2025 PGA Championship Power Rankings: Top 10 Players To Watch

May 14, 2025

TourPicks ranks his top-10 Teams to watch for at the 2025 PGA Championship, held this year at the Quail Hollow Golf Club in North Carolina. Insights on the top-10 golfers for the week and reasons why they are primed to win.

Quail Hollow Golf Club, normally the host venue for the Wells Fargo/Truist Championship, was put on hold last week as they sharpened the teeth of the golf course in order to host the 2025 PGA Championship this week. It's the second Major Championship of the season, and we're fortunate not to be flying blindly into preparation for a brand new course.

In this article, I'll do my best to break down my Top 10 Power Rankings for players based on recent form and specific player profiles that I believe are the best fits for Quail Hollow, given the historical context and data.  It's potentially the best and deepest field in professional golf, ready to take on the challenge of Major Championship golf in a quest for the Wanamaker Trophy and golf immortality.

Without further ado, let’s dive into my Top 10 Power Rankings for the 2025 PGA Championship:

No. 10 - Joaquin Niemann

• Notched his 5th victory on LIV a few weeks ago in Mexico. Niemann has now won three of his last five starts on LIV.

• Ballstriking continues to be world-class. Niemann has the length off the tee and accuracy with his irons that should be ideal for typical PGA Championship setups.
• PROVE IT TIME! He's got the game to compete and win, but repeated shortcomings in Major Championships have prevented him from taking the next step.

No. 9 - Patrick Cantlay

• 3rd best in the field in SG: Approach at the Truist Championship, his eighth consecutive start gaining with his irons.

• Last time that Quail Hollow hosted the PGA Championship, the penalty for missing fairways was one of the highest in Major Championship history. Cantlay excels in this department, ranking 2nd in the field in GIR percentage from the rough.
• His putting is still holding him back, but it has been getting incrementally better, and if he can gain with the flat stick...watch out for the Ice Man.

No. 8 - Ludvig Aberg

• The prototypical PGA Championship player. However, struggling with his iron play quite a bit at the moment, which pushed Aberg down my rankings.

• Has never played Quail Hollow in a tournament and missed the cut last year in his first PGA Championship.
• Aberg raises his putting baseline significantly on undulated, fast, bentgrass greens like we will have on display at Quail Hollow.

No. 7 - Jon Rahm

• Continues to be the most consistently good player on LIV. It's hard to quantify the value in his Top-10 streak properly, but you have to acknowledge the insanely high floor that Rahm possesses.

• PGA Championship has been his worst of the four Majors. This will be his ninth PGA Championship and only three times has he finished with a score under par.
• Rahm is still dominant with his Driver. He's gained strokes OTT on the field in his last 18 worldwide starts!

No. 6 - Collin Morikawa

• Morikawa is one of the few exceptions where you can still be confident backing in Majors on long golf courses, even though he's not in the top half of the field in distance.

• The recent caddie change to Joe Greiner, who has a win at Quail Hollow with Max Homa, will hopefully provide a spark and some added confidence.
• He's either the first or second-best iron player in the world. It's good enough to carry him and cover up other weaknesses with he's able to play his reliable fade, which should be a perfect shot shape for Quail Hollow.

No. 5 - Xander Schauffele

• The reigning PGA Championship winner has been slowly coming back into top form. T12, T8, T18, and T11 for his last 4 starts.
• Back-to-back runner-up at Quail Hollow when they played the Wells Fargo. Schauffele is a terrific fit and has an exceptional course history.
• His putter has been the final piece to come back for Schauffele. 8th in Putting at the Truist Championship is a great sign for those backing Schauffele.

No. 4 - Justin Thomas

• Two-time PGA Championship winner, including the 2017 PGA Championship that was held here, at Quail Hollow Golf Club.
• Elite wedge player, which can propel him on scoring holes and will be beneficial when having to scramble to avoid bogey.
• Consecutive Top-five finishes, including his win at the RBC Heritage a few weeks back. He's trending and he loves this course.

No. 3 - Bryson DeChambeau

• DeChambeau ranks #1 in SG: OTT and Driving Distance in the field. It will prove to be a massive advantage on a course like this.

• He doesn't get enough credit for his Driving Accuracy because he hits it so far. DeChambeau hits more fairways on LIV than fellow competitors on LIV like Rahm, Niemann, and Koepka.
• He's been in the mix regularly at Majors, including his 2nd place at the PGA Championship last season. This Major feels inevitable for DeChambeau at some point.

No. 2 - Scottie Scheffler

• After about two years, I have finally taken Scheffler out of the #1 spot. It was a tough call, with his only negative being a lack of experience at Quail Hollow in the past.

• Scheffler just gained 23 strokes on the field at the CJ Cup in one of the most dominant wins in PGA Tour history. He's fully back.
• Best in the field in bogey avoidance and approach. His long iron player is a differentiator for Scheffler, and this is a course where he can fully utilize that ability to separate.

No. 1 - Rory McIlroy

• McIlroy is #1 in strokes gained at Quail Hollow by a country mile. Nobody has been more dominant here than Rory, who won at this course last season.
• Leads the field in carry distance. His high ball flight with the Driver gives him a substantial advantage at this course because he can carry the bunkers and doglegs.
• Clearly, winning the Masters was a huge burden lifted from his shoulders. He's playing the best player in the world right now, and he's got another chance to prove it on a golf course that was tailor-made for his game.

Enjoy the PGA Championship, and thanks for reading! Good luck, RotoBaller family!

If you read my articles @RotoBaller or listen to @TheTurnGolfPod I’ve been telling y’all it was #WinningSeason when golf came back! Shoutout to the entire @RotoBallerPGA squad and all you guys that support my work for all the ❤️ pic.twitter.com/07a4ynvbSU

— Joe Nicely (@JoeNicely) June 28, 2020

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