The Tour Championship lags us and, other than for the Presidents Cup and a couple one-off looks in lower-tier occasions, golf’s leading stars are shutting things down up until 2025.

Like it did in 2015, the retooled FedEx Cup season begins in January rather of the fall. While Korn Ferry Tour gamers, journeymen and others fight for status on the huge Tour, the leading guys rest up until the brand-new year.

That makes it a terrific minute to recall at this year to analyze where a few of the video game’s finest presently stand. I understand LIV is not completed with the year however I believe we have ample outcomes to give out some grades.

Here is a ranking of 15 star gamers (on the PGA Tour or LIV) and how they fared in 2024. If I didn’t feel they get approved for “star status” I left them off the list.

1. Scottie Scheffler (A+)

The just disappointment for Scheffler is that he just came away with one significant success.

Scheffler made $62 million on the course this year, ruining the season record (per round, he made more than $800,000!). That is majority the on-course cash Tiger Woods made in his whole profession.

The Texan had 7 Tour success plus an Olympic gold medal. While his Masters win is the most significant to his tradition, we’ll remember his Sunday charges at the Players Championship and the Olympics.

2. Xander Schauffele (A+)

You seldom see 2 A+ grades in a season however you need to award 2 this year.

Schauffele ended up being the very first gamer because Brooks Koepka to win 2 majors in the exact same season. He was likewise the very first gamer because Jordan Spieth to have his very first 2 significant success been available in the exact same year.

Schauffele’s track record has actually altered quickly. He is strongly the No. 2 gamer worldwide without any qualms.

3. Bryson DeChambeau (A)

Just based upon the very first 3 majors alone, DeChambeau should have an A.

He entered into the mix at the Masters, came one stroke shy at the PGA Championship and after that lastly broke through at the U.S. Open.

His LIV outcomes were simply okay offered a gamer of his quality however a lot is forgiven if you win a significant. It’s likewise worth discussing just how much his stock increased beyond competition golf.

4. Rory McIlroy (A-)

It’s a lofty requirement to set however I believe McIlroy will be dissatisfied in his season.

He won 3 times—consisting of a success over Schauffele in the Wells Fargo Championship—and had 6 other top-five surfaces. The capability and drive are still there.

But we will mainly remember his late psychological collapse in the U.S. Open and after that getting rid of an Olympic medal with an awful error on the 15th hole of the last round.

5. Hideki Matsuyama (A-)

Well, this one snuck up on us.

Matsuyama won 2 huge occasions with the Genesis Invitational and FedEx St. Jude Championship to support a bronze medal in the Olympics.

Five other top-10 surfaces sealed Matsuyama’s location as one of the leading gamers worldwide, although he will require to carry out much better in the majors to be thought about in the exact same class as those above him on this list.

6. Collin Morikawa (B)

In an unusual analytical curiosity, Morikawa played somewhat much better golf in 2024 than he did throughout the start of his profession when he won 2 majors—however this time around, he didn’t win a single time.

Morikawa taped 7 top-five surfaces and just missed out on one cut the whole year. He was really strong in the majors, never ever ending up even worse than T16.

Hyper-constant and plainly amongst the leading couple of gamers worldwide, Morikawa is due for some success in 2025.

7. Tommy Fleetwood (B)

Consistently a top-20 gamer worldwide over much of the last years, Fleetwood had a great 2024 highlighted by a Dubai Invitational win, a silver medal in the Olympics and a T3 at the Masters.

Fleetwood is silently as much as No. 8 in the Data Golf rankings, which represents probably the very best analytical play of his profession beyond 2018.

He still hasn’t won in the U.S. yet so that is the next action for him to take.

8. Jon Rahm (B-)

I’m going to provide Rahm a minor break here.

Although his significant season was a headache for a gamer of his quality, Rahm has actually begun to restore his video game with a LIV success and a strong efficiency in the Olympics where he blew a late lead. He is still the No. 3 gamer worldwide according to Data Golf.

I’m believing Rahm required a long time to mentally adapt to LIV. We’ll see much better play out of him in the majors next year.

9. Patrick Cantlay (B-)

Cantlay, who has actually won 8 times on Tour, has actually not caught a success because August 2022.

He had a handful of strong competitions this year, consisting of a T3 at the U.S. Open. Getting into significant contention is an advance for Cantlay, a gamer who has an unpleasant significant record throughout his profession.

For that factor, I’ll leave him at a B- instead of a C+.

10. Cameron Smith (C+)

Lost in all the LIV-Tour rubbish is how Smith went from 2022 Open Champion to an afterthought.

While he had 3 runner-up LIV surfaces and a T6 in the Masters, Smith had a hard time in the other 3 majors and has actually left the golf fan’s focus.

He need to remain in the prime of his profession today. Smith requires a much better significant record than what he’s created the last 2 seasons.

11. Brooks Koepka (C+)

Yes, Koepka won two times on LIV. That’s still insufficient to excuse his ghastly significant record this year.

Other than 2022 when he was plainly hurt, Koepka has actually never ever suffered an even worse significant season than this one. He never ever factored into any of them, his finest surface being a T26.

It’s difficult to provide him anything more than a C for that efficiency.

12. Justin Thomas (C)

I’m carefully positive that Thomas will get things entering the best instructions.

It’s worrying that he hasn’t won because the 2022 PGA Championship and his failure to enter into major contention throughout the year was difficult to see.

However, I’m urged that he battled his method into the Tour Championship. His iron play appears to be getting closer to previous levels, as he enhanced from 39th to 11th in Strokes Gained technique.

Thomas does feel a lot like Clemson football at this moment—decent however a long method off from the speed set a couple of years back.

13. Max Homa (C-)

It was a quite significant action back for Homa, a gamer who entered into the year with 6 Tour wins and a lots of momentum.

His emphasize came at the Masters when he completed T3 however Homa had a rough summertime and didn’t even make it into the Tour Championship. He’s down to No. 86 in Data Golf.

It’s difficult to state how worrying this is for the long-lasting however golf is a lot much better off when he is competing.

14. Viktor Hovland (C-)

Despite winning the FedEx Cup in 2015, Hovland handled a swing modification that caused some short-term contusions.

He did have a number of random minutes where whatever clicked—he nearly won the PGA Championship and played well in Memphis—however those were his only top-10 surfaces of his season.

Hovland is too skilled to be down permanently. I would be shocked if he didn’t go back to much better type next year.

15. Jordan Spieth (D+)

One of our leading short articles of the year at MGS is this story I composed on how Jordan Spieth is a shell of the gamer he was previously in his profession.

Things just weakened after that post. Spieth went 19 competitions with just one top-10 surface (a T10 at the Valero Texas Open).

He simply went through surgical treatment on his wrist, an injury that has actually shown bothersome the previous couple of years. Hopefully, he returns healthy next year due to the fact that Spieth is deep into JAG (Just Another Guy) area.

Do you concur with these grades? Let me understand listed below in the remarks.

Top Photo Caption: Justin Thomas made the Tour Championship however has actually stopped working to win because May 2022. (GETTY IMAGES/Kevin C. Cox)