2025 Genesis Invitational leaderboard, grades: Ludvig Åberg breaks through with biggest win of young career

Sunday marked only the first of what should be many significant wins for Ludvig Åberg in his young career. The Swedish sensation raced through the finish line at the 2025 Genesis Invitational posting a final-round 66 to reach 12 under for the tournament and claim a one-stroke victory over Maverick McNealy at Torrey Pines Golf Club.

Åberg’s 66 was one shy of tying the lowest round ever by a champion at Torrey Pines, and it came courtesy of a back-nine 32 that included a clinching birdie from just inside 7 feet on the par-5 finisher. He scored four birdies over his last six holes and went bogey-free across his final 13 on the South Course.

The victory represents the second of Åberg’s PGA Tour career and the third since turning professional in the summer of 2023. The 25-year-old sophomore sensation moves to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings at the end of the West Coast Swing as an elevated 700 points was awarded on the cliffs of California.

Not only does Åberg grab his biggest victory of his career but the biggest winner’s check of the season thus far as $4 million will hit his bank account for his work in San Diego.

Beginning the final round a couple strokes off the pace at 6 under, Åberg went to work immediately cashing back-to-back birdies on Nos. 2-3. Right as it seemed that he was taking flight, the robotic right hander was grounded as he hit his ball left into the penalty area on No. 4 and struggled up the par-4 5th — completely relinquishing his early work.

With his peers like McNealy and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler surging up the leaderboard amid barrages of birdies, Åberg kept his cool. Tacking on a couple more birdies before the turn, Åberg went to the more difficult back nine at Torrey Pines with work to be done.

He suddenly came alive just as it seemed that the tournament belonged to McNealy; the former Stanford standout had penciled nine birdies in his first 13 holes to grab the lead. Åberg drained hree straight birdies from Nos. 13-15 to pul him even with McNealy and set the stage for his crowning moment on the par-5 finisher.

Unleashing a prodigious bomb down the middle of the fairway, Åberg laced a 7 wood onto the backside of the green. Curling his approach putt to just inside 8 feet, the young superstar seized the moment and snatched his finest victory to date. Grade: A+

Here are the grades for the rest of the notable names on the leaderboard at the 2025 Genesis Invitational.

2. Maverick McNealy (-11): After making a 40-foot putt for par on No. 1, McNealy got on a roll. He connected on five straight birdies to go from five strokes off the pace into a share of the lead. The 29-year-old tacked on a few more birdies to reach 9 under through his first 13 holes, but he backtracked from there. Making a bogey from the middle of the fairway on No. 14 and failing to make birdie on the par-5 finisher, McNealy came up just short of completing an all-time comeback and instead had to settle for a runner-up result. Grade: A

T3. Scottie Scheffler (-9): Scheffler shot the highest score (76) in the field Saturday and still had a chance to win Sunday. The world No. 1 got off to a dream start as he made five birdies on his opening nine to get within a couple strokes of the lead. That was as close as he would get, however, as a charging McNealy dusted the field, Scheffler included. There were some back-nine theatrics, but it was far from a perfect week for the three-time reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year. He hit just five fairways on Friday, struggled everywhere on Saturday and was occasionally loose with the irons. All that, and he still almost won.

“It’s not easy to come out here and play competitive golf at a high level and get right back to where I was last year, losing those weeks that I had at home where I couldn’t do anything,” Scheffler said. “I think some of that makes it even more impressive what Tiger [Woods is] able to do off of his surgeries and long layoffs and just come out and compete with us is pretty miraculous. I’m trying to give myself a little bit of grace and some patience kind of getting back into the swing of things. I did some things in the last few weeks that I’m happy with and definitely some things that I need to improve on.” Grade: A-

T5. Denny McCarthy (-8): An eagle on the par-5 6th pushed McCarthy’s name to 10 under for the tournament as it looked like the putting maestro finally had the goods to get the job done. His tournament unraveled in the middle of his round as he carded a couple bogeys and missed a number of real scoring chances on the greens. McCarthy is good enough and gritty enough to win on the PGA Tour, but he will have to wait once agin for that moment. Grade: B+

T17. Rory McIlroy (-3): It was a weekend to forget for the 27-time PGA Tour winner. After playing himself into contention, McIlroy stalled over the weekend due to his inability to hole putts and take advantage of par 5s. The Northern Irishman posted one of the worst rounds of his career on the greens on Saturday, and it didn’t get much better on Sunday alongside Scheffler. Despite the frustrating performance, the world No. 3 still hit the driver great and had his moments with the approach play. Grade: C

MC. Jordan Spieth: Following a coming out party at the WM Phoenix Open, Spieth was silenced at Torrey Pines. The three-time major champion struggled to get his iron play in good order and was rendered helpless with the putter in hand. The performance serves as a good reminder that Spieth still has a long way to go in his return from wrist injury. A start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational would serve as another good test if he is to make his way into the field. Grade: F