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Fairways and Greens: From Griffin to Woad and Madappa — the breakout stars of golf this year
As most Tours move towards the end of their 2025 season, Joy tries to determine the breakthrough stars of the year so far …
With most Tours either finished or almost done with the 2025 season, I decided to write this week on the players who made a breakthrough on some of the leading Tours.
I have tried not to focus solely on rookie or young players but have also included those who have struggled in the past and have somehow managed to completely turn around their fortunes this season.
So, here are my choices from the different Tours…
PGA Tour — Ben Griffin (USA)
I thought of JJ Spaun, the US Open champion; or Chris Gotterup, who brilliantly fought off Rory McIlroy to win the Genesis Scottish Open before finishing third at the Open Championship, and the big-hitting South African Aldrich Potgieter, before finally settling on Ben Griffin.
The 29-year-old, who took up a job as a loan officer in 2021 after a couple of frustrating seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour (KFT) and the PGA Tour Americas, rededicated himself to golf in 2022 and earned his PGA Tour card through the KFT route.
It’s been an amazing past couple of years for Griffin, culminating in a call-up for the American Ryder Cup team this year. In 2025, Griffin has two wins — the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with Andrew Novak, and the Charles Schwab Challenge. And through all this, he also climbed to No13 on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) list.
LIV Golf — Bubba Watson (USA)
Watson was among the first wave of players to join LIV Golf in 2022, but could not play a single event that year because of a knee injury that required surgery. Instead, he picked up the microphone and donned the role of a commentator.
As he got better physically, the RangeGoats GC captain played all the events in 2023 and 2024. He had just one top-10 finish in 2023 (Tulsa) but managed to finish inside the Open Zone (rank 25-48) that season. In 2024, Watson earned points in just the first two events of the season, and then never finished better than tied 28th to finish 53rd in the standings and in the Drop Zone.
The fact that he could keep his place in the League (as a team Captain), led to a lot of criticism. That probably spurred him on this year, as he came close to winning a couple of times. Watson finished 11th with a second place (UK) and three other top-10s.
DP World Tour — Marco Penge (ENG)
If there was ever a case of a punishment changing the life of someone, Englishman Marco Penge’s case will be forever quoted.
After having kept his card on the DP World Tour for 2025 season, literally by the skin of his teeth at No110 on the Race to Dubai, the 27-year-old was suspended for three months when it came to light that he had been betting on golf tournaments. The bets were small, and never on tournaments he played in, but the membership rule is clear that players cannot bet.
Penge seems to have utilised his time well. He came back in March and finished third in the South African Open, before winning the Hainan Open and the Danish Golf Championship. In fact, he is now second in the Race to Dubai this year behind McIlroy.
LPGA — Lottie Woad (ENG)
If there were just one player in the world to be named as the breakout star of 2025, 21-year-old Woad would win the contest with utmost ease. The No1 amateur player in the world made one of the most remarkable transitions to becoming a professional, winning a big tournament first as an amateur, and following it up a couple of weeks later by winning as soon as she joined the paid ranks.
There was never a doubt she was special. Woad won the 2022 Girls Amateurs, followed by the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, and secured a tied third place this year at the Evian Championship, a major on the LPGA.
But Woad was not done with 2025. After her heroics at the Evian Championship, she won the Women’s Irish Open on the Ladies European Tour as an amateur, and followed it up in the same month by winning the Scottish Women’s Open, which is part of the LPGA.
She has already reached No11 in the Rolex Ranking.
Asian Tour — Ryan Peake (AUS)
The Asian Tour season runs deep into December, and there are a lot of tournaments that can change my current choice. However, there is no way any other player will have as interesting a background story as Australia’s Peake.
It seemed impossible that he’d win this year’s Sky Sports New Zealand Open, which secured him a spot in the 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush. A decent player during his junior and amateur days, Peake’s win was incredible because he had spent five years in prison from 2014 to 2019 on charges of serious assault. He had given up his golf clubs by then, and became a member of ‘The Rebels’, and outlawed Australian biker gang.
Peake found peace in golf and has worked his way back. He is currently ranked ninth on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
Ladies European Tour — Mimi Rhodes
There was never a doubt that Rhodes, an NCAA All-American in 2024 when she played college golf for Wake Forest, would have been a good professional, but what she has achieved in 2025 on the Ladies European Tour has exceeded all expectations.
Having secured her card through the LET Access Series, the 23-year-old has already won three titles — in three different continents (Australia, Africa and Europe) — this season and reached No79 in Rolex Ranking.
PGTI — Viraj Madappa
The domestic PGTI Tour usually brings the curtains down on the global season with the TATA Steel Tour Championship, played during the Christmas week. However, it would take a monumental effort from someone to displace Madappa as my choice.
Having missed out on more than 18 months of competitive golf because of a disc issue in his lower back, the prodigiously talented Kolkata player finally returned to the golf course at the PGTI Players Championship at Classic Golf Resort and started his second innings with a bang — with a win!
