PGA Tour power rankings
by TOM LaMARRE, FOXSports.com
1. Tiger Woods, United States
When reporters asked Woods at the beginning of the year about the possibility of winning the Grand Slam this year, he didn't actually predict it, but did say it is within reason. He has said he is playing better than ever and that since he wins multiple tournaments every season, it is only a matter of winning the correct four. Woods has four Masters titles among his 13 majors — the latter total five short of Jack Nicklaus — and is aware that he let chances for additional green jackets slip away the last two years. He tied for second last year behind Zach Johnson, and tied for third the year before when Phil Mickelson won, playing well enough each time but lacking some of the Tiger magic he often conjures up.
Since Augusta seems to fit his game better than most others, it would seem he is due since he has not won the Masters since 2005. His longest drought came between his first title in 1997 and No. 2 in 2001, and Woods' worst finish at Augusta as a pro was a tie for 22nd in 2004. Should he win this week, the path to the Grand Slam would seem to be there, since he has won six times at Torrey Pines, site of the U.S. Open, and tied for second in 1998 at Royal Birkdale, site of the Open Championship. Victories in those events would take Woods to the precipice of history as defending champion in the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.
The Masters
2. Phil Mickelson, United States
Lefty will have to get things right with his putter if he is to contend for a third green jacket in the Masters after finishing in a tie for 23rd in the Shell Houston Open. Mickelson showed up at Redstone with a putter that is only 33 inches, and didn't have much success with it on greens that were said to be similar to those at Augusta. He needed 61 total putts on the first two days and had 29 each of the last two rounds to average 29.5 per round, tying for 48th among the 72 golfers who played all 72 holes.
However, Augusta seems to bring out the best in Mickelson's game, and it would be no surprise if he is in the mix right out of the gate. He has played in the Masters 15 times and has 10 finishes in the top 10, including his victories in 2004 and 2006. Mickelson visited Augusta three weeks ago to get a look at the changes that were made in the last year. He said the softening of the seventh green will have the most impact, because it will be easier to get up-and-down on shots that carry over the green. Mickelson played his best golf of the week in Houston the first two days except for one bad swing on the 18th hole on Thursday that sent his tee shot into the water, leading to a double-bogey 6 and a 70. He followed with a 68 on Friday but played the weekend in 71-71.
3. Vijay Singh, Fiji
Even Singh said his victory in the 2000 Masters — by three strokes over Ernie Els — was a surprise, since he wasn't sure he could putt well enough on the diabolical greens to win at Augusta. Other than Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, no one has played better in the Masters in this decade than the big man from Fiji. When he tied for 13th at Augusta last year, it was his worst finish in the tournament since he tied for 18th as the defending champion in 2001 — he had finished eighth or better five consecutive years.
Singh has captured three majors in his career, the last in the 2004 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, where he beat Chris DiMarco in a playoff. Even though he has not won on the PGA Tour in more than a year, he comes into the first major of the year on a run of good form that would seem to indicate the 32nd victory of his PGA Tour career is near. That would push him past "Lighthorse Harry" Cooper of England for the most victories by a non-American. Singh almost got it when lost in a playoff to Steve Lowery at Pebble Beach, and he also tied for fifth in the Accenture, tied for third at Bay Hill and tied for second at Doral.
The key for Singh, of course, is the putter, since he is a great ball-striker who ranks fifth on the PGA Tour in greens in regulation at 71.85 percent. He has waffled again between long and short putters, but sometimes he does that and putts the lights out.
4. K.J. Choi, South Korea
With seven victories on the PGA Tour and 12 around the world, Choi probably is the greatest Asian golfer in history, and he comes to the Masters trying to become the first from his continent to win a major title. He arrives at Augusta off a tie for 11th in the Shell Houston Open, his sixth finish in the top 20 in seven events on the PGA Tour this season. He will be playing in the first major of the year for the sixth consecutive season, and his best finish was third in 2004, three shots behind winner Phil Mickelson. That is one of four top 10s in the majors for Choi, who tied for eighth in the Open Championship last year at Carnoustie.
He could have posted his fifth top-10 finish of this season last week in Houston, but he three-putted from 73 feet on the final hole Sunday. However, he had to be pleased with the way he bounced back from an opening 74, especially when he recorded a bogey-free 66 in the second round after it appeared he might be in danger of missing the cut. Choi made six birdies again on round three but managed only a 69 because he mixed in three bogeys. And he played well on the greens after taking 31 putts in the first round. Choi averaged only 26.7 on the last three days, which could bode well for this week at Augusta, where putting always is a vital element.
5. Adam Scott, Australia
Until an illness forced him to withdraw from the Shell Houston Open on Saturday, it appeared Scott was right where he wanted it to be heading to the Masters. The great Aussie hope will be playing at Augusta for the seventh consecutive year, but he has not cracked the top 10 since he tied for ninth in his first visit in 2002. Not only that, but despite his promising pedigree, he has never been much of a major player. In 27 previous Grand Slam events, Scott has missed the cut nine times and finished in the top 10 on only four occasions. His best finish was a tie for fourth in the 2006 PGA Championship at Medinah.
However, he has shown that he can win against strong fields by capturing the 2004 Players Championship and the 2006 Tour Championship. Despite a strep throat that had been bothering him for a few days, Scott shot a brilliant, bogey-free 63 in the first round of his title defense at Houston, making six birdies on the back nine after starting on No. 10. It might have been better, but after hitting 17 of 18 greens in regulation, he needed a pedestrian 28 putts. Round 2 was a different story as he struggled to a 76 that included a double-bogey on No. 18. When he showed up Saturday with swollen glands, chills and a fever, he decided not to play rather than risk missing the Masters.
6. Steve Stricker, United States
Stricker had to be happy overall with his final Masters tuneup last week in the Shell Houston Open, despite a 76 in the second round and bogeys on his last two holes Sunday. He posted 6-under-par 66s in the first and third rounds, powering him to a tie for 11th. Last year, he played at Augusta for the eighth time, but the first since 2003, and missed the cut for the fourth time.
However, he is a different player, having finished in the top 10 on 10 occasions since leaving Augusta last year, and now is recognized as one of the best players in the world. His best finish in a major was second in the 1998 PGA Championship at Sahalee behind Vijay Singh, and he has six additional finishes in the top 10 in the Grand Slam tournaments. His late stumbles last week in Houston cost Stricker his fifth top-10 finish of the season, but he wound up in the top 20 for the seventh time. He did not make a bogey in the third round, when he strung together three consecutive birdies beginning at No. 4. He also had three in a row starting on No. 15 in round one, when he made only one bogey. Stricker will try to forget a second-round 76, when he made two double bogeys.
He is one of the best putters around and led the field at Redstone with an average of 26.3 putts per round. Repeating that could make him a contender at Augusta.
7. Ernie Els, South Africa
At least when a virus came back with a vengeance to Els last week, he already had made his early trip to Augusta for his first look this year at the Masters course. Even though he said the changes made by the green jackets are so subtle that you scarcely notice them, he added that the course is so unique that the more he plays it the better prepared he feels for the first tournament of the year. The Big Easy said he concentrated on chipping and putting, always a key factor at Augusta, and spent extra time around Amen Corner and No. 15, a crucial hole coming in — especially on Sunday.
Els has three major titles to his credit, but none since the 2002 Open Championship at Muirfield, and has never won the Masters. He has played at Augusta every year since 1994 and finished second twice, one stroke behind Phil Mickelson in 2004 and three strokes in back of Vijay Singh in 2000. After finishing sixth or better five consecutive years at Augusta, he was 47th in 2005, tied for 27th the next year and missed the cut last year.
Els seemingly has struggled everywhere recent years and is not coming into the Masters on a high, even though he claimed his first victory in the U.S. since 2004 when he won the Honda Classic at the beginning of last month. However, he is a huge talent, and golf has an old yet true saying: "Beware the ailing golfer."
8. Padraig Harrington, Ireland
While he might not be pleased with his overall week at the Shell Houston Open, Paddy must believe he is carrying a bit of momentum into the Masters after he closed with a bogey-free 68 on the Tournament Course at Redstone. He has played at Augusta the last eight years, finishing in a tie for seventh last year after opening with a 68, and his best finish was a tie for fifth in 2002. Harrington has said that other than the British Open, which he grew up watching and won last year, the Masters is the major championship that he covets most.
By winning at Carnoustie he joined Fred Daly, who captured the 1947 British Open, as the only Irishmen to win major golf titles — and a victory at Augusta undoubtedly would touch off more celebrations in the Emerald Isle. Imagine bringing a green jacket home to Ireland. Harrington climbed the leaderboard on Sunday from a tie for 52nd last week in Houston, winding up in a tie for 26th. He did it in part by averaging 27.5 putts per round even though he needed 30 while playing his best golf of the week on Sunday. That's one of the best parts of his game, which could make him a contender at Augusta.
Harrington never will be considered a bomber, but he has increased his length off the tee considerably under instructor Bob Torrance, and last week he ranked among the leaders with a driving average of 305 yards.
9. Geoff Ogilvy, Australia
If you are looking for a darkhorse in the Masters, this could be the guy, although the way he has played in his last four tournaments, he's not sneaking up on anybody. Ogilvy, who won the WGC-CA Championship in his previous outing, tied for second last week in the Shell Houston Open and has been no worse than 14th in his last four events. The 2006 U.S. Open champion will be playing at Augusta this week for the third time, having tied for 24th last year despite a third-round 81 and tied for 16th the year before. He has not broken 70 in eight rounds on the course, but that could change because he is playing as well as anyone, including Tiger Woods, coming into the tournament.
His victory at Winged Foot is one of five top-10 finishes in 16 major appearances. Ogilvy played the Tournament Course at Redstone in Houston in 66-68 on the weekend, three-putting the 14th hole on Sunday for his only bogey over the last 36 holes. He opened with a 67, but a second-round 73 that included five bogeys probably cost him the fifth victory of his PGA Tour career. His ball-striking was impeccable in the last two rounds, when he hit 23 of 26 fairways and 30 of 36 greens in regulation, but he needed 59 putts on the Augusta-like greens. That's something he will have to work on this week if he wants to become the first Aussie to win the Masters. However, it might not be a major worry since he needed only 52 putts in the first two rounds.
10. Luke Donald, England
The graduate of Northwestern in art would like nothing better than to paint a portrait of Augusta with his clubs that would have him standing on the 18th green Sunday wearing the green jacket. Even though he lacks the length off the tee that conventional wisdom says most Masters winners must possess, he has played well on the course and notes that Zach Johnson won last year with a similar game. Donald finished in a tie for 10th at Augusta a year ago, but had his best chance in three appearances in the first major of the year when he tied for third in 2005. He posted three rounds in the 60s that year, but a second-round 77 left him seven strokes out of the playoff between winner Tiger Woods and Chris DiMarco. The best of the young Brits finished at 5-under-par that year, but is 15-over in his other two trips down Magnolia Lane since they put the course on steroids, failing to break 70 in eight consecutive rounds.
Donald's strengths are that he keeps the ball in play, off the tee and with his long irons, both staples in any major championship these days. If he can do it better than anyone else this week, he could become the first Englishman to win the Masters since Nick Faldo claimed his third green jacket in 1996. That came in an era when Europeans dominated at Augusta, with Faldo, Seve Bellesteros, Sandy Lyle, Jose Maria Olazabal, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam combining for 11 Masters titles.
11. Rory Sabbatini, South Africa
Sabbatini comes into the Masters on Thursday having played less competitive golf in recent weeks than any of the other top players in the world. After competing in seven of the first eight weeks of the PGA Tour season on the West Coast swing, he has played only in the WGC-CA Championship at Doral in the six weeks since. And against the best field of the season to date on the PGA Tour that week, he finished in a tie for 70th among the 77 golfers who played all 72 holes, shooting 79 in the final round.
However, Sabo also played sparingly last year in the run-up to the Masters but recorded his best showing by far — a tie for second — in his five appearances at Augusta. He finished even with Tiger Woods and Retief Goosen, two shots behind winner Zach Johnson, and Sabbatini's 69 in the final round was the first time he had broken 70 in 14 trips around Augusta National. In fact, he missed the cut the first three times he played in the Masters before finally playing on the weekend and finishing in a tie for 36th in 2006. Sabbatini has missed the cut in 14 of his 25 appearances in major championships, and his best finish before his strong showing last year at Augusta was a tie for 26th in the 2006 British Open at Royal Liverpool.
12. Jim Furyk, United States
Even though his game has not been up to his standards for most of this year, Furyk said last week that he has not been awful, and his tie for second in the WGC-CA Championship three weeks ago gave him a boost heading to Augusta. He missed the cut two weeks ago in New Orleans, but golf can be a funny game, and he has the talent to suddenly find the missing piece that could make him a contender in the Masters. Furyk has missed the first major of the season only in 2004, when he was recovering from wrist surgery, since he first made the drive down Magnolia Lane in 1996. His best finish in those 11 appearances was fourth in 1998, and he has eight other results in the top 30 in addition to missing the cut twice. His only major title came in the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields near Chicago, but he has been a contender often, with 10 other finishes in the top 10 at Grand Slam events — including ties for second in the U.S. Open last year at Oakmont and the year before at Winged Foot.
Furyk spent last week preparing for the slick putting surfaces at Augusta at the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Fla., where he has a home, and on the synthetic practice green in his backyard. He claims that is the best place to practice putting other than at Augusta itself because he can control the speed of the green. He had it running fast, of course.
13. Angel Cabrera, Argentina
After making the trip home to play in the Abierto VISA del Centro, where he was two-time defending champion, Cabrera missed the cut in the Shell Houston Open and got an early trip to Augusta. He will be playing in the Masters for the ninth consecutive year and has had some success despite missing the cut three times. He has three finishes in the top 10, and his best was a tie for eighth in 2008. Cabrera is a big hitter and a strong ball striker, so if he putts the way he did last year in winning the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, he could again come out of nowhere to make a challenge.
He shot 75-70--145 last week in Houston to miss the cut by one stroke, failing on a 21-foot putt on the 18th hole of the second round that would have gotten him to the weekend. Strangely, he had 32 putts while posting a good score in Round 1 and only 27 while struggling on Friday. Cabrera didn't play all that badly, but he made three double bogeys in 36 holes, making 6 on the par-4 10th hole both days. He appeared to be sailing onto the weekend despite his first-round struggles when he made five birdies in seven holes en route to a front nine 31 on Friday, before stumbling at No. 10 and shooting 39 in the back. In fact, he was 6-under on the front for two days and 7-over on the back nine.
14. Justin Rose, England
Rose has worked his way slowly into the season after his career year in 2006, but he is ready to kick it onto gear heading to the Masters for the third time. He has reason to be optimistic after having a fine season in the majors a year ago, topped by his tie for fifth at Augusta, where he led the tournament after the first round for the second time. He also tied for 10th in the U.S. Open and tied for 12th in both the Open Championship and the PGA Championship. Rose also played well in the 2004 Masters, shooting three solid rounds, but wilted under the pressure and shot 81 on Saturday as the 36-hole leader and wound up in a tie for 22nd. He tied for 39th in his first Masters in 2003 and showed he can be a major player in his first Grand Slam event when he tied for fourth in the 1998 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale as an amateur. He would like to revive some of the magic from that week when the oldest championship in the world returns in July to Birkdale, where he became a fan and media darling even before he chipped in on the 72nd hole.
Rose went to Augusta last week for a couple of days, just to get the "wow" factor out of his system, even though he's been there before. He said simply walking onto the grounds gets his juices flowing, and he can't help looking around every time he gets to Amen Corner.
15. Stuart Appleby, Australia
Appleby didn't break 70 in any of four rounds last week while finishing in a tie for 23rd in the Shell Houston Open, but he probably would take his final total of 6-under-par this week in the Masters and see if anyone could match it, especially since Zach Johnson won last year at 1-over. Appleby has played at Augusta every year since 1997, but his two best finishes came in the last two years on the leaner, meaner course. He tied for seventh last year after tying for 19th the year before, even though he did not break 70 in any of those eight rounds. Before that, he missed the cut five times in nine Masters appearances, but that has been the story for much of his career in the majors.
Appleby has failed to make it to the weekend in 18 of 44 Grand Slam events and wound up in the top 10 only four times, or once in each of the big four. Still, he might have claimed that elusive major title, but he lost to Ernie Els in a playoff for the Open Championship in 2002 at Muirfield. Appleby heads to Augusta after playing his best golf in Houston on Sunday, making a single bogey in a round of 70. He hit more than 75 percent of the fairways and greens at Redstone but will have to putt better than the 29.5 strokes per round he averaged on the greens if he is to contend in the Masters.
16. Aaron Baddeley, Australia
The man they call Badds was looking good heading to the Masters before he made bogeys on three of the last four holes and finished in a tie for 14th in the Shell Houston Open. And he probably needed a little boost of confidence leading up to Augusta, where he tied for 52nd last year after missing the cut in his first two appearances. Baddeley has shot no better than 72 in eight rounds at Augusta, including rounds of 79 and 80 last year.
He has never finished in the top 10 of a major championship — his tie for 13th in the U.S. Open last year at Oakmont is his best result in a Grand Slam tournament. Not only that, but Badds has missed the cut in nine of the 13 majors he has played. Baddeley made the cut on the number last week at Houston by holing a 3-foot putt for par on his final hole of round two, No. 9. Then he played very well on the weekend before stumbling on the final holes. Baddeley shot 65 on Saturday with seven birdies and only a single bogey on No. 9. After two early bogeys on Sunday, he made five birdies in a stretch of seven holes in the middle of his round before struggling down the stretch. That prevented him from registering his second top-10 finish of the season, but he has wound up no worse than 15th in five of his eight tournaments.
17. Zach Johnson, United States
Odds are that Johnson will not win the Masters for the second consecutive year, but he said two weeks ago at New Orleans that regardless of what happens, he is a better, more confident player than he was at the same time last year. He added that Augusta is probably the most complete test in golf, requiring every shot and all 14 clubs in the bag, but primarily the putter because of the speed and undulations on those notorious greens. Johnson took advantage of the extremely fast conditions on the fairways to win last year, even though he went against conventional wisdom and laid up on every par-5 and played them in an astonishing bogey-free 11-under-par. He made three birdies on the back nine on Sunday, when the tournament supposedly starts and finishes, to hold off Tiger Woods, Rory Sabbatini and Retief Goosen. It was reminiscent of another guy from Iowa, Jack Fleck, beating Ben Hogan to win the 1955 U.S. Open. Johnson was playing in the Masters for the third time, having missed the cut in 2005 and tied for 32nd in 2006. And when he shot a flawless 69 in the final round with the best player in the world chasing him, it was the first time in 10 rounds that he broke 70 at Augusta. Johnson proved that he was no fluke six weeks later when he won the AT&T Classic down the road at TPC Sugarloaf.
18. Sergio Garcia, Spain
Garcia arrives in Augusta this week knowing he would not have had to answer all those questions about not winning a major had he managed to make a par on the 72nd hole last year in the Open Championship at Carnoustie. Instead, he wound up making bogey and Padraig Harrington won their playoff to become the first European to win a Grand Slam event since Paul Lawrie of Scotland won at Carnoustie in 1999. El Nino made it worse by putting the blame on everyone and everything else he could think of rather than looking in the mirror, the way Jean Van de Velde did after his collapse on the same course eight years earlier.
Garcia will be playing in the Masters for the 10th consecutive year, but he has not had much success on the beefed-up version of the course, missing the cut two of the last three years and finishing 46th in between. However, he did show earlier that he might have what it takes to win the first major of the year, especially when he shot 66 in the final round and tied for fourth in 2004. Garcia also had a chance to win in 2002 but suffered one of his Sunday meltdowns that have become all too familiar, shooting 75 to wind up eighth, eight strokes behind champion Tiger Woods. If the Spaniard hits the ball the way he is capable of doing, it will come down to his putter, which has been problematic in the clutch the last several years.
19. Justin Leonard, United States
After another disappointing Shell Houston Open, where he tied for 39th, Leonard hopes that a solid final round is indicative of better things to come this week at the Masters. The Texan is making his 13th appearance at Augusta but has not finished in the top 10 since he tied for eighth in 1998, one year after he tied for seventh. Leonard, who did not qualify for the Masters last year, has won a major championship — the 1999 Open Championship at Royal Troon — and could have added another two years later, but he lost to Paul Lawrie in a playoff at Carnoustie. He has five other top-10 finishes in the majors, including two seconds, all in the PGA Championship.
Last week in Houston, Leonard made the cut by one stroke despite missing a 15-foot putt for par on his final hole of Round 2. He then played the weekend in 71-71. His best golf of the tournament came in a 68 in the first round, which included only one bogey, and he did that with some good work on the greens. Leonard took only 26 putts on Thursday, but got worse as the week went along, needing 90 strokes the rest of the way on the putting surfaces that were at nearly Augusta speed. But he played close to the mistake-free golf he will need in the Masters on Sunday, when his only bogey came on the sixth hole.
20. Stewart Cink, United States
Ever since he was a blossoming star down the road at Georgia Tech, beating out Tiger Woods for college player of the year awards in 1995, it has been said that Cink has the perfect game to win at Augusta. He hits the ball long and straight enough, particularly with his irons, and has become one of the better putters on the PGA Tour since switching to the belly model several years ago. However, his record in the Masters has been good but not great, sort of a microcosm of his career, in 10 appearances in the first major championship of the year.
Cink has finished in the top 30 eight times in the tournament, missing the cut twice, but his best finish was 10th in 2005 and he tied for 17th last year. He has called himself one of the primary underachievers on the PGA Tour, with only four victories in his career, and has never been much of a major player. Cink has finished in the top 10 only seven times in 43 Grand Slam events, and you have to wonder where he is mentally after giving away two chances to win in the last seven weeks. He was routed by Tiger Woods in the final of the Accenture and shot 74 in the final round of the PODS Championship and finished in a tie for second when the tournament was his for the taking.
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