I am a big golf fan. I love playing it in real life, watching it, and playing various gaming titles over the years. Having spent dozens of hours playing PGA Tour 2K23 and EA Sports PGA Tour, I was still searching for the title that offers a great golf gameplay experience while including all of my favourite features in one game. After playing PGA Tour 2K25 for the past week or so, we’re getting closer to that perfect golf title—but how close did we get this time?
There is a lot to be excited about with this entry in HB Studios and 2K’s biennial golf series, with several new features, exciting new courses and a range of players to use. Typically, the first thing I do in these kinds of games is create my own player, so I headed over to the MyPLAYER section to do just that.
As far as character creators go, it’s pretty robust, offering sliders to adjust facial composition, height and body appearance. Two body types allow for clothing options tailored to each. After creating and naming my player, I was left disappointed by a missing feature: the option to assign my player a name that could be used by the commentary team. No such option exists in this game. It’s not a game-breaking omission, but it became tiresome to hear my player only referred to as “the player” or “he” (or “she” or “they,” should you choose) during gameplay.
“PGA Tour 2K25 gives priority to how precise your inputs are over actual Swing Timing (one of my least favourite components from PGA Tour 2K23).”
Heading over to the Training section, I was greeted by the option to try out the new EvoSwing mechanics, which break your swing down into four individual components: Contact, Rhythm, Transition, and Swing Path. Each of these mechanics can have an effect on the flight of your ball after contact, so making sure you have it down is quite important, especially if you’re using the Swing Stick. What I found was that PGA Tour 2K25 gives priority to how precise your inputs are over actual Swing Timing (one of my least favourite components from PGA Tour 2K23).
This emphasis on precision allows you to develop your own timing and swing path without it being detrimental to your game. While there is still some wiggle room in what qualifies as “precision,” there are on-screen indicators to show you exactly how far off the ideal mark you are while staying within the safe zone, preventing the ball from flying off into Narnia—like it does for me in real life.
In addition to the above-mentioned swing mechanics, Perfect Swing is a brand-new feature in PGA Tour 2K25. It functions as a different type of difficulty setting that removes much of the guesswork from playing your round. Perfect Swing essentially reduces the impact that external forces, such as wind, can have on your shots. At first, I used Perfect Swing exclusively, as it let me hit the ball in the fairway and dial in shots to the green with ease. It wasn’t until I was winning tournaments in MyCareer by double digits (I managed to put up back-to-back 59s in my first tournament) that I realized I needed a stiffer challenge.
After increasing the Swing Difficulty in the settings menu from Perfect Swing to Pro and then Master, I finally found the right balance of challenge while keeping the game playable. I needed to be far more precise than before—judging wind speed and clubbing up or down depending on the situation—which gave me a greater sense of accomplishment when I won subsequent tournaments. None of this is to say that Perfect Swing is bad. In fact, it’s my favourite feature of PGA Tour 2K25. It gives everyone the ability to jump in and be competitive, regardless of skill level.
MyCAREER has seen a lot of updates in PGA Tour 2K25, helping players feel more like pros as the season progresses. For me, the biggest addition is the new Conversation and Interview system. This system allows players to build their personality and increase their fan base. When you complete a tournament, you have the option to hold press conferences or sit-down interviews to discuss your performance, how you’ll maintain it over the season, and more. The answers you give shape your personality, with dialogue choices categorized as Bold, Composed or Reserved.
Player dilemmas will also arise during MyCAREER. For example, early in my player’s career, I was given the option to either develop an app that offers drills and training techniques or visit a school to encourage reading among students. Each choice provided its own incentive, resulting in fan growth and sometimes offering a small boost for the next round.
“Visually speaking, PGA Tour 2K25 is a sight to behold, with significant improvements to the graphics immediately noticeable compared to PGA Tour 2K23.”
I want to return to MyPLAYER for a moment, as there’s a major part of the player creator I left out earlier: the player archetype. Part of creating a player in PGA Tour 2K25 involves selecting one of five available archetypes: Powerhouse, Technician, Magician, Sculptor and Greenskeeper. Each archetype provides starting attributes that align with its playstyle. As you might expect, Powerhouse lets you hit the ball farther, while Technician offers a bigger boost to the Swing Path and Contact attributes. As you progress through tournaments, you’ll earn attribute points that can be allocated to various stats, helping you level up your pro to legendary status.
Additionally, the Skills system has been completely revamped in PGA Tour 2K25, offering skill trees for different shot types: Tee, Approach, Bunker, Recovery, Green and Chip. As you progress through these skill trees, you’ll unlock new shot types within each one. For example, in the Approach tree, there’s a skill that unlocks the ability to hit your driver off the fairway instead of only from the tee box. It’s a risky shot, but when executed successfully, it can be the difference between a 20-foot putt for eagle or a 50-yard chip to set up a birdie.
Similar to player skills, PGA Tour 2K25 introduces the ability to level up your clubs using Level Up tokens, Fittings and EvoTools, all of which are earned through gameplay. This gives you greater control over the equipment in your bag and allows you to fully customize it to match your playstyle.
The Quest system is another feature I’m excited about in PGA Tour 2K25, as it adds significant replay value. Quests are small objectives that can be completed in MyCAREER and throughout other game modes where they apply. The MyCAREER quest checklist is based on the career of cover star Tiger Woods and is aptly named the GOAT checklist. Complete these objectives by winning tournaments, gaining fans and building your brand through sponsorships. Quests are added daily, weekly and seasonally, so there’s always something to work toward.
Online multiplayer is something PGA Tour 2K25 will thrive on, and there is a brand-new addition called Ranked Tours. Ranked Tours give players the option to compete in daily and weekly events to earn in-game rewards. Additionally, during the PGA Tour calendar season, weekly events will be available that follow the official PGA schedule. As early access was not available at the time of writing, there were no players online to compete against, but I am excited to try out the Ranked Tours to see exactly how well (or poorly) I stack up against the rest of the world. Unlike Ranked Matchmaking, there is something here for players of all skill levels and swing type preferences (Three-Click or Swing Stick).
In terms of available courses, PGA Tour 2K25 offers 27 different licensed courses, including Pebble Beach, TPC Sawgrass, TPC Scottsdale and Torrey Pines South. Additionally, The Old Course at St. Andrews will be available in Season 2. Three of the four major tournament courses from this year’s PGA Tour schedule—the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Golf Club, and the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush Golf Club—are also available, with the exception of Augusta National.
“If you’re a golf enthusiast or simply a fan of the series, I highly recommend checking out PGA Tour 2K25—it’s probably the best golf game out there.”
Visually speaking, PGA Tour 2K25 is a sight to behold. Significant improvements to the graphics are immediately noticeable when compared to PGA Tour 2K23. This is reflected in both the player models and the golf courses themselves. It is clear the team at HB Studios wanted to ensure the game looked as good as possible while keeping gameplay smooth and accessible.
The Course Designer in PGA Tour 2K25 is extremely impressive. Featuring a new high-resolution terrain system, updated surfaces, new items and all-new tools, building your dream course is easier than ever. The course you build is also shareable, allowing players around the world to enjoy your creation. I dabbled in the course designer for a while, but I simply don’t have the mind for design in that way. The controls are intuitive and easy to use, however, and that’s about 75 percent of the battle right there.
Lastly, we come to the Clubhouse Pass. PGA Tour 2K25’s online reward system for levelling up is transitioning to a non-expiring model, allowing players to progress at their own pace while unlocking items. Both free and premium options are available, with 100 tiers of rewards to earn. Additionally, tier skips can be purchased using in-game currency, enabling players to advance through tiers in both the free and premium models.
On its own, PGA Tour 2K25 is a brilliant golf game. It really highlights the benefits of being a biennial title rather than an annual release—at least for me. That said, there are a couple of features I would have liked to see, such as the option in quick play to choose a course and then select specific holes to play. There were a few times I wanted to play hole 7 at Pebble Beach or hole 16 at TPC Scottsdale to try for hole-in-ones, but currently, players can only choose the front nine or back nine.
If you’re a golf enthusiast or simply a fan of the series, I highly recommend checking out PGA Tour 2K25. It’s probably the best golf game out there. It’s easy and fun to play, features a great career mode and has a charm that’s uncommon in sports titles.
