If you're not getting better, you're getting worse.

Even the best golfers on the PGA TOUR are always looking to see how they can improve. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler turned a weakness into a strength and climbed the putting stats for another dominant year. He ranked 20th in Strokes Gained: Putting this season, by far a career-high.

But in a season where Scheffler led four of the six Strokes Gained stats on the PGA TOUR, let’s look past him to see who earns “Most Improved.”

Driving up the rankings

J.J. Spaun had a career year, picking up his first major at the U.S. Open, and is now preparing to debut for his nation at the Ryder Cup. While his putter claimed most of the headlines (and photographs) from his headway victory at the U.S. Open in the pouring rain at Oakmont Country Club, Spaun’s stat spring came with his driver.

Spaun played a Titleist GT3 driver in 2025 in an attempt to improve his driving game, which paid off. The 35-year-old jumped from 121st in 2024 to 40th in 2025 for Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, his best season ever on the PGA TOUR.

Spaun first moved into a GT driver last summer at the Rocket Classic, originally putting a GT2 driver in play and seeing a ball speed increase. Despite the gain in speed, Spaun was still looking to dial in better spin rates with the big stick and, a few events later, ultimately landed into a lower-spinning and U.S Open-winning GT3 driver.

Spaun’s rise in driving was not only due to the change in driver model but also the shaft he uses. Spaun switched from Fujikura’s Ventus Blue 7X to the newer Fujikura Ventus Black VeloCore+ 6X shaft in early 2025. The change offered Spaun a lower-launching and spinning shaft, which he put to good use during his banner year.

By optimizing the numbers with a new head and shaft, Spaun managed to gain over 4 yards on average off the tee this season. The accuracy and newfound length helped him step into the elite club of major championship winners.

Approaching lofty heights

Justin Rose returned to the winner’s circle in emphatic fashion, defeating the above-mentioned Spaun in a three-hole playoff at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. A lot was said about the Englishman’s driver choice that week in Memphis, Tennessee, as he switched to a Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Max without even testing it on the course before play started. But the biggest reason why Rose was able to pick up his 12th victory on TOUR was his approach play gains in 2025.

Rose hit his best form thanks to settling on a mixed set of Titleist 620 CB long-irons and Miura MC-502s for the shorter clubs. He climbed from 143rd in SG: Approach last season to just inside the top 50 at 49th for 2025.

As an equipment free agent, Rose is able to try a plethora of club manufacturers to suit his game. Rose, who had played a mixture of Titleist T100s and 620 MB irons in 2024, and then a full set of the Japanese forged muscle-back Miura irons to start 2025, reverted to Titleist’s CB option for 4- to 6-iron for added forgiveness.

Rose also found more gains with his iron play thanks to matching optimal spin numbers with a swap from Titleist’s Pro V1x+ to the 2025 Pro V1x.

“I've kind of gone through the gears a little bit. I've gone from the lowest spinning end that Titleist makes to almost the highest spinning end,” Rose said to Titleist on the golf ball. “It is the perfect combination of high spin around the greens and that beautiful spin in my short irons.”

Pitching into the top 10

His name was in the ring for a captain’s pick for the upcoming Ryder Cup, but ultimately, Captain Keegan Bradley didn’t pick himself. But for months, the golfing world was wondering if he’d become the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963. Bradley was in a position to do so thanks to improvements across the board, but his biggest jump came around the greens.

Bradley switched into Cleveland’s RTZ Tour Rack to start the year, featuring the team's new steel named Z-Alloy, which has a lower-density material that Cleveland says makes it 10% softer than previous models. Bradley not only changed the model of his wedges, but also his gapping.

“All the guys that have switched say spin around the green and especially feel are improved with the new material,” Michael Jolly, director of Tour operations for Srixon Golf. “He was forever a 52/58 degree guy and was always a gap. Spent a bunch of time this off-season and incorporated the 56.”

Bradley shifted to a 51-, 55- and 60-degree wedge to his setup for 2025. Adding the extra wedge into the lineup, along with lowering the bounce on his highest-lofted wedge, has given Bradley more options around the greens. He shot up the short-game rankings for 2025, rising from 88th to seventh in SG: Around the green.

Putting on a show

Questions were being asked before the season began about Cameron Young's game, specifically whether he could match his elite ball-striking with a TOUR-level putting game. He answered in 2025 with aplomb, earning his first career victory at the Wyndham Championship.

Young’s journey to finding the right putter started earlier this year at the Cognizant Classic. Previously, in a Scotty Cameron Phantom 5.5 Tour Prototype, Young messed around with the 9.5 versions that had just been released. Liking the way it felt at setup, Young tested different neck styles to see how the putter could flow in the stroke.

“The big thing to him was different bends and different neck and different ways of putter set and he felt the way the 9 was sitting,” said Scotty Cameron’s Brad Cloke. “Finally, he could go into that jet neck, that little flow neck and it's really kind of just been from there on out. “I think the way that it sets up to him, the way it sits for him week to week, different grasses, different green complexes, I think that's really helped his confidence knowing that hey, he can just sit it down, line it up and go.”

Young settled on a Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5 Tour Prototype with a short slant neck to give the putter more toe hang and flow. With the new flatstick in hand, Young has risen from 132nd to sixth in SG: Putting, earned his first TOUR title and a spot in his hometown Ryder Cup.