9 Big Names Still Searching For Their First Win As Time Begins To Run Out On The 2025 Season

In both the men’s and the women’s game, there have been some familiar names claiming many of the trophies so far in 2025.

Men's World No.1, Scottie Scheffler made a relatively slow start to the season following a hand injury last Christmas, but he has more than made up for it courtesy of four victories since - two of which were Majors.

In the women's game, Jeeno Thitikul - who replaced Nelly Korda at the summit in August - has also stood in the winner's circle in 2025 and has had several more chances to add to her tally.

Another champion this year is Rory McIlroy, who has three titles, including a Green Jacket as a result of completing the career Grand Slam at The Masters. Then there are the likes of Joaquin Niemann (five worldwide wins), Lydia Ko and Lottie Woad - all of whom have accomplished something special since January 1.

However, for some high-profile players, their respective campaigns have been a more frustrating experience, with a good number still in search of their first victory as we head towards the closing stretch.

Tommy Fleetwood

Tommy Fleetwood came so close to landing a maiden PGA Tour title at the Travelers Championship, only to be usurped at the line by a rampant Keegan Bradley. The Englishman's T2nd there was one of five throughout 2025 so far.

Across 17 starts on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour this year, the 34-year-old has only missed one cut and been outside of the top-25 on three other occasions. Yet, that first win has remained elusive as he heads into the FedEx Cup Playoffs and with a Ryder Cup in full view.

Nelly Korda

Nelly Korda bagged seven total wins last season, but in more than a dozen appearances so far this year, she is yet to add to her 15 LPGA Tour titles despite two runner-up finishes and three more top-10s.

Adding to her relative woes, Korda was replaced as World No.1 by Jeeno Thitikul following a T36th finish at the AIG Women's Open in August. In another of the season's Majors - the US Women's Open - Korda finished a distant second to Maja Stark, but that has been as good as it has got.

Collin Morikawa

Morikawa didn’t win on the PGA Tour in 2024, but he confirmed a stunning return to form with several close calls along the way, including placing top of the Official World Golf Ranking leaderboard at the Tour Championship. That didn’t hand him the title because of the starting strokes afforded to winner Scottie Scheffler, but he admitted afterwards he was happy to finish top of the “fake” leaderboard, and who could blame him?

After all, it would have been encouraging to know he outperformed Scheffler, who was having a dominant season, particularly as it came after Morikawa had compiled some impressive results, including runner-up to Scheffler at the Memorial Tournament two months earlier.

While that form saw him safely back inside the world’s top-10 after a slump throughout much of 2023, he hasn’t yet won a title this year either. He has certainly come close, finishing runner-up to Hideki Matsuyama at The Sentry, before leading the way for large periods of the final round of the Arnold Palmer before succumbing to Russell Henley. Because of that, his wait for a seventh PGA Tour title – and first of the year – continues.

Hannah Green

Hannah Green amassed half of her career LPGA Tour wins in 2024, winning three times, with victories at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, JM Eagle LA Championship and BMW Ladies Championship. Those wins offered the promise of even more success in 2025, but so far, she has yet to add to her tally.

A missed cut at the Chevron Championship aside, Green’s form wasn’t too bad during the first half of the year with a T4th at the Founders Cup and two other top-10s. But she has struggled since the KPMG Women's PGA Championship and has not looked close to winning again of late.

Jon Rahm

Like 2024, Jon Rahm has been a model of consistency in the LIV Golf League this season, with all but one of his starts resulting in a top-10 finish. However, a year ago, Rahm converted two of those into victories, albeit not until July, on his way to winning the Individual Championship – something he hasn’t been able to do so far this year.

Away from LIV Golf, any hopes Rahm had of winning a second Masters title were also dashed when he finished T14th at Augusta National. The Spaniard was in contention at the PGA Championship, too, but fell away at the end to finish T8th. His best Major finish of the year was at the US Open, though, thanks to a T7th.

Rahm will be looking for another strong second half to the season as he aims to add more professional titles to a resume that already has 22, the most recent of which came in September at LIV Golf Chicago.

Lilia Vu

After claiming four titles, including two Majors, in 2023, it would have been a tall order for Lilia Vu to match those achievements in 2024. However, despite a back injury curtailing part of her season, she still won her fifth LPGA Tour title at the Meijer LPGA Classic and came close to winning her third Major at the AIG Women’s Open before missing out to Lydia Ko.

However, aside from finishing T2nd at the Ford Championship, Vu has endured an absolute nightmare of a season in 2025. Through 11 starts, she has missed seven cuts (including six in a row) with a T9th her next best result and other finishes of T61st and 78th.

Xander Schauffele

Only Xander Schauffele in the men’s game got close to Scottie Scheffler’s achievements in 2024, winning two of the four Majors as well as producing some brilliant performances elsewhere, such as runner-up at the Wells Fargo Championship and the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

While that form opened up the potential for an equally superb 2025 for Schauffele, he suffered an early setback with a rib injury and has struggled to find anything approaching the game that brought him so much success in 2024.

Heading into the FedEx Cup Playoffs, Schauffele had only managed three top-10s all season and was in danger of missing out on the Tour Championship for the first time in his career.

Ruoning Yin

Like Hannah Green, 2024 couldn’t have gone a lot better for Ruoning Yin with three victories on the LPGA Tour, at the Dow Championship, Buick LPGA Shanghai and Maybank Championship.

To add to her reputation as one of the best young players in the game, those achievements came the year after she won her maiden Major title at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

The opening months of 2025 were generally less assured for Yin, without a top-10 finish in her first seven starts before she put herself in pole position to win her second Major at the Chevron Championship.

During the final round, she was one of four players who took advantage of leader Ariya Jutunugarn’s whiff at the 18^th to head into a five-way sudden-death playoff. On the first additional hole, she had an eagle chance to claim the title, but not only did she miss the putt, the pace meant she had a difficult attempt for birdie coming back. She failed to convert that, too, and ultimately, Mao Saigo was the one out of the five to finish on top.

In her following start, at the Black Desert Championship, Yin once again ended T2nd. That remains as close as she has come with a T4th at the US Women's Open in there as well.

Patrick Cantlay

Patrick Cantlay has not won since 2022 and the usual Ryder Cup lock is fast running out of chances to do so in 2025 as well, therefore jeopardizing his chances of making Team USA at Bethpage Black in September.

Cantlay is able to boast a best of T4th at the Truist Championship so far this term, with a couple more T5th results helping him hover just inside the top-30 on the FedEx Cup standings. However, he is close to the bubble for the Tour Championship, so a win would solve a lot of his problems.