Golf news: Aberg extends Genesis streak, Rory lashes out at fan, Tiger offers PGA-LIV merger update

While the 2025 edition of The Genesis Invitational had a bit of a different feel to it, what with being contested at Torrey Pines instead of its usual venue at Riviera Country Club, the PGA Tour's third Signature Event of the season was a resounding success.

During the first half of Sunday's final round, it looked as if Maverick McNealy was well on his way to his first PGA Tour victory after a blistering 6-under 30 on the front nine at the famed South Course.

Making his 148th career start, the 29-year-old cooled off a touch on the back side but still shot 2-under over his final nine holes to finish with an 8-under round of 64, putting himself in a great position to win at 11-under for the week.

In the end, though, it was Ludvig Aberg who walked away with the victory and the $4 million winner's paycheck and the 700 FedEx Cup points that came along with it. And in doing so, the Swede not only took the top spot on the money list for the season but also kept an interesting streak going at The Genesis.

Ludvig Aberg is the fourth consecutive non-American to win The Genesis Invitational

Starting his day two back of leader Patrick Rodgers at 6-under, Aberg shot a 2-under 34 on his first nine but still found himself three back of McNealy with six holes to play.

But the 25-year-old quickly caught fire, making birdies at the 13th, 14th, and 15th to get to 11-under for the tournament. After pars at 16 and 17, Aberg came to the tee at the par-5 18th needing a par to tie and a birdie to win.

After finding the fairway off the tee, Aberg had 224 yards remaining to the pin for his second but his approach a tad deep, leaving himself just over 68 feet from the hole. Facing a challenging shot back down the hill of the 18th green, he hit a solid enough lag to just under seven feet and drained the birdie putt to claim his second PGA Tour win.

With the victory, Aberg became the fourth consecutive international player to take the title at The Genesis, joining Chile's Joaquin Niemann (2022), Spain's Jon Rahm (2023), and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama (2024).

He's also the sixth international winner in seven PGA Tour events this season, joining Matsuyama (The Sentry), Canada's Nick Taylor (Sony Open), Austria's Sepp Straka (The American Express), Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am), and Belgium's Thomas Detry (WM Phoenix Open).

The only American to win on the PGA Tour thus far in 2025 is Harris English, who won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines a few weeks back.

Rory McIlroy lashed out at a fan during his final round at Torrey Pines

After putting himself in contention on Friday with a second-round 67, Rory McIlroy couldn't find the same magic on the weekend, shooting 74-72 over the final 36 holes to finish in a tie for 17th at 3-under.

And to add to his frustration, the 27-time PGA Tour winner reportedly got into it with a fan early in his final round.

According to Dan Rapaport, after Rory just missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 third hole, a fan told the four-time major winner, "Blame your caddie," to which Rory replied, "Shut the f*** up."

McIlroy has long been very protective of caddie and childhood friend Harry Diamond, who came under fire last summer when Rory missed out on winning his fifth championship by making a couple of critical mistakes coming down the stretch of the U.S. Open.

McIlroy, of course, missed two short putts during his final round at Pinehurst last June en route to losing to Bryson DeChambeau, and his club choice on the par-3 15th, which led to Rory hitting his approach over the green and making a bogey, was questioned by famed instructor Hank Haney and former PGA Tour player and current NBC Sports commentator Smylie Kaufman.

And just as he did on Sunday at Torrey Pines, Rory backed his caddie last summer after he took some heat from both Haney and Kaufman.

"You know, it's certainly unfair. Hank Haney has never been in that position," McIlroy said afterward. "Smylie has been in that position once, and I love Smylie, and he was out there with us on 18."

"But just because Harry is not as vocal or loud with his words as other caddies, it doesn't mean that he doesn't say anything and that he doesn't do anything. I just wish that, you know, these guys that criticize when things don’t go my way, they never say anything good when things do go my way."

Tiger Woods claims PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger could happen this season

It's been more than a year and a half since the PGA Tour and LIV Golf announced a framework agreement to merge in June 2023, but nothing has obviously come to fruition.

However, Tiger Woods says that may finally change in the very near future.

Woods, who serves as the host of The Genesis Invitational, was all set to tee it up at Torrey Pines but ultimately withdrew as he continues to mourn the death of his mother. As the tourney host, however, Tiger still made an appearance in the CBS broadcast booth during Sunday's final round and told Jim Nantz and Trevor Immelman that things are moving in the right direction.

"I think we’re in a very positive place right now," Woods said. "We had a meeting with the President (Donald Trump). Unfortunately, I had some other circumstances that came up, but Jay (Monahan) and Adam (Scott), they did great during the meeting. We have another subsequent meeting coming up.

"I think things are going to heal quickly. We are getting this game going in the right direction, it’s been headed in the wrong direction for a number of years. The fans want all of us to play together, all the top players to play together, and we are going to make that happen."

When Nantz asked if the merger could happen this year, Woods replied, "Yes, yes, and yes."