One area of improvement for each top 25 golfer

Keep cool. As in emotion. There is no doubt the 27-year-old Englishman is a serious talent, but so too is his temper at times. He's one of the more expressive players in the game and tends to wear his golf heart on his dri-fit. The key again for Hatton is how well he can control himself when things get rough.

Keep the victories coming. Last season, Casey won the Valspar Championship for his first PGA Tour victory since 2008. It was part of a revival of sorts for Casey, who earned a spot on Europe's Ryder Cup team. Now the goal is to fine-tune both his physical and mental game to make sure he does not go another extended stretch without a Tour victory. At age 41, perhaps maturity will play a part in Casey's renewed focus.

Consistency. Woodland has been known as a grinder, but he also has shown the ability to play lights out at times. The reigning Phoenix Open winner has already endured an interesting start to the official season. He's also posted two second-place finishes but tied for 41st and missed the secondary cut at the Sony Open last weekend. That inconsistency continues to be maddening for Woodland, who has the potential to rank consistently in the top 15. 

Short game. It's hard to pinpoint an obvious area of weakness for a guy who has already won twice in his last three official starts of the season. Though there's always the issue of how monetarily generous he is with his caddies. Statistically at the moment, Kuchar ranks outside the top 100 around-the-green and putting, so there's room to get better in those areas. However, as long as the wins keep coming, Kuchar's shortcomings will be overlooked.

Finding the green. Arguably the hardest offseason worker of anybody in the game, Noren does plenty of things well on the course too. However, during his 2018 season in PGA Tour events, the Swede hit only 65 percent of his greens in regulation. Perhaps that's a big reason why he did not win an '18 event on the Tour.

Distance off the tee. Simpson has never been known as a big hitter and continues to compensate for that, often with success. He failed to crack the top 90 in both driving distance and accuracy and likely does not have a chance to be a serious contender on longer courses that reward length off the tee, thus, still leaving his game incomplete. 

The putter. As is the case with plenty of golfers around the globe and certainly on this list, the putter can always be better. Cantlay is no exception. He finished outside the top 150 on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting, the official designation. The good news is through three official 2018-19 events, he's within the top 50 in that department. 

Putting. It's all about the putter this season for Spieth, and so far things have not been much better in that area compared to 2018. Many claim a big reason for his winless '18 stemmed from a putter that went cold. The reality is that part of Spieth's game has progressively gotten worse from 2015 when he was a top-five putter to last season when he finished outside the top 100.

Short game. Tip of the cap to the 40-year-old Watson, who won three tournaments last season and finished sixth in the money. But if we want to get nit-picky, Watson has to be better near the pin. In terms of Strokes Gained in 2018, Watson finished outside of the top 100 in putting and barely inside the top 175 around-the-greens. Imagine if those numbers were half that, and Watson might have achieved one of the most successful campaigns ever.

Consistency off the tee. As the driver — or any club off the tee for that matter — goes, usually goes Leishman. He was outside the top 100 in the PGA Tour's Off-the-Tee category last year, but he enters this weekend inside the top 80 and posted a victory in October. If he can find that consistency to start each hole, then Leishman can be a bigger threat than we've seen.

Getting to the green. Best known for his work around the greens, Reed can always get better off the tee and on his approach shots. According to the PGA Tour, Reed was not in the top 100 in the Off-the-Tee department and was just inside the century mark when it came to approaching the green last season. Now Reed's overall game is definitely more solid than most others, but improving on those areas could mean an extra victory and plenty more dollars in 2019.

Taking the next step. It seems like only a matter of time before the energetic, young Englishman breaks through and wins a major. Perhaps, this season. It's hard to pick a significant area of weakness in Fleetwood's physical game, so now it might be time to see if he's got the mental strength to elevate his play on the course and claim that first major championship. 

Getting over the major hump. While Fleetwood is eyeing the next step in his budding career, Fowler is yet again trying to win his first major — a feat golf fans and fellow Tour players have been thinking would have happened by now. It's a tired story, really, but one that may start to define the 30-year-old, who is close to wandering into Sergio Garcia territory when it comes to waiting on a major victory.

Conditioning/stamina.  We know his game appears to be back, but what about Woods' motor? He just turned 43, and his body has been failing him for a while now. He's being choosy with his schedule, so that should help things. Whether his body can hold up a full season, especially during the summer, is worth following.

Approach play. Day struggled in terms of consistently getting to the green in 2018. Whether it was off the tee or approach shots, Day's stats in both areas dipped to among the lowest in his career. He won twice in 2018 to rebound from a rough '17, but unless he improves in both areas, he may again fail to finish outside the top 10 in major play, as was the case last season.

Learn how to finish. Despite not winning a match in 2018, Finau enjoyed a stellar season. He posted 11 top-10 finishes — three in majors — won more than $5.5 million and earned a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team. However, Finau's lone victory came in March 2016, so it's time to learn how to close the deal. According to the PGA Tour, Finau was eighth in first-round scoring and 31st in the final round.

Keeping perspective. Another case where the key to a golfer's success doesn't necessarily depend on how well he plays a certain part of the game. For Molinari, it's mental and it's realizing he does not have to consume himself with constantly trying to better a stellar 2018 season. The Italian won the Open Championship, the BMW PGA Championship and went 5-0 at the Ryder Cup. As long as Molinari's game remains consistent and he does not fall into the trap of overthinking matters, then he should be fine. 

Putting. Like Spieth, McIlroy needs to see his putter work better. He barely ranked within the top 100 last season and through his first eight official rounds in 2018-19, McIlroy has made 243 putts. He has not won a major since 2014 but has finished in the top 10 eight times in such matches since then. A made putt here or there, and things might have changed for the better.

His putter. Like McIroy, the putter has not been all that friendly to Rahm of late. His 2019 season is off to a solid start (T8 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions), but he ranks 133rd in overall putting average over a small sample size and 199th in SG: Putting. He was not much better in those categories in 2018.

Peaking too early. Again, another case of not necessarily improving something physical but rather managing one's game in proper fashion. With two wins and a tie for eighth in his last three matches, Schauffele's faults are minuscule at the moment. The key for the 25-year-old is to maintain that locked-in focus throughout the season. That's obviously easier said than done, but there's potential for a special 2019 in the making.

Around the green. Is there a quirkier figure in golf today than DeChambeau? Or one who is mentally more prepared? That can be a good or bad thing, but DeChambeau is one of the best young stars in the game and he has three top 10s in his three official starts in 2018-19. The one area of his game, however, that might need some tweaking is around the green, especially in the bunkers, where he's ranked outside of the top 100 in sand saves in recent years.

Have some fun. There's obviously no denying how talented Thomas is, but it would be nice if he actually took time to enjoy the game. His incident in removing a heckling fan aside, it just does not seem Thomas is having much on the course. He's not the most engaging interview and often seems void of emotion, so it's tough for fans to take to him.

Sense of urgency. Most of Johnson's golf peers don't see a weakness in his game, and they are likely right. We can dig deep to find something, but most golfers on Tour would settle for most of Johnson's flaws. Perhaps time is becoming an issue? He's 34, certainly not old, but there is plenty of young talent in the game ready to surpass Johnson when it comes to major success. He still only has that one major victory (2016 U.S. Open). Health can be a concern, but Johnson must keep that mental edge to go along with his complete game.

Handle the target on his back. Koepka wants the No. 1 ranking back, and the rest of the golf world knows it. This isn't as much about improvement  though it could be classified as that from a mental standpoint — but more of an adaptation. Winning two majors in one season has left Koepka as the man to beat in 2019, and he must learn to deal with the pressure — which, in golf, usually comes from within. 

Return to major glory. Rose is the No. 1 player in the world, and he won on both the PGA and European Tours in 2018. He's also a consistent major threat, with seven top 10s in such events over the last four years. The problem: Rose has not won a major event since his only one, at the 2013 U.S. Open. It's time for the elite mentality to kick back in and truly solidify that No. 1 ranking.