Two contradictory statements appear to hold true regarding the game of golf in the waning days of 2024. On the one hand, the sport has never been more popular at the recreational level, participation, particularly among women and juniors, showing no signs of fading after the COVID surge. On the other, interest in the professional game is as tenuous as at any time in recent memory, fans feeling angst and anger over the schism arising from the creation the LIV Golf League and the protracted negotiations with the PGA Tour to try to calm the civil war. There are more questions than answers regarding what the future holds, all with the underlying message of “Why can’t everybody just get along?”

The return then of Golf Digest’s annual Newsmakers package showcases a similar mix of highs, lows and in-betweens from the past 12 months. As we countdown our top 25 list over the next five days, we’ll acknowledge the individuals, teams and events that helped define the year. Some are obvious (the dominance of Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda) some unexpected (did anyone see the rise of golf TV’s newest star coming?) and some unresolved (will there ever be a deal between the PGA Tour and the PIF?). Oh, and some just plan bizarre, (as with the events of Friday morning, May 17).

Our list hopes to serve as an entertaining way to recall the year that was, and contextualize where the game is going—one way or another—in 2025. —Ryan Herrington

Newsmakers ScheduleToday: Nos. 21-25Tomorrow: Nos. 16-20

No. 25: Anthony Kim’s return

David Cannon

His ascent to stardom in the early 2000s followed by a quicker departure from the spotlight—coupled with the notion that he may just one day return to the competitive game—had turned Anthony Kim into one of the golf’s most mythical figures over the past decade. His legend only grew in his absence, spurred by stories of fans seeing him at wild party (some likely apocryphal) and memories of Kim playing with an aggressive, childlike joy. Yet with each passing year, his return seemed less and less likely.

So it was that Kim shocked the sport by emerging from his hibernation last winter, signing on the friendly competitive confines of LIV Golf. Yet his return quickly revealed an uncomfortable truth: Many legends, while rooted in truth, aren’t real.

Kim came in tied for last (T-55) in LIV’s season-long rankings, finishing better than 40th just once in 10 events on the limited-field circuit while playing as a “wildcard,” unaffiliated with any LIV team. In a sense this is not a surprise; Kim had not played competitive golf in almost 12 years. Conversely, it was also a reminder to those that didn’t watch him in his prime that Kim, while very good and entertaining, was never great. More significantly, perhaps, the things that helped him standout—distance and an aggressive mindset—were now the currencies of the game.

But it wasn’t just golf where Kim made news. Kim told LIV analyst David Feherty in an interview about the “dark demons” he battled over that 12-year interstitial. He alluded to addiction issues. Kim mentioned he had great times over the past decade but “literally doesn’t remember” any of those times. He didn’t play golf for years, only getting back into the game when his wife wanted to learn. Kim acknowledged the reported insurance policy that allegedly allowed him to collect $10 million for not playing but said he wasn’t at liberty to disclose the matter, while also saying he was the victim of “snakes” and “scam artists.”

The year did end on a somewhat positive, as Kim got his first OWGR points in 12 years by finishing T-37 in an Asian Tour event. But for something that was so hyped, the most astonishing part of Kim’s comeback was how quiet it turned out to be. —Joel Beall

RELATED: Anthony Kim is no who you think he was

No. 24: The golf-ball rollback

J.D. Cuban

Since the USGA and R&A announced last December their intention to roll back the distance a golf ball can travel, starting in 2028 for elite competitions and then for everybody come 2030, nothing has changed in their minds regarding the matter. USGA CEO Mike Whan and departing R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers have both firmly insisted in interviews late this year that the decision has been made and the rule will be law. Golf’s ruling bodies have been studying the issue of distance for a decade (or a century, depending on your perspective). The work was specific and collaborative with multiple levels of the golf constituency, including not only manufacturers but the major professional tours, who actually had a seat at the table when final options were being discussed. The USGA and R&A even switched course and made the rule that takes as much as 15 yards away from the longest hitters universal, rather than one that only affected the elite professional game, after the industry insisted that it preferred one rule for all of golf.

And yet, despite their singular message, much of the golf world still seems perched in a place of uncertainty regarding the topic. The reason? Neither PGA Tour, the DP World Tour, the PGA of America or even the LPGA Tour, have publicly indicated they intend to follow the rule when it goes into effect.

The ball rollback repeatedly has been called the most important equipment rule-making decision in the history of the game, and while some have decried it as not going far enough, it draws a line in the sand that distance that continues to increase at the pace of the last quarter century will not be tolerated by the ruling bodies.

Unless, of course, nobody decides to follow it.

And that lies squarely with the leaders of the professional game. PGA of America president John Lindert said at the PGA Championship in May, “From my perspective, I have said this kind of half-heartedly and half-jokingly, but from my perspective, as somebody that owns a golf shop, I’m probably going to sell a boatload of golf balls in 2028, and my members are going to store them until 2036, and they’re going to continue to play them. I know my membership. I know what they will do.”

That sentiment defined both the present and future problem of a ball rollback, a problem only those outside of St. Andrews and Far Hills can really solve. —Mike Stachura

RELATED: Mike Whan on infighting, the ball rollback and the issue that keeps him up at night

No. 23: NCAA Championship’s new home

C. Morgan Engel

The “Road to Omni La Costa” seemed like something of a pipe dream just a few years ago. University of Texas men’s golf coach John Fields began floating the idea of a permanent home for the NCAA Division I golf championships, and when he got Omni on board for what turned out to be a $25 million Gil Hanse renovation of the La Costa North Course in Carlsbad, Calif., the facility took its first competitive bow in May for the men’s and women’s title events. The stakes were high, with plenty of legitimate questions: How would the new course play? Would it be too easy or too hard? Would it fairly test both genders? Would it identify the best teams and players?

Ultimately, the answers seemed to be overwhelmingly positive. Amid favorable weather and hotel rooms that are a five-minute walk from the course, top-ranked Stanford captured its second women’s championship in three years, while the Auburn men won their first title, capping an impressively dominant season by beating Florida in the match-play final. In individual stroke play, 14 players on both the men’s and women’s side finished even par or better—signaling the equal examination officials has hoped for. Texas A&M’s Adela Cernousek won the women’s title at 12 under, and Georgia Tech’s Hiroshi Tai shot three under to prevail in the men’s individual event by a shot over a six-player tie for second.

“I think we found a winner here,” said longtime Georgia Tech head coach Bruce Heppler, whose team reached the semifinals. “And I hope to high heaven that we can turn it into a permanent site.”

The breeze seems to be blowing in that direction. Already set to host the national championship through 2026, the NCAA awarded La Costa a two-year extension in October that takes the commitment through ’28. Tellingly, no site in the history of the championships has hosted that many times. While no announcements have been made about a permanent deal, the “Road to Omni La Costa” is looking like more than just a fantasy. —Tod Leonard

RELATED: College golf gets on ‘Road to LaCosta’ with much bigger dreams in mind

No. 22: Golf leaders step away

Historically, there isn’t much turnover in leadership at golf’s top-level organizations. Newcomers settle into their posts, find their voices and spend some time attempting to make a mark on the sport. To have, then, a change in not one but four high-profile roles within 12 months is downright wild. It started Jan. 10 when Martin Slumbers announced he would step down as R&A chief executive by year’s end. A day later, word leaked that Keith Pelley was leaving the DP World Tour as its chief executive for a CEO position with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment in his native Canada. Come June 26, the PGA of America revealed its CEO, Seth Waugh, would not renew his contract and would shift to an advisory role. Just last week the LPGA found itself in similar territory as its commissioner, Mollie Marcoux Samaan, announced she was stepping down in come January.

Two of the four openings have been filled: Mark Darbon, a former rugby club CEO, takes charge of the R&A this month and Guy Kinnings, who was the European Tour’s deputy CEO, was elevated to the top position in April. The PGA of America is continuing its search, but it’s been reported that Kiawah Island Golf Resort president Roger Warren, a past PGA president, is the leading candidate to replace Waugh. Liz Moore, the LPGA’s chief legal and technology officer, will be the tour’s interim commissioner while a search firm is used to find Marcoux Samaan’s successor.

The coincidence of the four organizations putting up “help wanted” signs speaks to the idea that a new era is potentially coming, one where leaders rotate more quickly than in the past. Slumbers and Pelley were in their respective jobs for nine years. Waugh was in charge for six years, Marcoux Samaan a little more than three. Augusta National’s Fred Ridley and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan are the most senior of golf’s leaders these days, both starting in the summer of 2017, with Mike Whan taking over at the USGA in 2021. If nothing else, as the complicated landscape of professional golf tries to co-exist with the exploding world of recreational golf, a new set of voices will be place to guide the game’s future. —Jay Coffin

RELATED: Outgoing R&A chief Martin Slumbers has warning for pro golf

No. 21: Golf Course renovation boom

Medinah Country Club

To understand where the action is in golf course architecture, follow the money. You’ll find it leads to a bonanza of multi-million-dollar renovations at clubs coast to coast.

Course renovation has been in a Renaissance period for the last 20 years as most of the country’s finest old courses have been remodeled or restored to their historic origins, some more than once. But the standards of cost and comprehensiveness have hit new heights the last few years, exemplified by a deep pool of elite and highly ranked courses that completed projects in 2024.

Why now? The cause is directly related to the soaring demand of golf during and immediately after COVID. Upper-end clubs found they suddenly had nearly unlimited resources for project, and mandates to spend it. Even modest clubs and courses found they at last had budgets to execute deferred maintenance and long-range master plans. Much of that work is now coming out of the pipeline.

The National Golf Foundation estimates that East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta spent $30 million on the remodel of its Donald Ross design, home of the Tour Championship, exceeding the sum of what it often costs to build a new course. Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., spent $20 million to renovate its North Course, now the host of the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s championships. Some upper-end clubs like Atlanta Country Club, once ranked among America’s 100 Greatest Courses and hoping to get back in, are investing in hydronics greens systems, an expensive and expensive network of sub-surface tubing that allows superintendents to pump cool or warm water through the roots of the grass to regulate temperature.

Other 100 Greatest and Second 100 Greatest Courses members like Interlachen Country Club near Minneapolis, Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Medinah No. 3 outside Chicago, Hudson National in New York, Ocean Forest in Georgia, Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco and Sahalee Golf Club in Washington have all recently completed elaborate, no-cost-spared, tip-to-tail reconstructions of their famed courses. Architects have been saying there’s no limit to what you can spend money on during a renovation, or how much, and the trend has been for the country’s top clubs to test that theory. —Derek Duncan

RELATED: The 11 courses we predict will make the biggest moves in our next course rankings

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com