HAVEN, Wis. -- I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about this top 25 list for the PGA Championship. Not because I have some new technique that will guarantee all my predictions will be spot on. No, I'm excited because this means I have eight months until the next top 25, when people freak out over who is and isn't on my list.
Even tour players I know laugh when this comes out. I still haven't figured out if they're laughing because of the task, or at the comments people write.
To be honest, as much as I hate typing, I do enjoy the challenge of something no one else in this sport attempts for every major of the year. With that, I give you the final top 25 of the 2014-15 season.
1. Jason Day
The time is right now. Day is healthy and playing like a man obsessed with finally getting the "majorless" tag off his back. Does it sound funny to say about a 27-year-old that a major has been a long time coming? Because it feels like it.
2. Bubba Watson
Other than the majors this year, it has been a pretty good season for Watson. Coming off his second runner-up finish in a row might make him the hottest player on tour. This course has a special place in his heart because it's where he locked up his first trip to the Ryder Cup.
3. Jordan Spieth
As much as I want to see him win three majors this year, I just think there's something in his game right now that he's struggling with. I think he's having a tough time letting bad holes go. He's gone through this before and will conquer it again, but this week, as at The Open, it will prevent him from winning.
4. Louis Oosthuizen
Those Johnson boys (Dustin and Zach) have caused Oosthuizen to be the most under-the-radar guy coming into the final major of the year. With back-to-back runner-up finishes at Chambers Bay and St. Andrews, his record shows that if the tournament is big and he makes the cut, he's 50-50 to finish in the top 10. Don't bet against him.
5. Patrick Reed
Going about his business quietly is not something many would have imagined saying about Reed since he burst on the scene. But that's exactly what he has been doing since winning the Hyundai. And for his past three starts, he has been trending in a direction that could lead him to victory.
6. Steven Bowditch
This is only Bowditch's second PGA Championship start. Last year didn't go well, with a missed cut. There's nothing like a win earlier this season and a solid finish the week before your second go-round at this championship to secure your best finish in a major ever.
7. Rickie Fowler
We've seen this movie before from Fowler. When things start to click again, he can go on some long stretches of really great golf, even without winning. He's in the midst of one of those stretches now.
8. Zach Johnson
Throw out the U.S. Open (when thinking about that course, it's pretty easy to do) and since the beginning of May, Johnson has been on a fairly amazing run. Seven starts, seven finishes inside the top 19, including four top-10s and one in a major. It's easy to see this trend continuing.
9. David Lingmerth
Talk about winning breeding confidence. Since winning the Memorial, Lingmerth looks like a guy ready to go to the next level. He also looks and plays like he'll be comfortable being there. He will need to hit more fairways this week than last week to find this level of success at the PGA Championship, however.
10. Robert Streb
Five missed cuts this season? Now, I'll tell you his most recent one came in April at New Orleans, and his worst finish since then has been a T-42 at the U.S. Open. Maybe the No. 5 I should have used is where he sits right now going into the FedEx Cup playoffs.
11. Danny Willett
Willett is one of my favorite European Tour players right now. And not only because he's a cool guy, but because he's No. 2 in the Race to Dubai, won the Omega European Masters less than a month ago, and finished 17th last week in Bridgestone. He's got some fire in him.
12. Sergio Garcia
It's Garcia and it's a major. I would be really dumb not to have him somewhere inside the top 18 coming into the final major of the year. His attitude has been so great even with all the idiots in the crowds trying to mess him up. If he gets into contention, good karma should fall his way.
13. Keegan Bradley
Nothing like some fly-fishing to get you back into the swing of things. That's what Bradley did the week before Bridgestone, and it worked. What he has to do this week is stop being so hard on himself when he hits a bad shot or putt, and the good finishes will continue to rise.
14. Henrik Stenson
I'm giving some credit here to my colleague Jason Sobel for this one. Originally I didn't even have Stenson in my top 25, then we had a discussion on who leads the tour in total driving. I won't tell you whom I deleted from the list, but the keys are still glowing red from how fast I dropped Stenson in here. Yes, driving the ball will be that important around here.
15. Brooks Koepka
His finishes in majors have been improving steadily since the T-33 at the Masters. Now he comes to the PGA off a T-6 finish at the Bridgestone Invitational, brimming with confidence. He's plenty long off the tee, but it's his greens in regulation (almost 70 percent for the season) that should earn him a high top-15 finish.
16. Pat Perez
This will be his first major start of the year, so a finish inside the top 20 should be considered a success. Perez has missed only one cut in the calendar year (at Bay Hill). Additionally, he finished outside the top 26 only twice in his past 11 starts, so it's easy to see why this prediction should be about right.
17. Charley Hoffman
It's been feast or famine this year for Hoffman in majors, but I'm counting on this being a good bookend finish to go with his T-9 at the Masters. The scary part for Hoffman is his putter. He hit 75 and 77 percent of the greens in the past two majors respectively, and missed the cut at both of them. Just let the putter be lukewarm this week.
18. Jimmy Walker
Choker. Someone please tell him I called him that. He'll know what to do.
19. Graeme McDowell
Inspiration from a friend? Darn right. As soon as I saw McDowell waiting to congratulate Shane Lowry at the scoring area last week, I knew he would be inside the top 20 on my list. No better motivation for success than seeing your friend play well the week before.
20. Shane Lowry
Winning two in a row may be a bit much to ask, but following up a win with a top-20 finish is not. Around Whistling Straits, that short-game magic Lowry showed last week will again put him in a great spot.
21. J.B. Holmes
Why yes, length off the tee does matter on this course. And when you can fly the ball low and spin the heck out of it around the greens, you'll give yourself enough birdie looks to have a good finish.
22. Scott Piercy
Something clicked for Piercy after the Memorial, and it has been solid play (including a win at the Barbasol) ever since. He had a week off after the Canadian Open and is coming here fresh and recharged for a run into the FedEx Cup playoffs.
23. Paul Casey
Casey has great feelings from his performance here in 2010 (T-12), and he's also got to feel like his game is right there on the cusp of winning. This course may be just a little too long for a win, but a top-25 finish is easily in his wheelhouse.
24. Rory McIlroy
I hesitate to put him this high on the list but I figured if I had a top 25 list with no Rory, Tiger and Phil, someone was going to come after me. It's not that I don't believe the No. 1 player in the world can't finish in the top 25. The issue I have is with him doing it on this course in his first tournament back from an ankle injury. It's a lot to ask even of Rory.
25. Ben Polland
The 25-year-old assistant pro from Manhasset, New York, made the field by finishing second at the PGA Professional National Championship in Philadelphia last month. He's playing in his first PGA Championship, and I believe the saying "ignorance is bliss" will apply. Polland can give hope to future PGA professionals.