostalgia, another iconic course faced a different kind of drama. In California, wildfires driven by strong winds forced tens of thousands to evacuate and came dangerously close to the historic Riviera Country Club. A venue with nearly a century of history, host to Olympic events, Majors, and Hollywood stars, found itself in the path of destruction. Fire crews battled to protect one of golf’s most storied locations.

Meanwhile, on the Ladies European Tour, German golfer Laura Fünfstück added a personal highlight to the season by marrying fellow pro Rosie Davies. Just days later, she was back on the course. “Nice to think about my swing again instead of tablecloths,” she joked, showing how closely personal life and professional golf intertwine.

Elsewhere, Tiger Woods made headlines off the course. Reports linked him romantically to Vanessa Trump, ex-wife of Donald Trump Jr. Both based in Florida, they were seen together multiple times. With Woods’ children and Trump’s daughter involved in junior golf, their paths naturally crossed. Amid a year marked by injury and the loss of his mother, Woods’ private life once again drew public interest.

In Adelaide, LIV Golf delivered one of the year’s loudest moments. Patrick Reed’s hole-in-one on the 12th—known as the “Watering Hole”—sent the