Rory McIlroy was the main man as he continued his impressive start to 2025 by winning The Players Championship and Tiger Woods’ former coach has suggested it’s a worrying sign for everyone else.
McIlroy saw off J.J. Spaun with ease in a playoff at TPC Sawgrass to make it two wins from four PGA Tour events this season.
Indeed, McIlroy has yet to finish outside the top 20 in his four appearances this season and going into the Masters next month, he’s never looked in better shape.
McIlroy will, of course, need plenty to go right for him at Augusta and need others to falter.
However, according to Tiger’s former coach Hank Haney, there are some signs in Rory’s game right now that make him an almost formidable opponent.
Hank Haney explains why Rory McIlroy is going to be so hard to beat in 2025
Discussing the performance of McIlroy at Sawgrass, Haney was full of praise for the four-time major winner.
Indeed, Haney believes McIlroy deserves credit for improving his putting and if he continues that, he’ll be tough to beat in 2025.
“Rory McIlroy was incredibly impressive,” Haney admitted. “Played some great little three quarter shots, I thought that was the most impressive thing I have seen.
“Rory McIlroy can pound the ball, he drives it great, sometimes he putts well. He has putted better the last few years which to go on later in your career and have your putting improve is very, very impressive.
“It hasn’t happened with a lot of players. Most players tend to get worse as they go on. He has putted better. He finished 10th in putting at The Players Championship. He has talked about how the perfect way to win is top 10 putting, ball striking and about 80% of the tournaments are won on the PGA Tour that is the formula, so when Rory finished 10th in putting with the way he strikes the ball that is going to be tough to beat.”
Rory McIlroy’s putting stats in 2025
As the old saying goes in golf, it’s drives for show and putts for dough. And so far in 2025, Rory McIlroy is managing to do both.
But as Haney says, the key for McIlroy winning is the fact he’s got his putter working much better.
Tournaments are won and lost on the greens and McIlroy consistently made big putts at The Players when he knew he wasn’t at his best in every other area.
The stats show the improvement as well. McIlroy is second for percentage of one putts and 7th for putts per round so far in 2025.
| Rory McIlroy’s putting stats 2025 | 2018 | 2025 |
| One putt percentage | 42.32 (20th) | 47.22% (2nd) |
| Putts per round | 28.38 (14th) | 27.81 (7th) |
| 3-putt avoidance | 1.80% (9th) | 3.82% (161st) |
| SG putting | 0.425 (24th) | 0.606 (15th) |
| Average distance of putts made | 74′ 11 (52nd) | 75′ 9 (57th) |
He’s 15th in terms of strokes gained for putting against the field and those three metrics alone stand him in good stead.
Yes, he’s down the list a bit in terms of total putting and avoiding three putts. But if he can even improve slightly on those and maintain the other stats with the flatstick, he’s going to be nigh on impossible to overcome.
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