The West Coast swing is complete, and the PGA Tour heads to Florida, where the anticipation of big events awaits. The Players Championship is two weeks away, and the Masters beckons in six weeks.
As the tour trades coasts, let’s see where the Las Vegas-based players stand eight weeks into the 2025 season.
The standouts
— Maverick McNealy: Played six times with six cuts made and joined Justin Thomas as the only players on the PGA Tour with three top-10 performances. The highlight was his second-place finish at the Genesis, where he birdied eight of his first 11 holes in the final round to take the lead before Ludvig Åberg tracked him down on the back nine. He’s seventh in the FedEx Cup standings and a career-high 13th in the world rankings.
— Harry Hall: Opened with consecutive top 10s in Hawaii, made five of six cuts and found himself atop the leaderboard during Mexico and the American Express. He’s 37th in the FedEx Cup and 88th in the world rankings.
— Collin Morikawa: Finished second at the season opener at Kapalua and 17th at Pebble Beach and Genesis. A poster child for what has happened to the PGA Tour as an elite player who only played in big-money signature events. Eleventh in the FedEx Cup and fifth in world rankings.
— Isaiah Salinda: Walked off the 72nd green in Mexico tied for the lead only to have Brian Campbell and Aldrich Potgieter make birdies behind him to drop him to third. The impressive finish jumped the rookie up 100 spots in the FedEx Cup to 48th. It was one of just two cuts made in four starts.
The middlings
— Min Woo Lee: Only played three times in consecutive weeks, going 17th, 12th and 48th at Pebble Beach, Phoenix and Torrey Pines. Stands 70th in the FedEx Cup and 55th in the world.
— Seamus Power: Made three of four cuts, topped by a tie for 17th at Pebble Beach. Sits 80th in FedEx Cup.
— Doug Ghim: Made four of five cuts, headlined by a tie for 21st at the American Express.
Work to do
— Kurt Kitayama: Made three of five cuts, but nothing better than 37th at Waialae.
— Taylor Montgomery: Made four of five cuts, but never contended. Best finish was 45th in Mexico.
— David Lipsky: Made two of five cuts, topped by a tie for 45th at Waialae.
— Rico Hoey: Made two of five cuts, nothing better than 58th at Torrey Pines.
— Norman Xiong, Scott Piercy and Joseph Bramlett: Only got in four events among them, as they struggle to find starts.
How about those Rebels?
The UNLV women’s golf team did everything but win Monday at the Westbrook Invitational in Peoria, Arizona. The Rebels notched their fourth second-place finish this year to go with a win at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate in October.
The final-round 20-under 268 is the lowest score in program history, breaking the 16-under 272 mark set at the 2015 Las Vegas Showdown, and the 30-under 834 finish for the tournament is the second-lowest score in program history.
All five players had subpar rounds Monday, led by seniors Toa Yokoyama and McKenzi Hall with 6-under 66s. It marked the career-low round for Yokoyama, who finished second in the tournament, and a season-low round for Hall.
Senior Hina Matsui had a career-best 67, and freshman Amber Chen tied for 11th at 6 under for her best collegiate finish.
“That was a heck of a day by our team,” coach Amy Bush-Herzer said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the way they closed out this tournament in record fashion.”
Greg Robertson covers golf for the Review-Journal. He can be reached at grobertson@reviewjournal.com.
Pro schedule
PGA Tour
What: Cognizant Classic
When: Thursday-Sunday
Where: PGA National, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Purse: $9.2 million
2024 champion: Austin Eckroat
LPGA Tour
What: HSBC Women’s World Championship
When: Thursday-Sunday
Where: Sentosa GC, Singapore
Purse: $2.4 million
2024 champion: Hannah Green
