Five Takeways From the 2025 PGA Professional Championship

What a week in South Florida. We had history. We had drama. And we had dreams realized at the 2025 PGA Professional Championship.

What started out with a field of 312 of the top-playing PGA of America Golf Professionals from 41 PGA Sections on April 27 was whittled down to an eventual Champion and and 19 fellow competitors who will be playing in the PGA Championship later this month.

So how did we get there? Not to worry. Here are the five things you need to know from an action-filled few days at PGA Golf Club.

The story of the 2025 PGA Professional Championship, at least with regards to winning the tournament, goes like this: there was Tyler Collet; and there was everyone else.

The PGA Assistant Professional from John's Island Club in nearby Vero Beach, Florida, shared the lead after Round 1 with Michael Block . . . and then never looked back. Collet won by 10 shots over Jesse Droemer of Riverbend Country Club in Houston, which is the largest margin of victory in Championship history, and biggest since Matt Dobyn's triumph in 2012 (8 shots).

Two bogeys on 17 and 18 spoiled Collet securing the all-time PGA Professional Championship scoring record - he finished at 272; Darrell Kestner's 1996 record of 271 remains intact for another year - but the wire-to-wire victory, a first for a winner since 2001, showcased how dialed-in Collet was from tee to green all week. Shades of Tiger Woods in 2000 dialed-in.

And while he admitted he was nervous and didn't sleep well the night before the final round, it was hard to see any cracks in the armor; Collet, as the late SportsCenter anchor Stuart Scott used to say, was as cool as the other side of the pillow around PGA Golf Club down the stretch.

"After I made the birdies on seven and eight and I saw the leaderboard on nine green, I took a sigh of relief a little bit," Collet said with the Walter Hagen Cup in hand. "I didn’t change my mindset at all, but my heart started to beat a little slower. I was trying to just cruise in to be honest.

“It means everything to hold this trophy. I was looking at the names on it. There are some really spectacular people there. It means the world.”

Now to the other story during the PGA Professional Championship: competing for a ticket to Charlotte and the PGA Championship. With Collet sowing up his spot early on, that meant 19 exemptions were still up for grabs. We'll get to how the final spot was decided in an epic playoff, but first a hearty congratulations to the following PGA of America Golf Professionals who will be competing later this month at Quail Hollow (based on order of finish):

Jesse Droemer, Houston, Texas, Riverbend Country Club, Southern Texas Section (2)

Brian Bergstol, Nazareth, Pa., Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort, Philadelphia Section (T-3)

Michael Block, Mission Viejo, Calif., Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club, Southern California Section (T-3)

Dylan Newman, Westbury, N.Y., Meadow Brook Club, Metropolitan Section (T-5)

Brandon Bingaman, Dallas, Texas, Gleneagles Country Club, Northern Texas Section (T-5)

Ryan Lenahan, New Hudson, Mich., Walnut Creek Country Club, Michigan Section (T-5)

Andre Chi, Queens, N.Y., Deepdale Golf Club, Metropolitan Section (T-5)

John Somers, Trinity, Fla., Southern Hills Plantation Club, North Florida Section (T-9)

Justin Hicks, Wellington, Fla., Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, South Florida Section (T-9)

Rupe Taylor, Virginia Beach, Va., Virginia Beach National Golf Club, Middle Atlantic Section (T-9)

Tom Johnson, San Francisco, Calif., Meadow Club, Northern California Section (T-9)

Nic Ishee, Columbus, Miss., Old Waverly Golf Club, Gulf States Section (T-9)

Eric Steger, Westfield, Ind., Pebble Brook Golf Club, Indiana Section (T-9)

Bob Sowards, Dublin, Ohio, Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club, Southern Ohio Section (T-15)

Bobby Gates, The Woodlands, Texas, Summit Golf School, Southern Texas Section (T-15)

Greg Koch, Orlando, Fla. - Ritz-Carlton Golf Club-Grand Lakes Orlando, North Florida Section (T-15)

Timothy Wiseman, Corydon, Ind., Old Capital Golf Club, Indiana Section (T-15)

Larkin Gross, Fairfax, Va., Westwood Country Club, Middle Atlantic Section (T-15)

Michael Kartrude, Port. St. Lucie, Fla.. The Bear’s Club, South Florida Section (T-20)

Among the Corebridge Financial Team, 10 players will be making their PGA Championship debut. Bob Sowards, who surged up the leaderboard with a final-round 68, will play in his 12th Championship, tying the record for most appearances with Steve Schneiter. Michael Block has the second-most starts and will be making his 7th.

If you were among the lucky who were tuning in to Golf Channel on the afternoon of April 30th, you were treated with an absolutely epic playoff for the final spot at Quail Hollow. Here's the entire thing if you missed it:

What started with a four-person playoff between Dakun Chang, Michael Kartrude, Andy Svoboda and Brad Lardon went for five, grueling holes . . . ultimately ending with this:

Kartrude didn't make it easy on himself. On 11 he hit his approach long, but had a fantastic lag putt to make par and move on with Brad Lardon. Then on 12, both players hit it close and missed their birdies; Kartrude lipped out and Lardon was in the heart of the cup, but inches short. At the par-5 13th, Kartrude had the advantage distance-wise and put a chip within 5 feet for birdie. Lardon's putt for birdie from the fringer shockingly hit the pin and missed, leaving the door open for Kartrude. He missed.

Then at the 14th, Kartrude blocked his tee shot in the trees only to find it kicked out with a look at the green. That's when he pulled this off:

Lardon chipped up to with 10 feet for his par, but ultimately missed. Another chance for Kartrude and he sealed it.

For those watching live, it was an absolutely fascinating rollercoaster ride of a playoff. The pressure of playing in the PGA Championship was evident but so was the lucky (and unlucky) breaks the game gives to all golfers. If there's one thing we know, the race (and sometimes ensuing playoff) for a spot in the PGA Championship remains one of the best days of the year in the sport.

Another correlation between Tiger and Tyler: they were playing difficult golf courses but just so locked-in that it looked like they weren't. One look at the PGA Professional Championship leaderboard tells you that PGA Golf Club, for the most part, showed up as a stout competitive venue.

The Ryder Course in the first two rounds was players' chance to score, and they did: there were 992 total birdies made versus the Wanamaker Course that had 712. But once the entire field moved to the Wanamaker in Round 3, the course was firmer, faster and more fiery. The finishing stretch of Nos. 17-18, as was talked about yesterday before the final round, proved to be two of the top 5 toughest holes the entire week. No. 17 was the second-hardest with an average score 3.44 while 18 finished with a 4.52 average.

When you're trying to make the PGA Championship and have to battle those two holes to do it, you're getting a proper examination of your game. Add in some blustery conditions that swooped in through the final two days and it makes the test only trickier. Props to PGA Golf Club for meeting the moment.

Tyler Collet doesn't just take home the Walter Hagen Cup with his win; he also gets $66,700 for first place and six PGA TOUR exemptions over the next 12 months. Not bad . . . 34 eagles, 1,195 birdies and 4,923 pars were made on PGA Golf Club's Wanamaker Course during the Championship; there were also 2,142 bogeys . . . another testament to the Wanamaker's bite: there were 55 rounds below par over four rounds, but also 398 rounds over par . . . next year's PGA Professional Championship venue? It's pretty sweet: Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon will be hosting, April 26-29, at its Bandon Dunes and Pacific Dunes courses.