The off season is usually a depressingly quiet time for the From the Locker Room team. Kicking around cold and musty locker rooms, just waiting for a sniff of a story and that’s just what we have.

Like a superhero gang the team has assembled – after speaking to multiple sources – at EuroDov Tour HQ to get some answers on the 2025 season.

For the past 2 years there have been a number of rumours that David McColgan, 13-time Major winner, would not tee it up in the Order of Merit, where he has 9 event wins, 4 honours and 4 James Braid Quaich’s to his name.

Looking back at 2024, it was also a marquee year for McColgan winning the Invitational Tournament at the third time of asking to complete the Career Grand Slam, and this is where the story picks up in 2025.

On the 19th November this year the EuroDov Tour updated the field list for the Invitational Tournament with the inclusion of Ally Greenshields. Greenshields finished 9th in the 2024 Montgomery Cup and as such was the first reserve for the event.

Whilst Greenshields was added there was no one removed from the field, however the FTLR team can reveal, from multiple sources, that McColgan will not take his place in the 2025 Invitational Tournament.

McColgan’s win in 2024 gives him a two-year exemption into the Invitational Tournament, but for 2025 he qualified out right given his top 8 finish in the Montgomery Cup. He has never missed a tournament since the Tour’s inception in 2013 and will end his Major appearance streak on May 4th, 2025.

Rumours are circulating however, that whilst he will not tee it up on May 4th, he will be present at the event and has been in conversation with players to caddy for them – more details to follow on this.

Speaking at EuroDov Tour HQ, a source within the tournaments committee confirmed, “McColgan has notified the EuroDov Tour that he will not take up his spot in the 2025 Invitational Tournament, as such Ally Greenshields has been invited and accepted to play, completing the field.”

The source continued, “the Tour has also been notified by McColgan’s team that his participation in the Order of Merit this year will be limited with the player missing the King’s Cup and the Lochgelly-Forrester Open.”

We are trying to get confirmation from McColgan’s team as this article is written and we’ll bring you any comment they offer.

But for now, what are the implications for the field?

Let’s look at the Invitational Tournament; firstly let’s recognise that McColgan has only one this event once, being better by Andy Love and Kevin Brannan in 2022 and '23. His absence however will be noted by the field with a sense of everything is up for grabs.

The field will now feature 2 Major winners, Brannan – who won the Invitational in 2023 – and Sutherland, the winner of the 2024 Montgomery Cup. They’ll be joined by 3-time Order of Merit event winners Paul Gowens and Richard Mair, and one time winner Alan Duncan. Scott Gowens will join the field too after winning the Bruce Shield and Q-School in 2024.

So, let’s not be under any illusion, this will be a stacked field, and whoever manages to emerge at the top of the pile come May 4th will truly deserve their Major star.

Let’s take a look at the Order of Merit, for many this is going to be the big talking point. Is McColgan disrespecting the field by skipping a third of the regular season? Does he really think he can compete for the James Braid Quaich with out two events worth of points?

McColgan has been dominant in the Order of Merit since its inception in 2021. He won the inaugural tournament by 567 points, in 2022 his winning margin was 2050 points, 2023 saw him win by 2400 points and in 2024 he won by his largest margin yet of 3050 points.

His record speaks for itself, and I don’t think there is anyone who thinks he plays for anything other than winning the James Braid Quaich, so what would a reduced schedule do to his chances?

Well even if McColgan had claimed maximum points in 2024 in the King’s Cup and Lochgelly-Forrester Open he’d only lose 2400 points which would still have given him a winning margin of 650 points. However, McColgan managed two 3rd place finishes in these events which equated to 1700 points over the two events, so if you take these points from McColgan in 2024 he’d have still won by 1350 points.

Of course, the points he claimed would be redistributed and, in the case of 2024, this would only have meant an extra 50 points for runner up Richard Mair, and if Mair, who missed the King’s Cup had won there he’d still be 100 points short of over taking McColgan.

So, what does it mean for McColgan in 2024 and the rest of the Order of Merit field. Well, I don’t think it means all too much for McColgan if I am honest, he’s been really open about the Order of Merit and his approach. If he can maintain that ambition for top-3 finishes in the events he plays he’d record 7200 points based on 4 3rd place finishes in the regular season and 2 3rd place finishes in the Tour Champs. And in the 16 player Order of Merit era, 7200 points would have been enough for McColgan to win both times in 2023 and 2024.

So, for the field – it’s clearly an opportunity, but with opportunity comes pressure. There’ll be a greater incentive in finishing above McColgan in the first four events of the year and there’ll be significant pressure to maximise performances when he isn’t playing.

Could 2025 be the year there is a new name on the James Braid Quaich, the odds won’t be as long as they have been historically, but I am not sure they’ll be too short as well.

As we wrap up this piece, we have just received a statement from McColgan’s camp, “like all Tour members David McColgan confirmed his schedule with EuroDov Tour HQ and we can confirm he will not play the 2025 Invitational Tournament, the King’s Cup or the Lochgelly-Forrester Open.

It was a hard decision for him to withdraw from the season’s second Major, especially as the defending champion, and as someone who has always championed the Order of Merit and the Tour, his withdrawal from the last two events of the regular season was not easy.

However, he has committed to a series of off-Tour events in 2025 including the Carnoustie Silver Tassie Championship, Nairn Golf week, The Eden Trophy, the Innerpeffray Cup and the Scottish Mid-Amateur Championship that clash with the Tour schedule.

Whilst he recognises the retention of the James Braid Quaich will be a challenge when playing a reduced schedule McColgan is committed to giving it is all to win his fifth Order of Merit.”

Well, there we have it folks, the season isn’t even up on us yet and there are lots of variables to consider as we head into the 2025 season.

We’ll bring you more updates as the off-season progress until then stay well, and golf when you can!