While 2025 will be remembered as the year Scottie Scheffler dominated the PGA Tour and stole the spotlight, not everyone enjoyed the same. Week after week, winning became routine for Scheffler and a few others, while several prominent names ended the season empty-handed.

And what’s even more startling is that some of these names once held lofty positions in the Official World Golf Rankings. But instead, they spent this season searching for a win that never arrived.

Here are five names that nobody expected to see without a win, and why their winless seasons felt heavier than most.

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Rickie Fowler

Rickie Fowler‘s 2025 season was a masterclass in persistence but also a reminder of how unforgiving this game can be. Fowler had a decent season to begin with, missing only two cuts all season. While that is impressive, he managed to post only three top-10 finishes. Out of that one included a stellar tied 7th finish at the Memorial, and the other two were at the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Sure, it was a respectable season for Fowler. But was it enough for a title? Not quite.

And given that his resume is quite impressive, the lack of a win this season feels heavier. Fowler was the 2010 Rookie of the Year, won his first PGA Tour title at the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship by beating Rory McIlroy, and in 2014 finished top five in all four majors.

In fact, he was “the third golfer in history to finish in the top five at all four majors, something only Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods had accomplished.”

And there was another catch to his season besides the win. It was how he earned his way into specific events, i.e., via sponsor exemptions into the year’s Signature events. These invitations allow sponsors to bring in players who didn’t qualify through their results. And for Rickie Fowler, those exemptions weren’t just helpful but essential.

Thanks to sponsor invites, Fowler played six of eight Signature Events, earning nearly half of his season’s total points through those invites.

In fact, if not for his sponsor exemption at the Memorial, he wouldn’t have played at the Open this year, for someone who ranked 4th in the OWGR (2016), not holding a trophy this season is disappointing.

Jordan Spieth

Jordan Spieth’s season mirrored Fowler’s in more ways than one, including the reliance on sponsor exemptions. Spieth played five Signature Events via invitations and earned 29% of his total FedEx Cup points there. He, too, had a few top-10 finishes, but none close enough to earn a title.

He hasn’t won since the 2022 RBC Heritage, and while four top-10 finishes hinted at form, the spark never fully translated into a win. His best result was a solo fourth at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, and that’s the closest he came to trying to earn a title.

For a former World No. 1 and three-time major champion, Spieth’s winless year wasn’t about decline as much as it was about unfinished business. He stayed relevant. He stayed competitive. But he couldn’t earn a title.

Collin Morikawa

Collin Morikawa was once known as a golfer who began his PGA Tour career with 22 consecutive made cuts, second only to Tiger Woods. He was also the same player who won both the 2020 PGA Championship and 2021 Open Championship in his major debut.

He was the World Amateur No. 1 in 2018 and climbed to World No. 2 in the OWGR in 2021. And now he is the same player who ended 2025 without a single title.

The two-time major champion remained one of the most technically sound players on Tour, yet 2025 somehow slipped away without a win. Morikawa posted four top-10 finishes and came painfully close twice, finishing runner-up at The Sentry and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He managed to finish 19th in the FedEx Cup standings, a solid season by most standards, but not enough.

Shane Lowry

Another golfer joining this list is Shane Lowry. He had a strong but ultimately winless 2025 season, finishing tied 13th in the FedEx Cup. And this was even though he achieved his career-high Official World Golf Ranking of No. 10 in May.

But with only a few strong finishes, that ranking has tumbled down to No.27.

Despite four top-10 finishes, including two runner-up results at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Truist Championship, a victory eluded him. Lowry, the 2019 Open Champion, had last tasted success at the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, making this year a reminder that even top-level golfers can go an entire season without adding a new title to their résumé.

Max Homa

Max Homa’s season was probably the most disappointing. A six-time PGA Tour winner, who earned his last title at the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open, Homa entered 2025 expected to contend. Instead, he struggled just to stay afloat.

He missed cuts in eight events and managed only two top-10 finishes, at the Bank of Utah Championship and the John Deere Classic. For a player who reached the top five in the Official World Golf Ranking in 2023, the form this season was disappointing to say the least.

In fact, it was his first time in five years that he missed qualifying for the U.S. Open and the Open.

And he holds an impressive resume, just like the others. A standout amateur at the University of California, winner of the Pac-12 Men’s Golf Championship and NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship in 2013. He even reached the top five in the OWGR in 2023. But 2025 was just not the season for him.

So, with this list, it’s clear that even the biggest names couldn’t secure a win in 2025, leaving fans surprised. For these players, next year will be all about turning near-misses into victories.