The 2025 PGA Tour season is already in the books, with names like Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Tommy Fleetwood grabbing most of the headlines. However, other players have also been the talk of the town, for far less glamorous reasons.
These are the players who had a performance to forget, some of them with dramatic drops in the rankings from one year to the next. Several of them lost their PGA Tour cards for 2026, while others saved their necks only thanks to their successes in previous years.
Let’s look at some examples
1. Max Homa
Max Homa had already been struggling since 2024, when he barely finished in the top 50 of the FedEx Cup (he finished ranked 46th). However, after missing eight cuts in 24 tournaments and finishing in only two top 10s in 2025, he fell more than 50 places to finish outside the top 100 (105th).
His card is secure until 2028 thanks to his six titles between 2019 and 2023, but his golf needs a lot of work if he wants to return to the PGA Tour’s top tier.
2. Tony Finau
Tony Finau went from tying for 23rd in the FedEx Cup rankings in 2024 to 83rd in 2025. This was the result of finishing in only one top 10 during the year, in which he also missed five cuts in 20 tournaments.
His PGA Tour card is not at risk, but he will have to fight to qualify for the majors and Signature Events. It is undoubtedly a difficult pill to swallow for the six-time PGA Tour winner who, on the other hand, has plenty of tools at his disposal to regain his place on the circuit.
3. Adam Scott
Adam Scott is the only major winner on this list and one of the PGA Tour’s fan favorites, but that doesn’t change the fact that his 2025 season was pretty poor. He went from fourth in the FedEx Cup rankings in 2024 to 112th in 2025.
The Australian will also have to rise from the ashes to play in the main events of 2026. Being, as he is, a player with a lot of history on the PGA Tour, fans will want to see him on the big stages.
4. Joel Dahmen
Joel Dahmen has been walking a tightrope for the last couple of seasons and ultimately failed to retain his card in 2025. He had one second-place finish and two other top-10 finishes on the season, but missed the cut in 16 of the 28 events he played.
That performance left him ranked 122nd in the FedEx Cup standings. He will be able to continue playing at the highest level with a Conditional Status, but he’ll need some great results to improve his situation.
5. Nick Dunlap
When he won the 2024 American Express as an amateur, it seemed that Nick Dunlap would be the next big star on the PGA Tour. Even more so when he went on to win the Barracuda Championship that same year.
However, the “sophomore slump” hit him hard, and with 12 missed cuts in 25 tournaments and just two top-10 finishes, he ended 2025 ranked 135th in the FedEx Cup. His card is secure, but he has a lot of ground to make up in his professional career.
6. Adam Hadwin
Adam Hadwin had never lost his card since joining the PGA Tour in 2015. That bad moment came this season, when he missed 12 cuts in 29 tournaments and recorded just one top 10, leading to a 139th-place finish in the FedEx Cup rankings.
7. Sahith Theegala
Sahith Theegala was another player who went from one extreme to the other from one year to the next: from finishing third in the FedEx Cup rankings in 2024 to 146th in 2025. In the recently concluded season, he failed to achieve any top 10 finishes and had only two top-25 finishes in 23 tournaments played (six missed cuts).
Theegala retains his PGA Tour card thanks to his victory in the 2023 Fortinet Championship, but he is also forced to regain ground if he wants to maintain his membership beyond 2026.
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