The final major of the 2016-17 season is upon us, and it should be a great one. The PGA Championship heads to Quail Hollow for the first time, and just like the rest of the major year, we are not without innumerable storylines.

Let's look at which stories you should be rooting for at the 99th PGA Championship. This little exercise has actually changed quite a bit throughout the year because of who has won the first three majors and how that has changed the trajectory of the sport.

So let's break down the nine for whom you should root the hardest this week.

1. Rory McIlroy: It feels a little odd to list the prohibitive favorite in the No. 1 slot here given that I normally prefer to put underdogs up top, but McIlroy winning this week would be tremendous for the sport. First, it would touch off one of the stronger major winner seasons in recent memory. And second, it would set a trajectory of him and Jordan Spieth duking it out for the next decade to see who can get to 10 first. I don't want to say that this tournament is going to change the short-term history of the sport, but that intimation might not be that far off given what's at stake.

2. Jordan Spieth: You should be rooting for Spieth to complete the career Grand Slam this time around because it's his only chance to do it at a younger age than Tiger Woods. Can you imagine if he won all four majors by the age of 24 and did it on McIlroy's turf (where he has two wins)? Like I said above, this PGA Championship has more history at stake than most, and Spieth is right in the thick of all of it.

3. Rickie Fowler: What if we run it back to 2012 and get a McIlroy-Fowler playoff at Quail Hollow, how good would that be? Fowler is normally at the top of this list because he's probably one of the two or three best players in the world without a major championship. He duked it out with McIlroy and Phil Mickelson three years ago at Valhalla. A repeat of that would be tremendous.

4. Matt Kuchar: After what he did at The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, seeing Kuchar get his first major would be a high point of the PGA Tour season. He may be even higher on this list at the Masters next year.

5. Phil Mickelson: This is Lefty's 100th career major, but he hasn't won anywhere since the 2013 Open. It would be sweet to see him finally get a win at Quail Hollow where he has a 70.1 scoring average and multiple top-five finishes in the last five years there.

6. Justin Thomas: A win for Thomas would touch off the year of the young American. From Brooks Koepka at the U.S. Open to Jordan Spieth at The Open Championship, Thomas could make it three American major winners under the age of 30. Long live next year's Ryder Cup team.

7. Jon Rahm: Another guy who could really solidify the pedigree of the 2017 major season. Rahm has the goods to be the best player in the world, and he's as gregarious and as enjoyable to watch as they come.

8. Sergio Garcia: Can you imagine two majors in the same season for Garcia after it took him nearly 20 to win his first? A double-major calendar year for Garcia would be great for him but even better for the sport. 

9. Brandt Snedeker: This is a middle class man's version of Kuchar winning. These two golfers are probably the two best in the world in their mid-30s without a major win, and either one winning would do nothing to diminish the strength of the major winners this season.