UR-Golf Entry #10: Early Major Predictions for 2025

Stamping Their Names Into the History Books

With the Masters quickly approaching, the world’s top players are gearing up to add a major to their resume. There’s no sign that the PIF and the PGA Tour are close to an agreement, leaving many to wonder how LIV golfers will fare on golf’s biggest stage. With that in mind, I am going to break down my picks for the major golf season ahead.

The Masters

While the easy picks for The Masters are Rory or Scottie, I am not taking the easy way out. Brooks Koepka earned an invitation from his PGA Championship win at Oak Hill in 2023. Koepka’s last win on LIV was back in August, and he is coming off of a runner-up finish in Singapore, 5 shots behind Joaquin Niemann, who will be another player to watch at Augusta. Koepka currently leads the LIV Tour in putting, averaging 1.52 putts per hole and is 5th in average birdies per round. With 3 finishes inside the top 10 and 5 majors already under his belt, Brooks is going to be a heavy contender this year at Augusta.

PGA Championship @Quail Hollow

The last time Quail Hollow hosted the PGA Championship was in 2017, won by Justin Thomas. My pick for this major is Lucas Glover. Glover won the Wells Fargo Championship in 2011, and his performance at The Players Championship proved that he is still capable of winning big tournaments. The 6-time PGA Tour Winner and 2009 U.S. Open champion has recorded three top-25 finishes and two top-10 finishes so far in 2025. Ranked 4th in driving accuracy and 6th in proximity, the 45-year-old still has the precision needed to win at a major level

U.S. Open @Oakmont

Oakmont hosted its first U.S. Open in 1927, won by Tommy Armour. The last three winners at Oakmont have been first-time major winners and have gone on to win more, including Ernie Els (1994), Angel Cabrera (2007), and Dustin Johnson (2016). Tommy Fleetwood is going to continue this trend. Fleetwood is arguably the best current player to not have a major and has three top-5 finishes in U.S. Opens. At 34 years old, Tommy is probably at the height of his career and is yet to have a breakout win. A major win this year would be a crowning achievement for an already impressive career.

The Open Championship @Royal Portrush

The last time a European won the British Open was Shane Lowry, who triumphed at Portrush in 2019. If Rory is going to win a major this year, it will be this one. His ability to feed off of the energy of a crowd–whether it’s positive or negative–is special, and a victory at Royal Portrush would be a momentous occasion. My alternate pick, because Rory is the easy way out, is Patrick Cantlay. Cantlay’s calm demeanor is perfect for the course and conditions that he will experience at Portrush. With five top-10s and two top-5s in majors, Cantlay has the game to close out big tournaments, and he’s proven that with clutch performances at the FedEx Cup Playoffs, The Memorial Tournament, and his Ryder Cup performances.