Ranking the Top 10 Players Under 25 on the PGA Tour

There's always a great deal of interest in who's coming next on the PGA Tour. Who are the latest young guns, the guys who will try to reach the levels of Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods (when he's healthy) and Adam Scott?

As we approach the 2015 portion of the 2014-15 season, there is definitely a very talented group of under-25s who have a chance to make some serious noise this year.

Here's a list of 10 of the best players under 25.

Admittedly, guys like Luke Guthrie and Derek Ernst have some ground to make up to reach the top of that list, but they've proven they have talent and just need to ramp up their games a bit.

10. Luke Guthrie

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Luke Guthrie has had a pair of solid seasons on the PGA Tour.

Luke Guthrie hasn't been greatly successful on the PGA Tour, but he has proven to be a quick study.

He figured out that playing well early in the year and posting a good finish or two help a player get through the tough days of summer, when the pressure rises on players trying to keep their card for the next year.

In 2013, he finished third at the Honda Classic in March, and last year, he tied for eighth at the Memorial Tournament in June.

Guthrie, 24, knows how to win, having been successful at Illinois.

He now needs to do some of that on the PGA Tour.

9. Derek Ernst

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Derek Ernst has a win on the PGA Tour.

Derek Ernst has a win on the PGA Tour. It came on the 2013 Wells Fargo Championship, where he defeated David Lynn on the first hole of a playoff.

OK, so that is his only finish in the top 25 in 50 career starts. But Quail Hollow is one of the top tracks on the PGA Tour and to win there shows the 24-year-old has game.

He didn't make a ton of money but did make his last five cuts of 2014.

He's someone to keep an eye on.

8. Ryo Ishikawa

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Ryo Ishikawa needs to find consistency in his game.

So far, the most noteworthy thing about the PGA Tour career of Ryo Ishikawa is that he began his career playing with the big boys at age 17.

He had his best year in 2014, winning more than a million dollars and a T2 at the Shriners Hospitals for Childrens Open in the fall stage of the 2013-14 season.

Ishikawa had three top-10s but also missed 10 cuts. 

His talent is obvious, and if he continues to mature, we might see the guy who has nine Japan Tour titles.

7. Carlos Ortiz

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Carlos Ortiz comes into his rookie season on the PGA Tour as the best player on the Web.com Tour a year ago.

Carlos Ortiz is this year's hot rookie off the Web.com Tour.

He won his third event in August, but in his finish after that, he didn't do much. He didn't post a round in the 60s in the final three events on the Web.com Tour.

He went 0-for-3 in the Finals with zero red numbers. The only cut the 23-year-old made in his last six starts was the win in August. His only cut made in his last six starts was his third victory.

There are high expectations for this native of Mexico who brings plenty of game to the PGA Tour.

6. Justin Thomas

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Justin Thomas has been a success at every level he's played.

Justin Thomas had an outstanding college career at the University of Alabama, and it's expected he'll become a star on the PGA Tour as well.

Thomas got his professional career off to a good start, finishing in the top 25 in the Web.com Tour in earnings and No. 1 in the all-around category and in par breakers.

He made seven starts in his PGA Tour debut and missed four cuts. He posted one top-10, opening and closing in the Farmers Insurance Open with rounds in the 60s. 

5. Hideki Matsuyama

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Hideki Matsuyama shows very good form from the fairway.

OK, so it took something of an epic collapse by Bubba Watson for it to happen, but Hideki Matsuyama was rock-steady from start to finish at the Memorial Tournament. He shot four rounds under par, including the last three in the 60s.

The 22-year-old Japanese star's first full year on the PGA Tour featured 12 top-25 finishes in 24 starts, including an early T3 and T4. His play was of sufficient quality that he qualified for the Tour Championship in his first try.

In three of the four playoff events, Matsuyama finished in the top 30.

4. Brooks Koepka

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Expect big things from Brooks Koepka in 2015.

Brooks Koepka didn't get to the PGA Tour the old-fashioned way. He chose to go to Europe and play on the Challenge Tour (the European Tour's version of the Web.com Tour).

He won there, played well on a few European Tour events and then played well enough to get into the top 125 on the FedEx Cup points as a non-member of the PGA Tour.

Koepka tied for fourth at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 and T15 at the PGA Championship.

Koepka hits the ball a mile, finishing second in driving distance to Bubba Watson at 317.3 yards per drive.

The 24-year-old could be a major player in 2015.

3. Patrick Reed

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Patrick Reed reasserted himself at the Ryder Cup after slumping most of the year.

After winning twice early in the season, Patrick Reed made a mess of things when he declared himself to be a top-five player in the world, even though he was not anywhere close to that.

He was villified throughout most of the summer for those comments, and his play suffered.

But he posted a pair of top-10s and a top-20 in the last two months and was a strong player for the United States Ryder Cup team, pairing with Jordan Spieth to form one of the strongest pairs for the U.S.

Golf fans were rooting for him, and he could become a real favorite in 2015.

2. Victor Dubuisson

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Victor Dubuisson gained worldwide notoriety for his pair of shots from the desert last February.

Until Victor Dubuisson hit a pair of shots out of the desert in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, not much was known about the 24-year-old Frenchman.

His two spectacular shots prolonged his match in the finals against Jason Day, but Day eventually prevailed.

Dubuisson finished T28 in the U.S. Open, T9 in the Open Championship and T7 in the PGA Championship.

He was very good for Team Europe in the Ryder Cup, earning 2.5 of a possible three points in his first time in the event.

1. Jordan Spieth

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Jordan Spieth tops this list as well as several others.

There really is no question about Jordan Spieth's place in the game.

He was dominant when he broke onto the PGA Tour as a 20-year-old, winning once and finishing second three times. He earned a spot on the Presidents Cup that year, and while he didn't win in 2014, he was a factor in a couple of majors and earned a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

Spieth has shown he can play under the pressure and needs to take that next step up and break through with his second PGA Tour victory.