All sports are built like pyramids. A mass of players at the bottom, trying and working to rise through the levels to become the best of the best, the elite in their field. Golf is no different.
The PGA Tour has 180 active players, each striving to improve every area of their game in order to become the best player in the world. But who are the truly elite performers? We’re not just talking wins and losses, but looking at data to attempt to objectively measure who is at the top of golf’s performance pyramid.
That was the question I raised a year ago when I wrote the story “Who are golf’s five-tool players”. It was based on the baseball premise of players who possess all five skills within the game: hitting for power, hitting for average, base running, throwing and fielding.
To create the golf equivalent, I used strokes-gained data. Strokes gained works essentially as a metric of how good a player is versus their peers on tour. Convienently, there are five individual strokes-gained categories—off-the-tee, approach, around-the-green, tee-to-green and putting—that combine to produce “total strokes gained” for every player on the PGA Tour. Using those five categories, we can identify the PGA Tour’s version of a five-tool player.
When looking at a player’s strokes-gained number in a specific category, any number that is positive (i.e. +0.05) would, technically, make them above average. For the purpose of measuring players using the “tool scale”, I have awarded a player the designation of having “a tool” for each strokes-gained category in which he gains 0.25 shots per round or more. Generally speaking, that puts a player in the 75th percentile of the category.
With that as the method, here is what I discovered about the 180 players on the PGA Tour in 2025.
Zero-Tool Players 
It’s worth noting that while the title of “zero-tool player” sounds harsh, it’s not. A player could still be above average in most or all categories and still feature here. In 2025, this is where we found Max Homa. It was clearly an off year for the 35-year-old. As recently as 2023, Homa won multiple times, starred on the U.S. Ryder Cup team in Rome and was statistically a four-tool player. Fast forward to 2025 and a mix of swing changes, equipment changes, caddie changes and injuries took a toll on Homa’s game. While he still gains shots on the greens, he ranked 155th out of 180 players on tour in strokes-gained approach.
Total number of players: 54 (50 in 2024) Notable examples: Homa, Tony Finau, Tom Kim, Brian Harman, Rasmus Hojgaard.
One-Tool Players 
A one-tool player is typically a player with a superpower. While other parts of his game may not be elite, he is buoyed by one notable skill. Here we find Jake Knapp. Known as one of the longest, and smoothest swinging, players on the PGA Tour, the Californian’s superpower is actually his putter. While he ranked inside the top 20 in driving distance in 2025, he narrowly missed out on his off-the-tee tool badge, gaining 0.248 shots. However, on the greens, Knapp gained nearly half a shot on the field in 2025, ranking inside the top 15. An elite skill for one-tool player.
Total number of players: 44 (47 in 2024) Notable examples: Knapp, Sam Burns, Justin Rose, Denny McCarthy, Tom Hoge
Two-Tool Players 
Moving up the pyramid, less than half of the tour reached this level, but it is also the largest among the tool-player groups. For those that read my piece from last year, you would have seen that Xander Schauffele was top of the pyramid, the only five-tool player in 2024 on the back of two major victories. However, a rib injury curtailed much of 2025 for Schauffele. He had two months away from competitive golf and admitted being rusty when he returned. Despite that, he did have 10 top-25 finishes in his last 13 starts, rounding out his year with a win at the Baycurrent Classic in Japan in October. Schauffle remained an elite ball-striker, ranking inside the top 15 players on tour in approach play. However, he dropped from gaining half a shot on the greens per round (12th on tour in 2024) to losing nearly 0.2 shots putting in 2025 (139th). I expect he’ll be higher in the statistical pyramid in 2026.
Total number of players: 55 (38 in 2024) Notable examples: Schauffele, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick, Shane Lowry
Three-Tool Players 
We are now getting to the elite. If you featured in this group in 2025, that’s better than 85 percent of PGA Tour players. Rory McIlroy, who won the Masters and Players in 2025, features here. A lesser known three-tool player was Thomas Rosenmueller. The German was a rookie on the PGA Tour having earned his way through the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024. He possesses one of the wilder statistical games on tour. He was top 30 in driving and approach play, which also earned him his third tool in the tee-to-green category, yet was the fifth worse around the greens, and fourth worse on the greens out of the 180 players on tour. Combined, that led to 26 starts, zero top-10s and 10 missed cuts on the PGA Tour. He finished 167th in the FedEx Cup.
Total number of players: 21 (25 in 2024) Notable examples: Rosenmueller, Rory McIlroy, Ben Griffin, Bob MacIntyre, J.J. Spaun, Collin Morikawa
Four-Tool Players 
OK, we’re at the penultimate level of the pyramid. Only six players gained at least 0.25 strokes in four or more areas in 2025. There’s no surprise to see Tommy Fleetwood in this group. The Englishman had a breakout year, winning the FedEx Cup on the back of three straight top-five finishes in the playoffs. He made 18 of 19 cuts and had seven top-five finishes for the year. In fact, he was only 0.08 shots from being a five-tool player. He gained 0.242 shots off-the-tee in 2025. While he is one of the most accurate drivers of the ball, ranking 35th in accuracy, he is below average in distance at 299.4 yards (123rd on tour). Beyond that, the rest of Fleetwood’s game continues to be elite and sets up well for a big year in 2026.
Total number of players: 5 (7 in 2024) Notable examples: Fleetwood, Keegan Bradley, Si Woo Kim, Justin Thomas, Joseph Bramlett
Five-Tool Players 
Yup, you guessed it. There was only one five-tool player on the PGA Tour in 2025 and his name is Scottie Scheffler. His only weakness the previous season when he was a four-tool player was his putting, however he made huge strides in that area this year. He jumped from 77th in strokes-gained putting in 2024, to inside the top 25 in 2025. He led the tour in strokes-gained approach for the third straight year, and was second in strokes gained off-the-tee. Perhaps underrated is Scheffler’s ability around the greens. He has ranked inside the top 30 in strokes gained around the green in each of the last five seasons, gaining a nearly 0.4 shots in 2025. He continues to be, far and away, the best player in the game and shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.
Total number of players: 1 (1 in 2024) Only example: Scheffler
Since strokes-gained data on the PGA Tour started in 2004, only 21 players have gained more than 0.25 shots in the five key statistical categories. An average of one per season. Xander in 2024 and Scottie in 2025. The best of the best.
Here’s the full list of all 180 players (with those who made the Tour Championship in bold).
Five tool players
Scottie Scheffler
Four tool players
Joseph BramlettJustin ThomasKeegan BradleySi Woo KimTommy Fleetwood
Three tool players
Aaron RaiAkshay BhatiaAndrew PutnamBen GriffinCollin MorikawaCorey ConnersDaniel BergerDoug GhimHarry HallHideki MatsuyamaJ.J. SpaunKevin YuKurt KitayamaMac MeissnerMaverick McNealyPatrick CantlayRico HoeyRobert MacIntyreRory McIlroyRussell HenleyThomas Rosenmueller
Two-tool players
Adam ScottAlejandro TostiAlex SmalleyBeau HosslerBen KohlesBud CauleyByeong Hun AnCameron YoungChris GotterupChris KirkChristiaan BezuidenhoutDavis ThompsonEmiliano GrilloGreyson SiggHarris EnglishIsaiah SalindaJason DayJesper SvenssonJhonattan VegasJordan SpiethKeith MitchellKevin RoyLee HodgesLucas GloverLudvig ÅbergLuke ClantonMatt FitzpatrickMatt KucharMatt WallaceMatteo ManasseroMax McGreevyMichael KimMichael ThorbjornsenNick TaylorNicolai HøjgaardPatrick FishburnPierceson CoodyRickie FowlerRicky CastilloRyan FoxRyan GerardSami ValimakiSepp StrakaShane LowryStephan JaegerSteven FiskSungjae ImTakumi KanayaTaylor MontgomeryTaylor MooreTaylor PendrithThorbjørn OlesenVictor PerezViktor HovlandXander Schauffele
One-tool players
Adam SvenssonAldrich PotgieterAntoine RoznerAustin EckroatBraden ThornberryBrandt SnedekerChan KimDavid LipskyDavid SkinnsDavis RileyDenny McCarthyFrankie Capan IIIGarrick HiggoGary WoodlandHayden SpringerHenrik NorlanderJ.T. PostonJackson SuberJacob BridgemanJake KnappJustin RoseKris VenturaLuke ListMackenzie HughesMatt McCartyMatti SchmidMax GreysermanMin Woo LeeNico EchavarriaNiklas NorgaardPatton KizzirePaul PetersonPeter MalnatiRyo HisatsuneSam BurnsSam RyderSam StevensTom HogeTrevor ConeVince WhaleyWilliam MouwWyndham ClarkZac BlairZach Johnson
Zero-tool players
Adam HadwinAdam SchenkAndrew NovakBen MartinBen SilvermanBrian CampbellBrian HarmanBrice GarnettCam DavisCamilo VillegasCarson YoungChad RameyChandler PhillipsCristobal Del SolarDanny WalkerEric ColeErik van RooyenHarry HiggsHayden BuckleyJeremy PaulJoe HighsmithJoel DahmenJohn PakJustin LowerKaito OnishiKarl VilipsKevin VeloLanto GriffinMark HubbardMason AndersenMatthew RiedelMatthieu PavonMax HomaNate LashleyNick DunlapNick HardyNoah GoodwinPatrick RodgersQuade CumminsRafael CamposRasmus HøjgaardRikuya HoshinoRyan PalmerSahith TheegalaSeamus PowerTaylor DicksonThomas DetryThriston LawrenceTim WidingTom KimTony FinauTrey MullinaxWill ChandlerWill Gordon
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
